Rob Beere - New Products

[Heuer]

It has been a while since I surfed over to Rob Beere's web site but I see he has a few new products available:

Vented rear discs:


Twin ended servo for 3.8 and 4.2:


Spin on filter removal tool:


Magnetic filter add-on:


Quite a few other interesting bits: http://www.rob-beere-racing.co.uk/newproducts.html

[Dave K]

David,

I was up at Rob's just before Christmas when he fitted the new servo to my E and he showed me the rear vented disc set up which is basically taken from a S2 and will now fit a S1.
Looks a very good kit for the money if nothing else it will stop the diff seals from melting with heat.
I wouldn't mind getting that and coupling it up to an ETF front brake system with that lot in place and my new servo I could see the engine and body coming off the car under severe braking :D

I also have one of the oil spin on adpator tools.

Dave

[Heuer]

Dave

What is the servo conversion like?

[1954Etype]

No point fitting vented on a road car.

[Dave K]

David,

I am very pleased with it to be honest, as Rob says on his web page the braking is progressive but very positive. My old Dunlop bellows servo despite having a complete rebuild with genuine Dunlop parts never quite hit the mark. I would have to strip it every couple of years and grease up the shaft and it would seem OK but it gradually decayed over a period of use and sometimes (often) I was left with the unnerving feeling it wasn't working at all. It would lock up the brakes but it really took some pressure to do it. The only thing I don't like with Rob's set up is the st.st flexi pipes which run all the way around the car as does the vacuum pipe.

When I get a chance I will re route all the pipes and make them solid. I know the reason it is done in flexi is to make it easy to ship the whole item. I will post some photos when i get a chance but I'm just so busy at work and at home with building projects.

Dave

[Dave K]

Angus,

On the front or rear or both?

Dave

[1954Etype]

Dave,

Both. I spoke to a lot of people (racers, hard road chargers etc) who all gave me pretty much the same response. If you are driving on public roads and need vented discs, you aredriving waaaay to fast. Tony Batten fitted vented discs (Tony is an ex racer who still holds a lap record for a junior formula somewhere) and he maintains that you don't really need them. I fitted the Wilwood vented to my current car and don't notice the difference. I passengered Steve Wilks up the Prescott hill climb in his standard 3.8 FHC and crossplies. He could lock up the standard brakes with no problem. If you can do that, the only way to improve stopping power is to go for ABS.

[Heuer]

You guys clearly have not done enough mountain passes! I have vented and cross drilled front discs and the brakes have overheated many times on me. This usually shows itself as the pedal becoming very hard and a distinct lack of retardation. Other problems have included boiling brake fluid, brake fade and pad/disc glazing. The worst descents are the very slow ones on single track roads and hairpin bends as you are on the brakes almost constantly and speeds are only 15mph, so no air flow. Last year we had a problem coming down Mont Ventoux mostly because of the mad cyclists coming the other way and wobbling all over the road - again it is low speed braking that gets you. If you are going to keep to normal roads then vented discs are probably not necessary but if you are thinking of doing the Pyreness, Stelvio or Grossglockner (pretty essential to any E-Type's CV) you will most certainly need them. I have to say the 2.88 diff does not help if you need to use engine braking though!

[christopher storey]

Personally, I would not go for ventilated discs, but I think David has a point . When in a friend's 2+2 we did the Stelvio and assorted other passes from Austria to Italy to Switzerland last Autumn , it was very noticeable that at one stage, in the very circumstances he describes ( slow ) , I got a long pedal . It did not affect ultimate stopping power, but it is disconcerting . We had changed the fluid just before setting off from the UK , so it was not that it had degraded , but that it was getting near its boiling point, which may in itself have been lowered by the effects of altitude . The problem is that continual light contact between pad and disc transmits a lot of heat to the caliper

[Heuer]

I change the fluid and put in fresh pads if necessary (new pads are thicker and insulate the callipers from disc heat) after any trip that involves steep declines. Going up the Stelvio is no real problem, coming down is a different matter - engine overheats one way, brakes overheat the other!

As Christopher says, it is very disconcerting finding brake problems quickly developing when the only run-off is over the cliff edge - kind of takes the edge off your holiday. I also notice, in these circumstances, modern cars leave you standing such is their brake technology. I think ventilated front discs are worthwhile doing and, if you have the IRS apart, the rears as well - I can see no disadvantage apart from cost.

[Dave K]

That's all very interesting but you have missed the most important point of having drilled and vented discs especially at the front.........and that is they look really cool along with a nice shiny well styled calipers so in my book they are a must have. :D

Next on the shopping list.

Dave

[Heuer]

Personally I think funky callipers do not suit the E-Type as they detract from the wire wheels. I like (and use) Zeus callipers for that reason.

Spot the calliper!:

[1954Etype]

That's all very interesting but you have missed the most important point of having drilled and vented discs especially at the front.........and that is they look really cool along with a nice shiny well styled calipers so in my book they are a must have. :D

Next on the shopping list.

Dave

Behave yourself Mr Kerr! (Or get your Volvos painted yellow ala Porsche ceramics).

[Heuer]

Don't do it Dave - the 'Max Power' days are behind you :D

[vipergts]

Got to be one or the other with the E....whatever gets you going.

Personally I've had enough of keeping stuff absolutely original and I'm going to rebel with my S1

I'm going to bring it to a good fast useable and safe standard and enjoy :)

[PeterCrespin]

I'm going to bring it to a good fast useable and safe standard and enjoy :)

If can consistently outdrive a good standard E-type, you're a good driver. They aren't dragstrip rockets but you can't drive quicker on a public road than a good S1 is capable of delivering IMHO. I would leave out your first four adjectives and just get it correct to standard. Not slavishly concours, but still.

When I was racing it was very rarely the equipment that kept people back, though you'd never believe it from paddock conversations. A skilled person on standard machinery could run rings around most people's tuned-up wotsits. You might want to get performance driving tuition and leave the car standard. That way you can improve the performance and safety of any car you drive without lifting a spanner.

[Larry Wade]

Pete's got a good point. Performance driving schools are supposed to be the most legal fun you can have once married. On top of that it's a safety investment!!

I don't have vented disks. There's been more than once when I wished I did.

Dave's right that long mountain passes can burn up your brakes no matter how good you are at not dragging them, at carrying a lot of speed through corners and engine braking and never, ever accelerating in the straights. In the Western US even if you everything right you can trash your brakes. Their are a fair number of passes higher than 3,000 meters. You accelerate just by pointing your car downhill.

I've also had problems in the Malibu mountains. There are a couple roads that are so incredibly tight, that your brakes will be smoking well before reaching the bottom (which is only ~8 km long and ~800 m down..but the corners are 10-20 mph).

I've got a stock setup right now (except for green stuff pads). If I win the lotto I'll change the brakes.

Larry

[Heuer]

On the subject of driving instruction I spent two days in the company of John Lyons pf the High Performance Club some years back. It was one of the most stressful things I have ever undertaken as John totally demolished every part of my road driving skills with constant correction. After a day and a half of this I thought '!%*" you' and just drove like a man possessed. John fell silent and sat there smiling - I was now driving the way he wanted me to and he has been at my side (in my mind) ever since and most certainly kept me and the car from harm. Well worth doing if you are up to it. Later on John and I took the E-Type out for a day and we spent time at Millbrook testing grounds were we found the car could easily do 150mph on the bowl and, in John's hands, was faster than a new Aston Martin Vantage (with the AM test driver at the wheel) around the race circuit.

Well worth doing.