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MG MGF Technical - Brake Disc Query

Hi guys,

I've just bought some new brake discs and pads from a local factors. Got 'em for quite a good price too, I think (£40 for the brembo? discs, £18 for the Ferodo pads).

However one odd thing that's sticking in my mind is that they had 2 sets of discs in their parts manual. One set for a 1.8 MGF, the other for the 1.8 VVC. I've got the VVC ones, however I thought the standard discs were the same between both cars?

I'll find out if they fit tomorrow when I go to fit them, however thought I'd ask the question in case I was mistaken, though I suspect I may have been hit for a few quid extra having the VVC.

I've looked here for the instructions on how to replace the front brake discs. Is there anything else I should watch out for?

http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/brake_disc.htm

Thanks,

Leigh
L Reid

Hello Leigh,

did myself today several works at mine regarding 60k km (40k mls) DIY service.
Dirty fingers weekend, though.

Anyway. The only different front disks at MGF relate to bigger Trophy disks versus the standard MPI and VVC disks.
No idea which mad supplier did the standard to different files. This happens here in DE also at some online shops. I complained at any recently and got told *we can't correct, cause the records get sent by the manufacturer*

RE: Robs site...
> 4. Undo the two calliper to hub bolts, and remove the calliper from the wheel hub.

Take care you don't kill any bolt. Very funny on a sunday to get a spare ;)

> 5 The disc should be located onto the hub by two large diameter Philips screws. If absent, do not worry: the disc is clamped into place by the road wheel when the wheel nuts are torqued up. Remove these screws.

This Philips could be a pain to loosen. Don't kill the cross slot, but get an 'impact driver' (or however that thingy is called) to loosen them.


Good luck
Dieter

Dieter K.

> Take care you don't kill any bolt. Very funny on a sunday to get a spare ;)

I was in my local halfords today, and they have a pack of 4 bolts for £1. I'm hoping to get through without them, however might pick up some spares on the way out just in case if it's a common problem!

> This Philips could be a pain to loosen. Don't kill the cross slot, but get an 'impact driver' (or however that thingy is called) to loosen them

A pre-emptive purchase of an impact driver was made today. Said store (Halfords) wanted £16 for one, however I secured one from Machine Mart for £7.

I've also had to buy a trolley jack and axle stands as my ancient bottle jack doesn't fit under the car.

Leigh
L Reid

Perfect, nearly perfect !! :)))

I think the only additional needs may be two pcs of any wooden plate to drive on and pre-raise the car for easier trolly jack access.

Any stuff availiable to de-grease the new disks before you get them in ?

Cheers
Dieter
Dieter K.

> Any stuff availiable to de-grease the new disks before you get them in ?

Hmmm. Never thought of doing that! I do have some methylated spirit somewhere that I used to use to clean the tape decks on my hi-fi. I imagine that would do?

I also seem to recall reading about a chemical substance that's useful for removing the rusted screws. Time to hit the archives!

Last time I had the wheels off, they were well copper greased, so I'm hoping the screws won't be too corroded!

Leigh
L Reid

>methylated spirit

better than nothing (IMO). I use 'Nitro-Verdunnung' *g (translation ??).
The stuff you use to thin down laquer. Stinks like mad and makes insane if you sniff from out of a plastic bag ;)

Another advise regarding copper grease. Don't apply to much, cause the hot brakes let the grease contend creep on the disks.

Dieter K.

You should be prepared to struggle with the screws, which I think are Posidriv and not Phillips.

I tried an impact driver with no success but suceeded with an electric driver and a brand new bit.

I also needed a 2lb (1kg) builder's lump hammer to get the old discs moving.

Brian

Ok, have been blessed with bruised / grazed knuckles but can't get the bolts holding the caliper mount to the hub off. Currently soaking them in WD40 in the hope that that will help.

Can anyone confirm the size of the bolts on the hub-caliper mount, and whether they are imperial or metric? I reckon 15mm. Looks like I'll need to try and get my hands on a breaker bar and the correct size socket this afternoon.

