> I'm planning to work on my Stag's brakes. Compared to modern cars the
> brakes on the Stag feel very, very weak.
In what way do they feel weak, Sujit ? Does it take a lot of pedal pressure
to stop the car ? Or does the pedal just go down alarmingly low, or what ?
My Stag's brakes feel pretty good to me, but then I'm more accustomed to
driving a TR3A with no power assist. Even so, with the booster not working,
my Stag's brake pedal feels very hard. Takes a lot of pedal force to stop
the car promptly. If that is your complaint, you might investigate whether
your booster is working.
> Is there a brake fuild flushing kit available?
Not that I'm aware of.
> I've been suggested to resurface the rotors and drums even if
> they look OK.
> What's the reason for this?
The coefficient of friction between the shoes/pads and the rotors/drums is
very important, and depends to a large extent on the surface finish of the
drums/rotors. Sometimes they can get "glazed" and slick, which reduces the
effectiveness of the brakes. Thus, many mechanics believe it is best to
always turn them.
Professional mechanics often have a different take on such things than I do
... they hate having a car come back after any kind of work, but don't mind
at all spending your money. Turning the rotors & drums (or more likely
replacing them because they are already worn/turned to the limit) does
reduce the number of "come backs", by ensuring an optimum surface for the
new pads/rotors to mate to, plus removing (hopefully) any runout that might
cause a pulsating pedal.
Personally, I don't like this approach, as turning drastically reduces the
life of the components (and Stag rotors & drums are a bit hard to come by).
Instead, unless you are having trouble with pedal pulsation, my suggestion
is to roughen the surface directly, using either the purpose-made abrasive
discs (by 3M, available at auto parts stores), or something like crocus
cloth. I also wash them afterwards with Acryli-Clean, which is a special
solvent that will remove DOT 5 brake fluid (among other things).
> Also, can anyone recommend me a brand of pad to use. Apprarently the Stag
> shares the pad with a TR7
I can't recommend them, as I've not tried them myself yet. But Ted
Schumacher can reline your pads & shoes with a high-performance "Kevlar"
lining material.
http://www.tsimportedautomotive.com/
I see that Paddocks sells "Green Stuff" pads, which are probably pretty much
the same, but I don't see shoes listed.
Ted charged me $100 for the complete set, although the price may have gone
up since then.
> Is there anything else that I've missed?
You probably should pick up the "brake pad fitting kit", if it doesn't come
with the pads. Now would also be a good time to get the PDWA and it's
warning light working if they don't already.
I installed the "braided" brake hose kit from Rimmers after one of my
(probably original) front lines failed. Don't know for sure if it helped,
but they do look more "business like".
Randall
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