Easy Brake question

[Gearbox]

Hi All;

         I have a 1973 TC Special with a late 1972 build date.  I understand the front calipers are standard Spitfire and not GT6 like the Elans, but have been finding some conflicting information on the rears.  Does anyone definitively know what the rear drums are off of?  Are they Spitfire? Capri? or Cortina?  Thanks.

[Europaforever]

Hi,

The front calipers attach to caliper brackets that themselves attach to the uprights.
If you look at Rimmer Bros website etc you'll see that set up is from early spitfires (mk1).
They should use type 12 calipers but I understand type 14s can be used (easier to find)
but care has to be taken as the early hubs are rough cast and could potentially rub.

I would like to take the entire front suspension off of a later mk4 spitfire (easy to find)
but I'm not sure if the uprights with the moulded-in caliper brackets are compatiable though
I think they must be. Later hubs are smooth not rough cast, stub axles are spitfire though according
to Serge's VERY helpful website you may need washers.


The rears are GT6 but you have to be careful because mk1 backplates are different to later ones
and there are different brake adjusters for the gt6. Because of this I'm just going to order the rear set up
from a Lotus specialist. There are 2 types of GT6 brake drum too...

After a 2 year break I really am back into Europas again - the above is based on a weeks researching-
although that is for an S2 I believe it should be relevant!

[jbcollier]

The parts are not from Triumph, they are from the same pool of parts manufacturers that all the British car makers used.  So, some parts are interchangeable but few "systems" are.

The rear brakes on the Europa are of two types: manual adjustment with narrow shoes and drums, and automatic adjustment with wider shoes and drums.  The later TCs used the latter, others the former.  The shoes and drums are similar to the set-ups also used by the GT6 though Lotus used different backing plates, wheel cylinder sizes and special balanced drums.

While it's true you do not need to go to a Lotus specialist for parts, it's then up to you to know exactly what you need, and, you fault if you get the wrong parts.

[BDA]

There are a couple of parts cross references, as well as a lot of other great info, on this page: http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/.

[4129R]

I thought the rear drums were from a Hillman Imp.

Am I wrong? 

[jbcollier]

No idea.  GT6 ones also work (both styles) but you may have to balance the wheels on the car which is not that easy to have done these days.

[BDA]

From the Golden Gate Lotus Club parts X-reference (see link above):

late TC, SP   Rear Drum Assembly RH       Girling 64030702

Unfortunately, there was no car listed.

I have a bunch of rear brake parts, including drums, etc. If you're interested, either PM or email me (click on the envelope under my avatar).

[Gearbox]

Surprised that this is not as well defined by now but have been doing a lot or research and this is what I have come up with for a Federal TCS.  I may be wrong, so anyone who actually knows, please chime in.

Front Brakes are from a Spitfire Mk1-Mk3.  But this has been well documented, so no new information here.

Rear brakes was the topic of this thread as the diagram in my WSM shows only the Spitfire type of rear drum brakes on the earlier Europas.  I believe these were on all Europas up until the Twin Cam, but not on the Specials.  But I did read that some Federal Twin Cams also had them.  But the Twin Cam Special were completely different.  But I do believe that the rear drums from a TCS are from a late model Mk IV GT6.  The newer system has an automatic adjuster built into the slave whereas the earlier models had a manual adjuster at the 6 O'clock position.  So the rear plate, slave, shoes, and drum are specific to this model. 

The usual Triumph distributors appear to have the slave and shoes, but I am having a hard time locating anyone listing the drums.  Nothing for the back plate.  The slave is listed on the Triumph sites a being 11/16" bore, or 0.6875" and the only listing I found for the Lotus slave was 0.70".  Not sure if this is a rounding issue or they had actually made a 0.70" slave, but it's really close and not sure if it makes a difference.  But the cost is less than half on all these Triumph parts.  So if the parts are indeed the same, why not?  Again, if anyone has any knowledge that these are completely different parts, please let me know.  Thanks.       

[jbcollier]

The rear brakes are NOT Spitfire!  Especially as the Spitfire brakes are an inch smaller in diameter!  They are similar to the GT6, see above for details.  GT6 drums are available but, again, they are not identical.  Lotus ran into rear wheel balance issues with the Europa so they specified balanced drums.  You may, or may not, run into balance issues if you use GT6 drums.

GT6 Mk IV    The Spitfire had a Mk IV (right before the 1500) but the GT6 came in MK I though Mk III (GT6+)

Rear cylinders are available in 5/8, 11/16, 0.70, 3/4, and 7/8.  Outwardly they are identical. If you do not want to deal with Lotus specific suppliers search British parts suppliers by style and size (British Parts NW is good for this).

The front brakes are indeed SIMILAR to those used on the Spitfire but Europas used different front pad material so you may upset your brake balance by using Spitfire front pads.