Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

rgh0 wrote:The brake system components are readily available except for the rear caliper and hand brake components that hang off the main rear caliper.

Kelsport is has reproduced quite a few of the hand brake parts associated with the rear calipers:
http://www.kelsport.net/parts/products. ... ectionID=2
I would certainly recommend the original braking system as the first approach.

Hi and welcome,

I'm in Sydney and have restored numerous Elan's both with and without servo's over past 35 years.

I'd recommend fitting a tandem master from memory the one I've used for last few cars has 11/16" bore off Nissan drop me a PM and I can give you the part number, you use the original pushrods with it. Definitely replace disks, they are cheap from Triumph sources OS or here in Australia for front and rear if they are thin or tapered.

When rebuilding callipers its worth replacing pistons with stainless pistons and ideally with hard chromed surface as a fit and forget solution, over the old Girling steel& chromed pistons. Pay the extra for genuine Girling seal kits, ensure you replace the seals between the calliper halves.

If buying new front callipers many are poor quality items made in the subcontinent.... the cost of reconditioning the original ones is only a couple of hundred dollars

The above master with standard callipers combination with todays pad materials (EBC, Green Stuff,etc) has a short pedal travel, good bite from cold and terrific feel and modulation.

Rear setup same, remove and replace worn handbrake parts as these make significant difference to its performance, and read carefully the recommended method of adjusting these, as it seems few people do it correctly and have handbrake pads either loose or dragging.

Lastly, the pedal boxes were lightly constructed and now ~50 years old with no doubt more than a few emergency braking attempts in their time. Many I've seen are twisted from use and Suspect either loose or incorrectly adjusted end support at the accelerator end in the alloy support bolted to the wire door/sill frame (in RHD cars), the twist leads to the master cylinder pushrods binding ever so slightly on the pedal assembly then pushing into the master cylinder at an angle which uses accelerated wear and failure.

Happy to help out with alternative parts numbers etc.

Cheers

V

My recently purchased Plus2 130S, was a non runner, and had the servos removed. When I rolled it down the hill to the roll back for the trip home, the first thing I noticed was the amount of brake pressure it took to slow the car. I immediately thought about the replacement of the original master cylinder.

I found a Datsun/Nissan 1200/Sunny dual master cylinder with an 11/16" bore through a Undercar parts distributor. These cylinders are NLA from dealers, and the after market replacements are made by Centric. Ordered one a couple of weeks ago, after finding it on eBay. My only negative on the cylinder is the arrangement of the fluid reservoirs, being two separate units of different capacity. Installation, and brake line rearrangement will be done when engine comes out in conjunction with the Zetec replacement.

prezoom wrote:My recently purchased Plus2 130S, was a non runner, and had the servos removed. When I rolled it down the hill to the roll back for the trip home, the first thing I noticed was the amount of brake pressure it took to slow the car. I immediately thought about the replacement of the original master cylinder.

I found a Datsun/Nissan 1200/Sunny dual master cylinder with an 11/16" bore through a Undercar parts distributor. These cylinders are NLA from dealers, and the after market replacements are made by Centric. Ordered one a couple of weeks ago, after finding it on eBay. My only negative on the cylinder is the arrangement of the fluid reservoirs, being two separate units of different capacity. Installation, and brake line rearrangement will be done when engine comes out in conjunction with the Zetec replacement.

I know that when cold, it takes a bit more pressure to achieve a given brake force on my car using a tandem m/c with no servo and EBC GreenStuff pads. Once warmed up a bit they're fine.