Front brakes - Help!!

[Old English White]

... Hi
As usual , "OEW" is on stands...
Fitting new disks & pads from EBC , every was going fine when testing the car noises appear . The timken bearing were not thighten enough ... Back on stand , the problem is the round dust shield in contact with the new -maybe to large?- disk , so the assembly canot be thighten correctly. When folding the shield the problem move to another area because this the bowl area who is in contact.
My questions are , is that dust shield necessary ? have you already had such problem , what will you do ?
Christian.

[SADLOTUS]

Hi Old English, Sling'em! I've run without backing plates for years, all they ever seemed to do was catch stones, gravel and rubble. I think they were to keep water off in the rain. I'll be interested to see what others say.

[Old English White]

... Thanks for your reply , Sadlotus . So you remove them ... That I decided to do this evening ... The car down and out for a small tour in the country side ... just a pleasure !
I will think to these dust shields later but I am still interested on your solutions ... if they are different of me & Sadlotus ... !
Christian.

[rgh0]

I have removed the dust shields on my Elan many years ago with no problems. I did it mainly to aid disk cooling when racing rather than clearance or access reasons.

regards
Rohan

[elandoc]

I went to a great deal of trouble to carefully modify mine with little air scoops and beautifully cut louvred vents...then I took them off (typical of the many blind alleys in the development of my elan). Better cooling and less unsprung weight. The four pot calipers I now run are a further complication...for another thread.
Patrick

[steveww]

I would be very interested to hear about your work with four pot calipers. I am currently looking at something similar.

[Old English White]

... Seems that everybody is doing the same ... to the bin !
So , have you notice how heavy are the originals calipers ?
I don't speak about efficiency (not yet...) but what can be done for that ? Did you already write on this ?
Christian.

[steveww]

Currently I have fitted the +2 front brakes (bigger disks and calipers) to my S4 Elan. This has certainly helped and the brakes are much better; reduced fade and improved f/r balance. However as you say the calipers weight a lot, about 5kg each! Could certainly loose a bit of unsprung weight by switching over to an alloy caliper. The same goes for the rear too, just need to figure out a handbrake mechanism

[patrics]

Hi Christian,
The shields are fitted for a few reasons
1. To stop dirt/stones being thrown up on to the disc
2. To reduce a film of water building up between pad and disc - typical problem on wet motorways
3. heat shield for rubber suspension boots

Positive side is much better cooling

I would remove them but if you have the inclination make up a small shield to protect the rubber bits

Regards
Steve