KEEPING
DELTAS
DRIVING
Lancia Delta Integrale specialists and enthusiasts
Better than new!
Barry modified the brakes on his fine looking Delta a couple of years ago. Advised by 'dogwasher' on the Evo forum, Barry fitted Fiat Coupe front discs to the front of his car, using Renault Clio 225 Brembo calipers with adaptor mounting brackets to squeeze them.
At the rear Integrale vented front discs were used with VW Golf calipers, again with adaptor brackets.
VW Golf calipers and Integrale front discs on Barry's rear end
The time came for the calipers to be refurbished, so Barry removed the calipers and stripped them down. He removed the pistons, seals, dust seals, and all the fittings.
The calipers were thoroughly degreased and all the parts were inspected. The rear calipers were still quite new, so they just needed a cleaning up.The Brembo fronts needed new dust seals, so Barry also replaced the pistons and piston seals too.
FRENTECH
BRAKING
FB
All the replacement brake parts were obtained from Frentech-UK in Burnley, at a modest cost. Barry says Frentech have a large stock of parts, and the staff were very helpful.
With the calipers stripped down Barry gave them a good preparation for their new paintwork. He thoroughly etched the metalwork down with wet and dry paper, removing all the old paint and giving the metal a good smooth and receptive surface.
Barry then carefully masked off all the mating surfaces, the piston bores, and the brake pipe and bleed nipple holes.
Using spray cans, Barry gave the calipers a light dusting of metal primer, enough to key into the metal, but not too much to leave wet paint in any corners. After this had properly dried, Barry gave the calipers a light de-nib, then after a good can shaking he sprayed the brake units with Mars red basecoat. Several coats of this quick drying finish were applied, then the calipers were carefully taken into the house, and left by a radiator to dry for a few days.
When Barry was happy that the basecoat was properly hardened, he pulled off the masking tape and gently rubbed the units down with a
fine wet and dry paper.
By this time the Ebay ordered, 90mm long, white vinyl Brembo stickers had arrived, these were carefully applied to the calipers. Barry checked these were properly adhered, as the next step was to
clear lacquer the calipers and over the decals.
After remasking the calipers, the clear lacquer was applied. Again from a spray can, several coats of clear were applied, each light coat followed by warming with a hot air gun.
Cold weather can leave a dull finish to cellulose single pack paint, especially the very thin spray can paint. So Barry kept the calipers nice and warm between coats to ensure a good gloss finish.
The units were then returned to the house and the paint allowed to harden for a few days.
The finished caliper,
a work of art!
When Barry was sure the calipers could be handled, he fitted the new seals, and he fitted the new dust seals to the top of the pistons, then pushed the pistons into the calipers. Barry used plenty of hydraulic brake grease and says the job went very smoothly.
The calipers were fitted back on the Delta and new Green Stuff pads were fitted to the rears, these are Golf items of course, there was plenty of life in the front pads, so they were refitted to the calipers.
The brake system was filled with DOT4 fluid and bled up. I would think the brake bleeding was done very carefully, not to dribble on the
new paintwork!
As always Barry's results
are spectacular!
The under regions of Barry's Delta are truly beautiful! We thank Barry for his report, and look forward to learning about the next project.
Previously, Barry had made new rear brake back plates for the Delta, the originals were of course too small to cover the front discs now fitted there.
Barry made a template of the hub, and cut a 300mm disc from a sheet of 1.5mm aluminium, he cut and filed the new back plate to fit around the Delta's rear end hub fittings.
This is, of course, cutting a long job short! Barry makes these tricky engineering jobs sound quite simple! When the splash guards were finished, they were etch primed and sprayed black. They are shown below fitted to the rear hubs, perfectly complementing the bigger brake discs.
Here's the finished rear caliper, assembled on the rear hub, with its logo, and Green Stuff pads, showing the Integrale vented front disc with its new back plate.
The modified rear bracing bar can just be seen, and the neatly fitted and secured wheel spacers, all finished to a high standard.
