Original Brake Pads?

[Mark D]

I'm in the process of rebuilding my brake hydraulics and these are the pads that I pulled off the car. Can anyone tell if they are original by looking at the pics?


They look like they have 80% pad left, and my car has 36K on the odometer. Service records from the PO only go back to 2001 and show that he never replaced brake pads. He bought the car with 14k miles on it so I'm thinking they may be the original pads.

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=6548&d=1320417224
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=6547&d=1320417220

[timothymoore]

they may very well be. they look identical to the pads i pulled off of 10186 for a caliper rebuild at school the other day.

[Mark D]

Just out of curiosity, did you split your calipers in half when rebuilding them or leave them bolted together? Hervey sells the little O-ring that you can use to replace if splitting them in half, and I'm debating if I want to separate or not.

I guess it depends if fresh brake fluid will deteriorate the seal between the two halves causing a leak in the future. Does anyone know if this is a common failure mode? Typically if they were to leak I'd guess they'd leak at the piston seals first.

If there is no reason to split the calipers apart I'd just leave them, but if it pays to open them up to replace the O-ring it wouldn't be much extra work.

[timothymoore]

i split my calipers because they were all froze up and had to figure out what was wrong. luckily it just barely had any brake fluid.

[stevedmc]

Those pads look pretty bad. If you are in a pinch and need new brake pads now they can easily be cross referenced.

Fronts: 1977 Mercuri Capri
Rear: 1987 JAGUAR XJ6 4.2L

[timothymoore]

not to hyjack the thread, but steve you said the jag pads could be used for the rear. does that mean that the jag's calipers could be cross referenced with the D?

[sean]

not to hyjack the thread, but steve you said the jag pads could be used for the rear. does that mean that the jag's calipers could be cross referenced with the D?

Sorta:
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?932-Parts-Crossover-List
'77 Jag XJ6
Advanced auto 19769/8(L/R)

I believe the piston bore is a bit different.

[stevedmc]

not to hyjack the thread, but steve you said the jag pads could be used for the rear. does that mean that the jag's calipers could be cross referenced with the D?

Yes. I am running jag calipers just fine. I must let you know that many people advise against it because the caliper pistons are a little bit smaller.

For what its worth, some idiot pulled out in front of me two days ago and I would have smashed right into him if it had not been for my perfectly working brakes.

Even with smaller pistons, a new Jag caliper is still better than a 30 year old never rebuilt delorean caliper.

So far the only brake component I haven't replaced yet are my brake lines and emergency brakes. The brake lines are sitting on the kitchen counter waiting to be done whenever I get around to it.


I have new calipers/pads on front and back. New rotors on the front. Turned rotors on the rear and a new brake booster. I think I've replaced everything except for my parking brakes and brake lines.


Edit: I forgot to mention this but my brake master cylinder was rebuilt by a PO. It works great but I'm not sure when it was rebuilt so maybe I should add this to my honey do list as well. Safety and reliability come before cosmetics.

[sean]

not to hyjack the thread, but steve you said the jag pads could be used for the rear. does that mean that the jag's calipers could be cross referenced with the D?

If you do go this route and decide you dont want your cores consider selling them to Hervey or one of the DMC vendors to keep them "in the community".

[stevedmc]

If you do go this route and decide you dont want your cores consider selling them to Hervey or one of the DMC vendors to keep them "in the community".

Or save them just in case. Hervey told me the calipers I have will probably have problems in the future. So far I've been running them for a year without any problems.

Whatever you do though, don't throw them away or give them to autozone for a core.

[timothymoore]

my originals are rebuilt, i was just curious as read in a previous thread on here that jag calipers could be used on the rear. but i will never throw anything D related away or for a core to a store.

[Mark D]

So is the consensus then that the pads I pulled off the car are original? They're getting replaced either way, but I was curious to know if someone could confirm they are the OE pads.

[David T]

Experimenting with the brake system and substituting parts can be dangerous. The brake system was designed with a "bias" and changing the ratio of braking front-to-rear can cause unexpected handling problems. For example if you change the size of the rear calipers (using ones with smaller pistons) you will cause the front brakes to lock up the front wheels sooner than the rear ones. You have to split the calipers to remove the pistons. You can reuse the square "O" ring or replace it. I use a little silicone sealer on the old one and have not had any problems. The calipers are not usually the problem, the pistons are typically corroded and the plating is pitted. Requires new pistons or the seals will leak. Sounds like you could have the original pads but who cares? They are a wearable part like wiper blades, batteries, coolant hoses, belts, etc.
David Teitelbaum

[Mark D]

Agreed that changing the rear calipers to Jag crossover parts will most likely upset the braking balance of the car. The vendors out there make it easy enough to get authentic replacements so in my opinion it's not worth the risk with such a safety critical item. The car may still stop OK under normal use, but in an emergency situation where a few extra feet of stopping distance could mean smashing the front of my car I'll stick with OEM brakes.

The reason why I wanted to know if the brakes were original or not was so I could make a note in my service records. Much of the car's history is unknown prior to 2001... i don't even know where it was origininally sold, and there is no record of it in DMCH's archives.

Plus it's surprising to me how much pad is actually left for 36k miles of use.

[stevedmc]

The car may still stop OK under normal use, but in an emergency situation where a few extra feet of stopping distance could mean smashing the front of my car I'll stick with OEM brakes.

Please see post #8.


For what its worth, some idiot pulled out in front of me two days ago and I would have smashed right into him if it had not been for my perfectly working brakes.

But yeah, I am hanging onto my old calipers just in case. I am only entering my second year of "testing" my new brakes.

[DMCMW Dave]

So is the consensus then that the pads I pulled off the car are original? They're getting replaced either way, but I was curious to know if someone could confirm they are the OE pads.

If they are originals it would be a record - the OEM pads that came on the car were incredibly soft, and typically gone by 10K miles. Of course this depends on driving style, but we've seen enough low miles original cars to see the pattern.

They could well be dealer-replacements, which could by why they have the green labels on them (OE on the car are not generaly stickered like that).

[Bitsyncmaster]

You have to split the calipers to do a good cleaning of the piston boar. A new o-ring will give you a perfect seal.