Any suggestions? I have a cooks blowtorch(don't tell the wife!) if putting heat to it will help?

Cheers,

Leigh

Leigh

metric in any way !
Dieter K.

Ah yes! Now I remember why I always need to remember why I should pay people to do repairs to my car...

OK, at the end of 6 hours blood tears and sweat I have removed the road wheel, the caliper and the caliper bracket. At this rate I should be finished by Thursday.

I need to get a new Caliper to Wheel hub bolt as it's partly sheared and probably not advisable to re-fit to the wheel. Can anyone give me a part number for a replacement?

> I tried an impact driver with no success but suceeded with an electric driver and a brand new bit

Same here. Can't get the damn things to move, however I'm going to try and get my hands on a 'large' hammer tomorrow and see what damage I can do.

I started with the Left hand side, and am hoping the right hand side will be easier!

Leigh
Leigh

Leigh

I spent a couple of hours just removing the retaining screws as I had to use the impact driver most of the way.
The disc's the would not move with a large hammer, so I borrowed a three leg puller, which I broke! I then borrowed a larger puller which has a hydraulic ram in the middle, with this up tight, some heat & a large hammer, the disc's did fly off.

I found using a drift to hit the inside of the disc, as near to the centre as possible, seemed to help.

Hope this helps

Alastair
Alastair McLeod

LOL, oh yeah *we hobby mechanics*

Nearly the same happened to me when I tried removing the discs from a 4 years old MGF. Though, the three leg puller I borrowed was industrial quality and withstood :)

>I found using a drift to hit the inside of the disc, as near to the centre as possible, seemed to help.

Didn't Nick recommend this the other day as well ?
Dieter K.

> The disc's the would not move with a large hammer, so I borrowed a three leg puller, which I broke! I then borrowed a larger puller which has a hydraulic ram in the middle, with this up tight, some heat & a large hammer, the disc's did fly off.

Something to look forward to! Geez, sounds like I'll be buying some 'LARGE' hammers tomorrow then! Unbelievable that you needed a hydraulic ram to get these things off.

Any ideas why these are so bad to get off? I remeber doing brake discs on my 405 and Cavalier, and I could manage to get those done in a day even with the hastle.

And other than laying on the copper grease, any way to stop the same thing happening again next time the discs need changing?

Cheers,

Leigh
Leigh

> I need to get a new Caliper to Wheel hub bolt as it's partly sheared and probably not advisable to re-fit to the wheel. Can anyone give me a part number for a replacement?

Should read 'wheel hub' rather than 'wheel'. Would also be useful to get the size of this bolt confirmed, if anyone knows? It's bigger than the 12mm bolts holding the caliper to the mount.

Thanks!

Leigh
Leigh

http://www.mgfcar.de/sales/Dcp_2798.jpg

You reffer to one of the both here, do you ?
Dooh ! My gargage with spartes is 5 minutes to walk, dark outside, and no bar on the way.
Dieter K.

>gargage with spartes
Ahmm, means garage with spares

I smell big sales !!! ;)

http://www.mgfcar.de/brakes/10x1.25x29_sc00742.jpg

M10x1.25 29mm long, 14mm hex head (metric)
Spring ring should be used new IMO

Let me know if sourcing fails. I can ship within 2 to 3 days.
2.50 EURO for shipment and one for the bolt.
All together 3.5 EURO or my paypal account.

btw, another bolt from the slide is in David S. MGF. Cost him one drink :)

One slide bolt left, one caliper bolt left... counting... LOL
Dieter K.

> The stuff you use to thin down laquer. Stinks like mad and makes insane if you sniff from out of a plastic bag ;)

Cellulose Thinners I believe!

> You reffer to one of the both here, do you

Yep, those are the ones. The ones sticking out. Originally thought those were the brake caliper bolts, but they're not are they?

No way it's 14mm though. I had to hammer on the 15mm socket, and that was after cleaning away all the dirt/rust etc from the original bolt. However, increase in size might be due to swelling of head due to rust?

