Strikerman Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Gentlemen, in my dark and distant kit car building and Escort tuning days a good way of upgrading the standard two pot caliper Ford front disc brakes was to purchase Leyland Princess 4 pots calipers,(exactly the same mounting position) modify them with the appropriate spacing kit and fit Capri vented discs. A very worthwhile, economical and practicle performance mod for a fraction of the cost the fancy aluminium jobbies that can be bought today for our Caterhams, that cost anywhere from £550.00 upwards. I have been trawling the web trying to obtain said Princess calipers but to no avail. Seems they have died along with the ****ty car they were fitted to. I have read on some sites that the MG Metro turbo calipers are the same type as the Princess, Can anyone out there verify this please. The deciding factor apparently is the centres distance of mounting bolts. A set of two calipers, the spacer kits and Capri vented discs can be purchased for around £260.00. Quite a saving, the only thing you dont get is the weight saving advantage of the ali ones. But I can live with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 The Caterham std fronts are Spitfire items though, not Ford. At least they used to be. The rears are Sierra calipers on another set of Spit discs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 ISTR that Hi-Spec do pattern Princess callipers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myothercarsa2cv Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 And the standard ones still are Spitfire calipers... So really the Princess ones are no use to you at all ☹️ And the nipple threads are not the same front and rear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Paul Richards Posted December 1, 2011 Area Representative Share Posted December 1, 2011 Just to confirm what others have said. Princess calipers will not fit Caterham uprights which are Spitfire Herald pattern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elie boone Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Besides Princess calipers are very heavy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strikerman Posted December 1, 2011 Author Share Posted December 1, 2011 Ok, so I have it completely wrong. I was under the impression that the disc calipers on the front of my S3 were two pot Ford. I am glad I asked the question as I have got it wrong. So the next question is:- Is there a non specialist four pot caliper out there apart from the pricey ones that will fit these triumph type fittings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeman Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Hi Chris do you mind my asking what has prompted you to go for 4 pot calipers. Certainly don't want to teach you how to suck eggs (it sounds like you've more knowledge than I) but if it's increased efficiency you're after, improvements can be achieved by replacing the pads with mintex 1144, assuming of course that you haven’t already done this. Be lucky!! Martin Edited by - weeman on 1 Dec 2011 21:36:46 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rj Posted December 1, 2011 Share Posted December 1, 2011 Why do you need them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil B Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Hello Strikerman, Your memory is not playing as many tricks with you as you think. Princess calipers are a direct fit on the Caterham upright, I know I had a set on my 1985 car. They do need to be used with Vitesse/GT6 discs, which are 1/2" larger diameter than the std discs. These are solid, so the caliper does not need any spacers. If you are interested I have the Princess calipers from my car sitting in a box on the shelf. I changed to Hi-spec alloy 4 pots as part of a long term upgrade, but the Princess units gave good braking when used with Mintex 1144 pads and drilled discs. They are heavier than the standard Triumph Herald calipers, but if you paired them with a set of alloy hubs and drilled discs, i would estimate that the total unsprung weight would be pretty close. This would certainly be a cheaper way to better brakes than going down the Caterham or other alloy 4 pot caliper route. Blatmail me if you are interested in the old calipers Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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