AP Racing Brakes - Job Done
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Forum Name: BMW ///M Power
Forum Discription: Ask your BMW M Power Technical Questions here (M1, M2 hybrids, M3, M5 & M6)
URL: http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=10988
Printed Date: 06-May-2024 at 22:31
Topic: AP Racing Brakes - Job Done
Posted By: lancelotII
Subject: AP Racing Brakes - Job Done
Date Posted: 04-October-2004 at 07:10
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I got my car back at the weekend after having the brakes upgraded for a set of AP Racing jobbies and having a rose jointed gear lever fitted. Firstly, Geoff Steel Racing who did the work are really nice to deal with, the car was spotless when I got it back, washed and polished and I mean polished, tyres blacked. They bent over backwards to help and swapped my track tyres onto my new track wheels and balanced them while I waited, all free of charge.
So what's it like ? Well the brakes are brand new, so they are a bit dead at the moment, I really need to bed them in properly, but the pedal is lovely and firm, they pull up straight and true and not an indication of any brake judder. They also look they absolute nuts (pics to follow). You can feel though, as they heat up, that they are really reassuring. They have also converted the front wheels to studs and nuts rather than the fiddly bolts, which should make wheel swaps a doddle. Rears to be done soon. The gear lever is something else. I had a short shift kit before, I have also used a few rose jointed levers but nothing like this. It's a work of art (again pics to follow), the whole assembly is all metal, no rubber or plastic anywhere so when you select a gear it clunks into gear. There is also some noise when accelerating hard as there is nothing to absorb the noise but the shift is so positive you just find yourself rowing up and down the box for fun. Words can't really describe the action but think Prodrive rally car with H pattern box and you are probably close. Roops |
Replies:
Posted By: Jonners
Date Posted: 04-October-2004 at 07:20
| Great stuff - looking forward to the pics |
Posted By: coupe king
Date Posted: 04-October-2004 at 07:57
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Nice! the AP's really look the business! How much did they tan you for that, if you dont mine me asking? The short shift & the AP's??? ------------- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v189/coupe_king/IMG_1101-1.jpg - My Car - Click Here 
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Posted By: lancelotII
Date Posted: 04-October-2004 at 08:43
| The AP's are about £1350 and the gear lever is £250, but don't think of the gear lever as a short shift. It is the complete assembley linkage and all, custom made. It doesn't retain any of the original stuff even the gear knob gets binned as the shaft is about twice the diameter of the spindly original, it's also taller and you get a great big turned ali. knob (ooohh matron...) |
Posted By: coupe king
Date Posted: 04-October-2004 at 08:52
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Cool! ------------- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v189/coupe_king/IMG_1101-1.jpg - My Car - Click Here
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Posted By: M BLUR
Date Posted: 04-October-2004 at 10:29
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How much for the shift stick conversion m8.. ------------- www.lbmracing.com 
1998 Zeemax M Roadster 2005 X5 3.0D Sport 1991 Esprit SE Race car |
Posted By: lancelotII
Date Posted: 04-October-2004 at 11:16
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The full details are on their site
http://www.geoffsteelracing.co.uk/ - http://www.geoffsteelracing.co.uk/ I don't know fitting costs as it was all in with the brake kit fitting. I am sure they would give you a cost over the phone. |
Posted By: lancelotII
Date Posted: 04-October-2004 at 18:17
Here's a couple of pics. More to follow when I get a chance to have the wheels off.
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Posted By: petesm3
Date Posted: 05-October-2004 at 08:24
| Will the brakes fit under standard 16in wheels? |
Posted By: lancelotII
Date Posted: 05-October-2004 at 11:37
| They absolutely will. I have 16's for road and 15" compomotives for track. |
Posted By: Ian Godney
Date Posted: 05-October-2004 at 11:51
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Here is a pic of the gear stick I bought from Moseley M/sport , is it the same as this ?
------------- www.godspeedbrakes.co.uk |
Posted By: lancelotII
Date Posted: 05-October-2004 at 12:06
| Looks very similar. I never saw mine before it went into the car, but looking at the build of that one I can well belive that mine is very similar, it feels very business like. |
Posted By: BMG M3
Date Posted: 05-October-2004 at 12:30
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That must be a very neat and compact install. I'm surprised there's enough room for a 4 pot caliper to fit behind the stock 16" wheel ...good job !
