Overhauling the brakes at 69 2000 TC - Is it hard to do or what......

6

692000tc

New Member
As I suspect that my brake pipes are no good anymore, along with the discs and brakes front and rear, i'm planning to get it all changed before 17th of May. I'm buying ready-to-fit brake pipes. How complicated is it really to change the rear brakes? I work as an Audi/Volkswagen garage foreman, and have access to all the equipment.........
Why 17th of May? That's our national day, the car MUST be back on the road before that day!

Rgds Petter
 
If you have a pit or a car-lift it isn't that hard. You can unbolt the 1/2 shafts & remove the discs which gives you reasonable access to the calipers or release the diff from the carrier & let it hang on the 1/2 shafts which also gives you reasonable access. But as you're removing the brake-pipes & have to bleed the system anyway, with a total of 12 bolts (13 if you leave the carrier on the car) + the 4 driveshaft bolts you can remove the diff-unit complete which is by far the easiest way to change/inspect the calipers & replace the flexible pipes & pads (I removed my 2200's laying on my back in the street).
Bleed the brakes before you raise the unit back up, there's enough flexibility in the copper(?) brake-line to allow you to do this, otherwise you won't get a pipe on the nipple & will have to let brake-fluid squirt up onto the underside of the car & hope there's no air left in the system.
While the diff's off you can take the opportunity to check the condition of the 6 U/J's too, which can pay dividends. I recently replaced all the 1/2 shaft U/J's on my own '69 2000TC which quietened down take-off considerably.
 
I have changed the calipers on four different P6's over the years, have never had the need to remove the diff, or the brake discs as part of this work, it is all quite possible to leave these in-situ, but fiddly.

I have always put the car on ramps to give reasonable working height (no need to remove the wheels as per manual), all work is on your back, make sure that you have something to lay on!

The first time you do it, you should allow about 1 1/2 hours per side, and lots of patience. Make sure that you use the correctly sized sockets and use a good quality allen key to remove the bearing bolt. Once the calipers have been disturbed, subsequent work, if these have to be removed again in the future, is much easier.

You hear lots of stories about the rear brakes, so long as you do not want to rush the works eveything can be done in-situ.

I have also found bleeding P6 brakes to be the easiest I have ever come across - again fiddly at the rear and would recommend the use of a 'one-man' bleeding kit with a container to store excess fluid.

Good luck

Gary
 
While your about it chaps, what about changing the diff output shaft oil seals. A known weak point on very early 4 cyl cars put right by the later type V8 diffs (better venting and stiffer casing). If you can't get a specifically labelled example from a P6 supplier then just get the old seal out and take it down to your local bearing supplier (yellow pages to identify). They will be able to understand the script on the seal and provide you with new equivalents at a fraction of the cost of the "real thing". (after all - where do you think Rover got them from in the first place?)

The same trick works with bearings as well.

Chris York
 
The amount of time it takes to remove the 1/2shafts & discs (10 minutes?), I really can't see the point of NOT removing them as this does give a lot more access than if you're fiddling around them. Even if you leave the shafts bolted on at the wheels, it's only 4 bolts & a disc & shaft is off.
 
Oh. I was led to believe it was a big job... to the tune of £990 to strip/replace the ns diff seal and rebuild the calipers...
 
Stripping the diff & calipers down will obviously be more involved, but removing them from the car is very straightforward. If you can get a 2nd hand diff that you know is good then have a go at swapping it yourself. It really isn't rocket science. Thats one of the beauties of old cars. I bought exchange calipers last year but I wouldn't do it again without having a go myself first. More than one person has told me they're relatively easy to re-condition yourself & they're expensive enough to buy to put you off wanting to shell out more than once.
After all, £990 is a lot of money to put in somebody else's pocket if you can help it. ???
In fact, that sounds bl**dy extortionate. Say they're charging £25 per hour, thats 40 hours work (The seals will cost buttons) & if it's going to take them a whole working week to do the job they must be going to college to learn how to do it for the first 3 days. If it's going to take them 20 hours that's £50 PH & I'm sure you can get a good job done cheaper than that.
 
Where's Petter, who started this thread........Have you started the job yet & if so, hows it going? Which method are you using/going to use?
 
Well this quote was from a known classic Rover rebuild man. I doubt I can get local expertise done for less than the going rate around here (Herts/Beds borders) which is £40-45ph on the cheaper end of scale. I won't be able to do the job myself as I rent a tight garage (no workshop). I'll dig the quote out again, I'm currently pondering scrapping the car...
 
I suppose I'm out of touch with workshop rates. My tame mechanic who just retired :angry: used to charge me £25 PH though he did tell me most other people paid him £40 PH. I got him to do the stuff I couldn't, or couldn't be bothered to do. Mind you, it's surprising what you're capable of when you've a huge quote for work facing you. Of course there's also the time factor when you have to work for a living too.
Between the money I paid John & the work I done myself & the parts bought in the last 3 years I've spent the best part of £4000 on our 2200TC (including purchase) & I've still got to rebuild the engine & have the gearbox reconditioned. All mechanical work as the base unit & panels are sound & anyway, my Brother has a one man crash repair business & my Fathers a retired panel-beater/sprayer. I have a 2000SC & 'box to install while the works being done.
Of course, that's FAR more than the cars worth but you pass the point of no return & keep going though if I knew what I knew now & had been on ebay then I may have called it a day, but once they're both rebuilt that should do the job. The heads been reconditioned already (£436) & I bought a set of pistons (standard, so hopefully she doesn't need a re-bore) & a crank from Walkers for £110 which was reasonable. The 'box will cost £90 + parts locally. I bought a new power steering box from Walkers too which I'm hoping to fit as the missus likes PAS & it's her daily driver.
I had our diff out in the street so you don't need a workshop though it's nice to have one, of course. If you don't want to re-condition them yourself, a pair of exchange calipers are around £200 (I got Wadhams items, though I've been told Weekleys are better as they re-sleeve the bores, you'd have to check) & you should be able to find a good diff' for not too much money. New pads & flexible pipes & maybe some new copper brake lines & a long weekend in nice weather & you should have the job done for what......... £400 max? And a whole heap of satisfaction.
You pays your money, you takes your choice & Easter bank holiday is next weekend......... ;)
 
Thanks for the response. I have'nt started the job yet, It's still a lot of snow here, and I do'nt drive the car in the winter.

Yesterday I took the car out for the first time this year, It' started as soon as the fuel came pumping. I'll be back when i've started the brake job.

rgds Petter
 
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