> One slide bolt left, one caliper bolt left... counting... LOL

Got a pack of the bolts that are loosened during brake pad changing today (actually got 2 as I thought they were also for the caliper mounting), so I now have 8 spares of those (the originals came out without too much persuasion), however new ones will be going back in well greased after this saga.

DIY cars sound great, and would be fun if I had the correct tools (currently buying those at an accelerating rate now though. Wonder how much a puller with hydraulic ram is!). Thank god for that cooks blow torch though!

Leigh
Leigh

Meant to say, no spring ring on mine. Just the bolt?
Leigh

Looked again. Spring ring was there, now part of the bolt!
Leigh

Wowzers Leigh! Sounds like you're having fun!

Have to say that my discs came off the hub pretty easily - but then they'd been changed fairly recently...

Hope that all goes well... :o)
Rob Bell

Help! Feel like a bit of an idiot having to ask this question though:

What's the correct way to use an impact driver?

Thanks!

Leigh
Leigh

Impact Driver:
Set it to the correct direction(!!).
Put in screw head and hit sharply with hammer.
Doesn't look like it's moving, but it is.
Can be good to have a couple of "tighten thumps" first.

When removing the disc I didn't use a puller. I tried, but it was useless and broke! Instead, a 4lb hammer and a big hissy fit was used. NOTE: Interference fit so make sure and rotate the wheel by 180deg ever time you take your agression out on it!! Shifted very quickly once I remembered to turn the wheel! :-)

P.
Paul Nothard

don't you have to compress the driver first? i.e. turn it anti-clockwise?
Leigh

Not the ones I've used.

You can move it anti-clockwise or closwise to put it one side of the cam (right word?). That determines whether you tighten or slacken. When you thump it, the main body pushes down on this cam and forces the bit to turn one way of the other.

P.
Paul Nothard

Looks like I had a broken Impact Driver. Was just going straight in and out (not turning at end of travel). Got a new one so going to give that a try with the now partially stripped screw :-(
Leigh

Brilliant article in the new issue of MG Enthusiast that arrived today. Upgrading brakes and pipes seems a doddle!
JohnP

Done. Completely ;-)

Finished Near-side at about 3:30pm after battering the utter stuffing out of the impact driver. Went to Rover for replacement bolt (59p sir, it'll be here in 3 days) so decided to put the old ones back on (they were still a good fit, but will require a 'proper' socket, not the 'toothed' kind).

Started on the offside at 4:00 and was finished at 6:00pm. Amazing, now I've bought all the tools!

Also managed to sheer one screw on the nearside, and both on the offside. Also probably overdid the coppper grease.

Leigh
Leigh

The screws aren't really used for much anyhow. I think. The wheel nuts will hold it on far better than two piddly screws.

I may be wrong though!

It's amazing what can be done - when you have the right tools!!! I just need to buy them all and clear that garage now. :-)

P.
Paul Nothard

Old bodger's tip number 4:-

How to release those pesky cross headed screws if no impact driver is available.

Take an old broken screwdriver and hold it against the outside circumference of the screw just where it mates with the disc.

Whack it hard with a hammer in an anti clockwise direction thus applying rotational force to undo the screw.

The screw head is soft enough for the screwdriver to dig in and gain a hold.

With practice you should only slightly chew up the outside edge of the screw head and should be able to used it again. As Paul says I don't think the screws have much work to do.

jt
John Thomas

Well, the impact driver managed to shear them (which was a pain as they were turning), after getting them out about 2 turns they still weren't loose enough to screw out properly. Not worried about it as the discs are rotating fine as they are.

Only problem might be too much copper grease! Will be keeping an eye on it though.

Leigh
Leigh

Wouldn't advise grease for caliper to hub bolts ...try loctite, much safer;-)
Mike.
mike

I love this thread. Could be me ;)

Hi bro !
;)
MoD
PS. I thought it would get bad and it got worse *g
Dieter K.

Yup, been there, done that, got the T-shirt Leigh, Dieter... LOL
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 22/03/2003 and 25/03/2003

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