The 'E' Type Forum

Hi All

My brake callipers are shot front & rear so looking at either Zeus or cooper craft upgrades any advice would be appreciated cheers John

Zeus have served me well for 18 years and 50,000 miles. They are the original spheroidal graphite iron versions that evolved from use on London Taxis - best testing ground in the World covering millions of miles. Not experience of the more expensive aluminium billet versions but they look a bit bling to me for an E-Type. You also might want to consider the Fosseway brakes.

I fitted coopercraft on the front. Four years and a few thousand miles and they are fine....they don't look bling to me

Coopercraft look fairly original and I like mine. If you're on a budget consider using the Volvo 240 calipers. You do need to modify them and turn down the front discs but they're a lot cheaper than buying 4 new original E Type replacements. You can even buy wide ones and fit front ventilated discs if you think that is of use to you.

I have had Zeus on the fronts for nearly 25 years and they have been faultless. AFAIK Zeus and Coopercraft are now the same and come from Dunkeswell in Devon

I just wish companies such as Coopercraft, Fosseway and Zeus (with their billet aluminum versions) would drop the 'go-faster' logos and badges on their front calipers. Don't see why we should pay for their products and allow them free and bold advertising. If SNGB stamped their logo on their replacement parts there would be an outcry so why do we even consider fitting parts that shout out 'I am ruining the look of your E-Type and you are paying for the privilege of telling the world about us'. Maybe Martin Robey will press all the panels with their logo (visible on the wings would be nice) and BAS will imprint their logo on the leather seat covers and carpets.







Rant over!

Completely agree David...absolutely 100%....it is the single factor which puts me off all of these (otherwise probably excellent) products
Jonathan

Would there be an outcry if the reproduction parts were stamped in Chinese

We are looking for parts appropriate and period to the E Type so 'made in China' is irrelevant. As far as I know there are no other 'E' Type parts manufacturers who insist on claiming their fame by such overt promotion. We just want discrete upgraded parts and leave it at that. Examples of thoughtfull suppliers:

SNGB
Martin Robey
Richard Smith
Hutsons
Burlen
MWS
Replica Marston radiator suppliers
Instrument restorers
Moto Lita
Pilkingtons
123 Ignition
Cambridge Motorsports Radiators
Classic Fabs/Ecosse/Bell exhausts
BAS/Suffolk & Turley/MCT/GB Trim interiors and hoods

They all survive witbout sticking their names in full view!

Can their names not be painted over? That way you get the improved brakes and hide the bling?

and then we get the other side where we want to add the Marston, Trico, Lucas labels... Not as overt I agree, at least until you open the bonnet.

First thing I did when I bought my car was to peel off all the stickers the seller (a commercial reseller of E-Types) had stuck on the screens.

I have a pair of Zeus calipers for restoration which do not have any marks visible through the wheel, unlike the ones above. In fact you'd be pushed to tell them apart from the S2 calipers my car currently wears.

Gfhug wrote:Can their names not be painted over? That way you get the improved brakes and hide the bling?

They should offer a 'de-badged' option at purchase which would be easy to do.

I asked Fosseway whether they would do that.....they declined...their loss....

Given the quality of some of the parts I've bought recently and service received, I can understand all too well why they don't put their name on the parts.

Likewise rant over.

Simon

My iron Coopercrafts were not badged. That's why I bought them.
Neither are the Volvo Girlings ;-)

Thanks for input on calipers shame it moved to another subject not remotly related to the original question I posted

johnj wrote:Thanks for input on calipers shame it moved to another subject not remotly related to the original question I posted

You got four solid responses on your exact topic John. How many more would you need before it would be OK by you - i.e. not "a shame" for people to go beyond function and verge onto form a bit?

You asked for "any advice" and you got views on functionality plus others on appearance - all of which are directly to do with brake changes and therefore far from "not remotely related".

Rearrange bite/feed/hand etc.

Heuer wrote:

Gfhug wrote:Can their names not be painted over? That way you get the improved brakes and hide the bling?

They should offer a 'de-badged' option at purchase which would be easy to do.

As I understand from conversations with Simon at Fosseway, the logo is etched into the caliper.

If a more discrete look is your thing, Fosseway offer a black on black logo and a silver on silver logo.

By fitting any sort of four pot caliper you are deviating from the original purist look of the car so why not fit a high quality component?
It's only the brakes after all.

Simon

265bhp wrote:I asked Fosseway whether they would do that.....they declined...their loss....

As per the above post, they do offer a more discrete option.

Simon