Series 1 brake upgrade

[PETE V]

Angus

I fitted the Zeus Calipers about 11 months ago and can thoroughly recommend them, but do go for the Greenstuff pads as per the earlier advice.

Regards

[I-Wen Foo]

Hello all,
I've got my rear Zeus brake pistons and a set of Greenstuff pads, but looking at both pistons and pads, I seem to be missing something in terms of attaching the pads to piston...


Any tips greatly appreciated, hope I'm not asking a silly question here.. I've contacted Zeus with the same query, but so far I haven't had a reply from them, and I was hoping to get these on asap.

Regards, I-Wen

[Heuer]

Pads don't attach to the pistons - they slide into the calipers between piston and disc!

[christopher storey]

David, I don't think that is right with standard pistons. The Jaguar pistons have a circular disc protruding, which slides into that slot in the backing of the pad which is shown in I Wen Foo's photographs ( and, indeed, in your diagram above ). It was designed to assist with pad retraction. Whether it matters that this cannot happen with the Zeus pistons , or whether a different style of pad should be used, I don't know , but it is right to say that most modern setups do not bother with the retraction device

[Heuer]

Yes, the original Jaguar pistons included a pad retraction system and the pads located on a stub. With the Zeus callipers in place the pads should just slide in (no locating stub) between the piston and disc. The clip holds them in place.





The Greenstuff pads have the retractor slot so will fit the original Jaguar system but Zeus don't use the retractor. That was my experience when I replaced the rear pads on my Zeus system with Greenstuff from what I recall.

[I-Wen Foo]

Thanks! Will give it a go...

I-Wen

[mgcjag]

Hi All.....advice needed please.....a friend has just purchased replacement greenstuff front pads ( as in the photo a couple of entries above) for his standard series 1 calipers, although the pads have the slot to fit over the retractor stub on the piston they do not engage the stub & so will not be pulled back when the piston retracts.....the pads are the correct part no as supplied by one of the prefered suppliers......is it acceptable to just let the pad "float" or should we go for the original style where they attach to the stub... Thanks Steve

[christopher storey]

Steve : the lug or stub MUST go within that slot on the back of the pad, (otherwise the piston will not be touching the backing of the pad so as to exert pressure correctly ) but it does not really matter if it will not pull the pad itself back , since none of the modern systems use a retraction device

[Heuer]

Agree with Christopher - providing the pad back sits correctly on the piston the action of the retraction stub is irrelevant. Usually a slight disc offset pushes the pad away from the surface.

[mgcjag]

Hi.. thanks for the replies......Yes the stub does fit into the slot on the back of the pad & the piston touches the backing plate of the pad just suprised they are not made as a replica of the original to grip the stub & be pulled back, however if you think it will be ok will give it a try...Steve

[kingzetts]

I personally prefer the greenstuff design where the slot for the stub on the piston is open instead of engaging the stub.

I had problems with a set of "original" pads where the metal backplate of the pad was too thick to slide under the stub, so either you had to hammer the pad home in which case net time you needed to remove it, it would have been a " remove the caliper first" job, or cut the stub off. Neither option was appealing so the greenstuff pads were a godsend!

E type disc brakes were a very early design, and experience in the field proved that the "auto retraction" mechanism was simply not necessary, which is why you never see anything similar on later cars, and I've never had any brake dragging issues.