The AK build manual starts at the front end. Good place to start.
I won't document too much what is available in the manual as it is all there.
What is not there is the detail about dealing with reconditioning the donor parts.
I know a lot of folk send the bits away or buy exchange bits that have been refurbished.
I wanted to do as much of the work I can so here is the front end donor parts recon.
Before you do anything, order a box of these:
I swear they are the second best things I have bought after the AK kit itself.
They are robust, use multi times, strong yet fine enough you can feel your work.
After a hard days rust removing your hands will still look like you have been in a nail bar all day.
Brake calipers.
First a note about choice of brakes.
I really wanted to upgrade the brakes to some sexy looking four pot calipers with ventilated discs.
Those that know tell me how the standard XJ40 brakes are built to stop a two ton Jaguar so will have no problem on a Cobra.
Now, here's the thing. It's not just about stopping power. It is also about brake fade, brake balance and feel. I have had brake fade from standard brakes on my BMW 320d. It isn't a great thing to have.
Jon at AK admitted that the standard setup won't really survive more than a lap or two at competition pace on a race track. But after a discussion about spending money on brakes or suspension I decided against instinct to upgrade the suspension.
Rational for this is that these standard Jag brakes will probably work fine, I have them already and I may as well use them. They will do the job, at least on the road and it will be an easy job to upgrade them later if I'm not happy with the performance. At least I'll get some decent EBC pads in there.
So, standard calipers. Easy to strip down but careful with the residual brake fluid, it is horrible stuff.
Remove the bleed screw and let it all drain out.
It may be possible to attach a pressure line and blow the piston out, but you will need air tight connections and when I tried I got a face full of brake fluid mist.
Instead I put the caliper into a vice and pressed the piston further in to the caliper to break any stiction.
Then with a pair of mole grips, padded so as not to mark the piston, tap and pull on the grips to ease it out.
Discard the inner ring seal and all rubber bits. Discard the bleed screw as well, these will all be replaced.
The pistons can be reused if they are not pitted or marked. Clean them up and check the surface for wear or pock marks.
When we are all stripped down it is bath time.
A cheap plastic storage box from one's favourite diy store. Next I need some De-Oxy rust remover which has good reviews so we'll see how well it works.
The answer is it doesn't work very well at all. My advice, don't waste your time and money. Take all the bits that need cleaning to a media blasting outfit. See the later blog '
Rear Differential'
So Terry, how's the brake caliper recon coming along?
Well, funny you should ask. I have finished the paint job and it looks not too bad.
The business about bathing the rust ingrained parts in a rust removing solution is ok up to a point, but it doesn't get rid of the hard encrusted carbuncles of corrosion you see here:
Painting over that is just going to make it look like it has some 'orrible skin disease.
So a session with a various grades of sanding drum on a Dremel followed by three or four coats of E-Tech brake caliper paint and we have something that looks like this:
The caliper hangers are painted in graphite colour, I thought was rather fetching and gives a nice contrast don't you think? I'll do the hubs in the same graphite colour.
Put 3 or 4 coats on by all means, but take note of the surfaces that the brake pads will slide against and only put a single thin coat there or the pads will jam and get gunged up with dried paint.
The sanding or grinding of the rust is messy. Everything within a few yards will get powder coated in a rustic brown colour, including the inside of your nose. Do it outside, with a mask, preferably on a windy day and shower right after.
Now, all that is left is to fit the seals and assemble.
The seal ring fits easily, coat with some brake fluid and pop into place.
The dust cover fits easily enough if you slip it over the piston and offer up the piston with the ring of the dust seal free to slip into the outer groove.
Withe the dust seal seated, push the piston in. Use a lot of brake fluid for lubrication.
Or otherwise use some rubber/brake grease. The red stuff seems to be de rigueur. I used the silicon grease that came with the recon kit.
The piston will require a bit of a squeeze, but it should not require the pressure of a press or vice.
If it doesn't go in with a mighty squeeze of the hand, then get more lube on it.
If it still doesn't go in you are obviously a bit limp wristed. Get the missus to do it.
Last thing is to assemble the caliper on to the hanger with the rubber boots and slide pins.
Do not use the pattern parts. Spend money and use genuine Jag stuff. I tried the pattern boots and they were terrible. They were so loose the slide pins wobbled about like a dick in a top hat. The genuine stuff is way better material.
I have not done the rear caliper recon yet but it will be all basically the same sort of thing.
I used to smear copper grease on the backs of the pads. I haven't done so here. I think things have moved on since the seventies when we used to use it everywhere.
So, here is the finished article:
Note there is no counter sunk screw holding the disk in place. The hubs have no threaded hole so the hole in the disk for the screw remains empty. I assume it won't affect the balance.
The calipers can physically be fitted either side. But when fitted make sure the bleed screw is at the top of the caliper. If fitted so the bleed screw is to the bottom, you'll have hell of a job bleeding the brakes as you won't be able to get the pocket of air out at the top of the caliper.