Is that a brake proportioning valve I see ? |
Posted By: M BLUR
Date Posted: 05-October-2004 at 13:09
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Not it's a Pepsi can.. ------------- www.lbmracing.com
1998 Zeemax M Roadster 2005 X5 3.0D Sport 1991 Esprit SE Race car |
Posted By: jon90
Date Posted: 05-October-2004 at 16:26
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Roops,
Nice bit of kit.I expect you will be going to Oulton park then 
ps;Someone has stuck a screwdriver in your centre console,in case you haven`t noticed 
Jon |
Posted By: lancelotII
Date Posted: 06-October-2004 at 04:23
I have been trying to get it out ever since I got the car back......but it's got this sort of ratchety bit in the middle....can't work it out myself..... 
(Yes it is a brake proportioning valve..) |
Posted By: Jonners
Date Posted: 06-October-2004 at 08:46
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Lancelot
Have you experienced any MOT problems with the proportioning valve?? One tester told me that it's a fail if it's adjustable by the driver when driving but have seen them on several road cars. Want to do this myself but car is driven on road. |
Posted By: lancelotII
Date Posted: 06-October-2004 at 09:05
| Can't possibly see how that can be the case. A WRC car has to pass an MOT, so how do they manage. I haven't had to go through the annual farce yet, so will let you know when I do. |
Posted By: Ian Godney
Date Posted: 06-October-2004 at 09:12
The WRC's are too new to go through an MOT , I have never had any problems taking any of my rally cars for MOT's with these fitted , sounds like the tester was a teste  ------------- www.godspeedbrakes.co.uk |
Posted By: lancelotII
Date Posted: 06-October-2004 at 11:05
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Ian, that's kind of what I meant. Just about any rally car worth it's salt will have an adjustable brake bias and they all have to have MOT's. Mind you, I have had testers try and fail my car with coilovers on. Comments like
"well that's f*cked" "err no, the bottom of the shocks are rose jointed so they may well sit at an angle" "well you might believe that...." " At this point I bite my lip and struggle to hold my tongue. One of the reasons why a hate the MOT test farce, is that I see so many sh*t heaps on the road that clearly haven't got MOT's, but some jobs worth wants to fail my car because the hoses for the brake ducts have a few scuffs on them. |
Posted By: 215m3
Date Posted: 06-October-2004 at 11:32
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Brakes looking good Roops!! ------------- Toby http://www.bmminiparts.com - New Genuine BMW & Mini OEM parts - www.bmminiparts.com 1987 E30 M3 with turbo being added |
Posted By: John W
Date Posted: 06-October-2004 at 18:24
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Roops,
I am well impressed. You gotta love AP. Just totally cool. And I'd love to play with your shifter.....OOOOO-ERRRR!! You need to ditch those old leather seats as a matter of urgency. Surely lightening the car must be this winter's job? Get REAL Recaro shells in, and then I will be impressed. 
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Posted By: lancelotII
Date Posted: 07-October-2004 at 05:21
| Your right JW. Seats will be going, and I hope to remove the carpets to get some of the weight out, but I want to replace the carpets with some sort of tailored/trimmed mats, after having painted the floor. I don't want the stolen recovered look more the Porsche CS look !!! |
Posted By: shoestring7
Date Posted: 07-October-2004 at 05:30
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Roops, Please let me know if you do find a supplier of lightweight mats, I'm also going the ClubSport route. BTW have you tried Southbound? They do a lot of trim and carpet work in the P-car world, and have a good reputation. SS7 |
Posted By: John W
Date Posted: 07-October-2004 at 09:11
Sounds good Roops. I think it is really imprtant to detail the cabin well when you strip it. I think the cage and floor should have a really nice paint finish. Instead of mats, have you seen those steel plates with grippy finish? Rally cars have them. They are about the same size and shape as a mat. Just food for thought. |
lancelotII wrote:Posted By: lancelotII
Date Posted: 07-October-2004 at 10:49
| Nice bit of chequer plate, I think thats what your thinking of. But your right I want it to be neat and tidy. |
Posted By: John W
Date Posted: 07-October-2004 at 13:58
Aye, that's the stuff. I dead technical minded, me. |
Posted By: DAWIEM3
Date Posted: 07-October-2004 at 16:45
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Hello Roops,
Did you do anything to the rears as well ??? I see we are all up to Oulton on the 23rd so am keen to see how she goes. Your shifter if similar to mine will be awesome, positive shift feel but will tend to vibrate a bit. Are you sure you want to put your car through a diet, as it is still a wicked car, have you thought of the one for the road and another for the track route. Lets hope its dry and Jon behaves, and moves over instead of being a rolling police block.
