Front callipers seized

[spannermedonky]

Thanks for the replies, most helpfull. Its kind of my fault as the brake fluid has been manky for a few years but all the niples were rusted solid so I couldnt change it and wait for the enevitable.
I've contacted one of the sellers on Ebay to supply a full set of callipers, sould be around £120. Ive also ordered new stainless hoses.
I'll get my local garage to do the work as they can get the car up in the air and do all 4 corners and have a decent bleeding setup.
Hopefuly it should cost less than a grand including new EBC pads and discs.
Thanks again for the advice, cant grumble too much as this car hasn't asked for much in the last 12 years.

[Georgeandkira]

What mileage on your '01 LPTJoe? Was it "ponded" (flooded)?
Maybe the curtain came down on schedule.

[LPTJoe]

Originally Posted by Georgeandkira

What mileage on your '01 LPTJoe? Was it "ponded" (flooded)?
Maybe the curtain came down on schedule.

93k, and not as far as I'm aware.

[LPTJoe]

Originally Posted by spannermedonky

Hopefuly it should cost less than a grand including new EBC pads and discs.
.

With respect, that's insane.

Is there any reason you HAVE to use EBC parts. A decent set of Blueprint or Comline discs and pads will work perfectly well and should cost less than £100 for a full set front and back.

Then- £120 for your calipers, Pagid brake hoses are circa £50-£60 for a set from ECP and are very good. Any garage charging you more than three hours labour at £50-£60 an hour to change discs/pads/hoses is having your trousers down.

I don't know where you're getting the £1000 figure from, but as far as I'm concerned I'd be very upset to see anyone spending more than £450 all in for parts/labour here.

HTH.

[spannermedonky]

Yeah got a bit carried away with the EBC stuff I'm afraid, anyhow my reckoning is;

All discs and pads £526
Wezmoto stainless brake lines £65 (most seem to be on quite a long lead time)
All calipers aprox £120 (still waiting for reply)
Labour aprox 3 hours £180

So looking at about £891.

Could have gone the pattern route and saved £400 but wanted something a bit different to go with the over lander theme of the car. I've used EBC stuff in the past but I'm not realistically expecting to see huge improvements in braking.

[stuart bowes]

Originally Posted by LPTJoe

..A decent set of Blueprint or Comline discs and pads will work perfectly well and should cost less than £100 for a full set front and back

discs AND pads
front AND back
£100??

surely not, I'd be worried they were made of tinfoil.. I know I went a bit overboard and got Brembos for a car that is nothing more than a family cruiser but still .. that was about £350 and I didnt feel like I was overpaying

[spannermedonky]

Originally Posted by stuart bowes

discs AND pads
front AND back
£100??

surely not, I'd be worried they were made of tinfoil.. I know I went a bit overboard and got Brembos for a car that is nothing more than a family cruiser but still .. that was about £350 and I didnt feel like I was overpaying

I feel a bit better now

I would love to know what the main dealer would charge for this.

[LPTJoe]

Honestly -Comline or Blueprint are decent aftermarket brands, and IMO just as good as anything else.

Outside of the motor trade they're perhaps not well known brands, but they're made in the UK and fitted by garages up and down the country all day, day in day out without issues. They're also priced sensibly- Pop over to eBay and search "Comline discs and pads V70" and have a look at what some of the big suppliers such as 'CarPartsInMotion' are selling them for. They're generally not copied as the brands aren't well enough known to make counterfeit production worth while.

FWIW I'm running them across three different cars and have used them for years, I honestly rate them as being better than Brembo (Or at least the Brembo discs ECP sell) which I've seen rust up and warp in short order more than once.

As with all car parts, there's an element of "Emporrer Wears No Clothes". I suppose it's just having the nous to work out that whilst nobody should be fitting cheap Chinese brake discs, a decent quality trade spec aftermarket option will make little to no difference on a 170 hp 20 year old Volvo.

[stuart bowes]

oh i agree it should make little or no difference, my boss has literally a stable of racing cars and they get all the top products because they literally last about 2 or 3 races but a normal car, you should get many years out of them maxing out at like 90mph and most of its life at 30mph

I wouldn't agree that Brembo are in any way substandard though, I've put them on 4 or 5 cars now and they're solid lumps, I've never had to replace the discs twice. admitedly my cars tend to go 50k-100k-scrap

come to think of it im hard pushed to think of a time I've replaced pads twice

[LPTJoe]

Yep, by no means am I saying that Brembo aren't up to par as a manufacturer, but they're not really a premium product either. They're certainly no better than the usual aftermarket options like Comline/BluePrint or even TRW as mentioned. For the most part they trade on their former glory and association with motorsport and trebble the price so as to prey on the vulnerable/impressionable.

Perhaps having had experience in the motor trade has made me jaded, but honestly, the £350 you've spent on Brembo discs and pads would have been better invested in £120 worth of Blueprint or Mintex items with the £230 saved spent on pizza and beer.

Either way, I'm definitely not looking to get into a bun fight over this! We're all here to try to help each other with tips and knowledge, the point I'd make is that garages up and down the country aren't fitting Brembo or ATE brakes, they're fitting decent/standard aftermarket stuff. No puppies are dying, no nuns are being run over, customers aren't coming back with problems or worn out brakes less than a year later otherwise they'd all go out of business.