4 piston wilwood, low fab work “budget” upgrade.

[retrofit187]

I couldn’t bring myself to spend almost $500 on new sumitomo pistons and was having difficulty finding appropriate Volvo calipers.

Zeus engineering in the UK had some promising news that they were adapting their Jaguar XKE series 1 setup to work with the fairlady. That was a year ago. Covid caused them to not be able to use the test car they had in country- and I kept telling myself one more week, or one more month… and (I think this is how cars end up derelict.) so enough was enough. I researched extensively and discovered- the same as we have write ups to use Volvo calipers- the Jaguar guys do too- the same parts, and even the same need to turn the rotors down to fit!

Then, I found something very interesting. Moss motors sells a wilwood brake upgrade for the series 1 xke. I called them, but it was on back order. They said the tubes were what was missing to allow them to sell kits. (We don’t need that tube on the roadster) I asked them to sell me the bracket and hardware; they were kind enough to provide the caliper part number to me. Only problem was I had to remove the dust shield, and notch Moss’s bracket to clear where the sway bar mounts to the knuckle.

(These are not factory 14”- but some tapered barrel “appliance” brand wheels- so YMMV)

Parts from moss:
51-2234 |Caliper Mount Bracket x 2
521-626R | 3/8 Bolt x 4
8077-031R | lock washer x 4
8072-031R | flat washer x 4 (will go between your caliper and the bracket to center the caliper on the rotor)

Parts from summit: (thanks to 311s.org tech wiki Mark? (No last name listed) for doing the hard work of getting all the correct lines and fittings

SS Brake Hose- EAR-63010122ERL $12.88 (X2)
Npt to -3 adapter- EAR-962203ERL $8.69 (X2)
(Caliper to ss line)
3/8" to -3 adapter- EAR-989543ERL $4.69 (X2) ((ss line to factory hardline)these AN adapters were backordered but the summit page gives an alternative when you search)
Calipers WIL-120-6808 (X2)
Street med pads WIL-150-8850K (entire set in box)

My total was $573, (including tax and shipping) which I justified as being reasonable compared to new sumitomo pistons retailing for nearly the same- and probably would’ve broken the factory crossover pipes in the process.

Hope this helps some people out; and I’ll do my best to help should questions arise.


https://imgur.com/gallery/IAjcAEP


I want to add, I lurk here real hard- and you all help so many people tremendously- I want to thank everyone here; and hope this contributes something positive to the community in return- thanks so much to all!

[nismou20]

I would be interested in how they perform compared to oem. Nice work.

[retrofit187]

Unfortunately- my calipers were seized and pitted since day 1; so I only have non-functioning brakes to compare to.

[redroadster68]

So tell us how they work. Good? Bad? Amazing? Lousy? Thanks

[retrofit187]

So tell us how they work. Good? Bad? Amazing? Lousy? Thanks

Initially They worked good. I thought maybe I should go ahead and update the master cylinder to go along with it- I've been driving while I have one on order, and the pedal feel has actually gotten much better- I must've not done a good enough job initially bleeding them. They feel quite solid now, and aside from stabbing them to try them initially, I had one actual emergency stop where someone cut over from a turning lane at the last minute and I locked them up and proceeded to pump them and I was glad I had them. Theyre pretty great!

[oledatsunguy]

Retrofit, do you have any picture of the caliper mounting bracket that you can post? Looks like a really nice brake upgrade for a reasonable price.

Thanks!!

[Curtis]

I'm guessing these won't fit stock 14" steel wheels or are your wheels 14"?

Video will not open in a new window.

[Pjackb]

I'm guessing these won't fit stock 14" steel wheels or are your wheels 14"?

Video will not open in a new window.

I have a similar setup and no they will not clear stock steelies
I tried widen steel wheels and they worked as well as some 14 aftermarket but it was tight, 15+ is better

[retrofit187]

Retrofit, do you have any picture of the caliper mounting bracket that you can post? Looks like a really nice brake upgrade for a reasonable price.

Thanks!!

I have the picture of the bracket posted in the original post. You can see the unaltered brackets on moss’s page : https://mossmotors.com/front-brake-cali ... d-calipers

[retrofit187]

I'm guessing these won't fit stock 14" steel wheels or are your wheels 14"?

Video will not open in a new window.

I have a similar setup and no they will not clear stock steelies
I tried widen steel wheels and they worked as well as some 14 aftermarket but it was tight, 15+ is better

Correct; I’m on aftermarket 14” wheels. And Curtis; I think it was some of your original posts that inspired me to contact Zeus- it’s unfortunate that with covid it didn’t work out.

[Curtis]

I talked to them last month and the lock down has really been bad for them. They weren't allowed to go where the car was to test them.

[Curtis]

I have the picture of the bracket posted in the original post.

The first post shows the modifies bracket? I'm not able to see them.

[retrofit187]

I talked to them last month and the lock down has really been bad for them. They weren't allowed to go where the car was to test them.

Yeah. I was offering Allison to let me test fit; video, and send pictures and measurements. If I had a factory wheel; I’d be tempted to ship that and a fairlady knuckle to them. I’m considering shipping my factory caliper to them. She’s considering tapping their Dunlop calipers to accommodate correct inner vs outer caliper fitting thread pitch on the roadster; since the sumitomo are getting difficult to find.

[oledatsunguy]

The first post shows the modifies bracket? I'm not able to see them.

I finally figured out how to see the brackets in retrofit's first post. Originally I thought there was only a video, but there is an arrow on the right side of the video that you can click on to go thru the pictures.

[Curtis]

I see that. i didn't hover over it to see the arrows.

Need to put a stock steel wheel on and see if it can clear.