nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Made a start on making a DIY brake stopper. Essentially you fix a bolt in place on the strut brace that presses against the brake master cylinder. It stops the brake servo & firewall flexing hence giving stronger braking. The feel is meant to be more solid and precise rather than a soft and delayed reaction time.
Removed just the bracket section I need from the strut brace and gave it a quick clean up:
There's not much meat on it to drill into; the prongs on other strut braces are a lot wider. I measured everything up and if I use an M8 bolt there should still be a few mm left between the drilled hole and the edge of the prong, so the brace should still retain its strength.
But part way through going through different drill bit sizes my battery ran out. I'll have to finish it off tomorrow.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
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Finished off fitting the brake stopper after work today. Started by finishing off drilling the hole in the brace out to 8mm:
Popped to the local hardware store to grab a bolt, a couple of washers and some nuts. Fixed the brace back into position and trial fitted the bolt:
Yep, looks like it's going to work! Removed it all again, copper slipped the bolt right up and reassembled:
Gave it some adjustment then nipped up the nuts:
Not driven it yet so can't comment on its effectiveness, but it was dead easy to do and cost less than a quid for the bolt, washers and nuts.
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Darryl H
Organiser: South Central
Premium Member
Registered: 19th Nov 09
Location: Camberley Drives: Porsche 944
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Nice update, always wondered how much these actually do
|My Corsa|SC|My Instagram|
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nibnob21
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Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
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The reviews seem to be a bit mixed. A lot of people swear by them but I've seen others who aren't quite as convinced. Hence why I thought I'd try the pikey version as opposed to shedding out £40. Nothing lost if it doesn't really work.
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--ToM--
Member
Registered: 23rd Nov 07
Location: Wirral
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If it works spot on , if not its not the prettiest thing to look at is it lol
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by --ToM--
If it works spot on , if not its not the prettiest thing to look at is it lol
If it works, spot on. If not, who's going to be looking inside a grubby standard engine bay anyway? 
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Kyle T
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 04
Location: Selby, North Yorkshire
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I was very sceptical about my brake stopper, bought it drunk 
It actually does firm the braking up a bit - whether it'll translate to any real gain I dunno - but the brakes feel like they got a bit of that "freshly bled" feel to them.
Lotus Elise 111R
Impreza WRX STi
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
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Yeah to be honest most people seem to rate them. I think the people who have been a bit underwhelmed were probably expecting too much from it.
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--ToM--
Member
Registered: 23rd Nov 07
Location: Wirral
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by nibnob21
quote:
Originally posted by --ToM--
If it works spot on , if not its not the prettiest thing to look at is it lol
If it works, spot on. If not, who's going to be looking inside a grubby standard engine bay anyway?
Anyone reading this thread for a start 
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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--ToM--
Member
Registered: 23rd Nov 07
Location: Wirral
User status: Offline
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Lmfao!!!
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djgritt
Premium Member
Registered: 1st Nov 07
Location: Dorset Drives: Focus ST / Hyundai i20N
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Nice cheap addition.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Gave it an adjustment last night and you could definitely notice the difference driving it today. Brake pedal definitely feels firmer.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Nice day today.
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BeetleGav
Member
Registered: 27th Jun 10
Location: lancashire, nelson
User status: Offline
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Looks good
Thought about a square front plate?
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
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quote:
Originally posted by BeetleGav
Looks good
Thought about a square front plate?
Cheers
Briefly, but it's done to death and I don't mind the standard one. Plus there are a few holes in the bumper under the plate so I'd have to faff with sorting them out too.
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BeetleGav
Member
Registered: 27th Jun 10
Location: lancashire, nelson
User status: Offline
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Yeah I've got 4 holes on show with my bumper, but on darker colours it doesn't show really.
Looks great eitherway
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pow
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
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Looks lovely, miss my Mk1 so much, evil bitch making me sell it for the camper 
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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They're cheap, you could easily get a decent one for your half of the camper
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pow
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
User status: Offline
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I have a house now  I'd like a Mk2.5 VT Sport now as well really.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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Turns out what I thought was a leaking gasket on the water pump inlet pipe is the water pump itself. Poop.
So I've bought the following to give me something to do on my week off next week 
Water pump
Water pump gasket
Water pump inlet pipe gasket
Water pump inlet pipe o-ring
Cam belt
Tensioner pulley
Tensioner spring
Idler pulley
PAS belt
Alternator belt
Crankshaft front oil seal
Woodruff key
Coolant
De-ionised water
Pricey. Only reason I didn't get the cam shaft oil seals is because the place was out of stock (I know mine are fine but thought I'd take the opportunity to change them while I had everything off) and I haven't bought a new rocker cover gasket and CAS o-ring because I changed them not long ago so will just reuse them.
Also the chap who I bought the car off, who lives nearby, is lending me his crank and cam gear locking tools; so that saves me a few quid.
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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So here's the leak. Coming from the crank pulley, right beneath the water pump:
Bit of progress made today. Removed the radiator, air box and intake pipework, power steering belt...few other bits and pieces.
Flushed the radiator and the water came out clear straight away which is a good sign.
Ready tomorrow to remove the water pump, pulleys and cam belt.
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--ToM--
Member
Registered: 23rd Nov 07
Location: Wirral
User status: Offline
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Nice one for getting stuck in, was up your neck of the woods this week nice place !
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nibnob21
Premium Member
Registered: 16th May 10
Location: South Derbyshire
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by --ToM--
Nice one for getting stuck in, was up your neck of the woods this week nice place !
Not going to fix itself and I'm too much of a tight bastard to pay someone else to do it haha.
I'm just outside Derby, but yeah it's not too bad. From Devon originally so most people think I'm mad for moving away, but here's where the work is!
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--ToM--
Member
Registered: 23rd Nov 07
Location: Wirral
User status: Offline
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Little over I was, dunno how far outside Derby that is lol I was there doing a course.
Belts are nice and easy on them no nasty surprises so you should be sound
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