See you all there on the 23rd. ------------- E30 M3 Road car ( Now in Hongkong ) E30 M3 Track Car S14 2.0L 2002 in progress E30 C2 2.7 Alpina E36 M3 3.2 EVO |
Posted By: lancelotII
Date Posted: 08-October-2004 at 05:05
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Dave, I left the rears for the moment. However, it does have an adjustable bias valve fitted now, so i can modulate front to rear pressure.
I have thought about the diet, but I can't ever see how you can really enjoy an e30 M3 on the road, so I am happy to carefully lighten the car without going mad. Will see you on the 23rd. Rgds Roops ps Do you have a good method for flushing the cooling system |
Posted By: DAWIEM3
Date Posted: 08-October-2004 at 12:19
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Roops,
History shows I normally take the engines apart before the coolant needs changing, and hence all the parts get pressure washed before assembly. The problem is the thermostat, it stops you flushing it out, unless you fit one without the restrictor in place for flushing and connect the hose pipe into the nipple at the back of the head. Remove the top rad hose and circulate fresh water for how long you want. Any one else with ideas.
Regards,
Dave. ------------- E30 M3 Road car ( Now in Hongkong ) E30 M3 Track Car S14 2.0L 2002 in progress E30 C2 2.7 Alpina E36 M3 3.2 EVO |
Posted By: stevesingo
Date Posted: 08-October-2004 at 12:44
By draining the coolant from the lowest point on the system you will rid the system of about 75% of the old coolant. I then refill the car with fresh water and run the car up to tempreture (allow the fan to cut in a few times or drive for 10 mins). This will dilute the old coolant and when cool enough (Can you hold the radiator hose for 2mins?) drain it again. You could repeat this as many times as you want to satisfy yourself that you have none of the old coolant left. Then you can refill with new coolant. There will always be some coolant remaining in the engine after draining so to ensure the correct concentration half the full cooling system capacity add that amount of anti-freeze and then top up with water. Steve |
Posted By: jon90
Date Posted: 08-October-2004 at 15:20
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Dave,
Who said south african`s don`t have a sense of humour
Unfortunately my car has no tax,mot and the insurance is due on the 26th Oct. Jon |
Posted By: Houlbt
Date Posted: 09-October-2004 at 05:51
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Haven't we been busy.... impressive work there Roops... I can see I'll have to be asking you all the details and then getting the credit card dusted off ;)
It's been a while...... ------------- www.houlbrook.com |
Posted By: John W
Date Posted: 09-October-2004 at 06:36
| Do it, Tom. |
Posted By: DAWIEM3
Date Posted: 09-October-2004 at 15:54
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Welcome back Tom.
I take it you have been let out on good behaviour then. Jon, sorry you not going to be there mate, now you have ruined all the fun.
Oh yes, Brakes, seems a good setup Roops, have you upgraded the master cyclinder as well to the larger one or left the standard one in place.
------------- E30 M3 Road car ( Now in Hongkong ) E30 M3 Track Car S14 2.0L 2002 in progress E30 C2 2.7 Alpina E36 M3 3.2 EVO |
Posted By: lancelotII
Date Posted: 10-October-2004 at 11:02
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Dave, Std master cylinder is still in place.
Thanks for the tips on coolant flushing, must get it done this week. Good to hear from you Tom. Rgds Roops |
Posted By: Houlbt
Date Posted: 11-October-2004 at 03:53
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lol thanks boys... I'm not married yet regardless of the rumours the Bexley-gossips might be proliferating.
Been settling into a new job and saving a bit of cash following a house pruchase in Jan. I'm selling the E36-M3 (it's going in the trader this week or next) that was in PBMW last month and using the cash to sort the girlfriend out with a Mini Cooper Cab for which I've got a decent delivery date (before xmas) The E30 is coming out of storage, it needs a good service, MOT... sadly don't think this will happen before Oulton in a couple of weeks though. The 17" BBS are for sale... best offer secures so spread the word and I'm going to be running the car on type-r's permanently in future. The carbon airbox/mbe_ecu is waiting to be done and I've got a few other plans on top of that 
All the best gents... will be seeing you soon 
BACK SOON ------------- www.houlbrook.com |
Posted By: John W
Date Posted: 11-October-2004 at 10:11
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Tom,
Your car always looks as hard as nails. Even despite the silly seats.
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