Alcon Conversion Front Wheel bell. Where from??

[Johnnywb]

Took my car into George at Technosport for a quick look at the brakes before Spa / the Ring this weekend. (Brakes needed bleeding)

Turns out it might not be such a quick look....

George's thought is that the bell has been 'machined' to allow a different size pad to be fitted, but rather than use a lathe, someone's tried using a file...

Now i've not done any work to the brakes other than a couple of fluid changes in my ownership (yes, yes, i clearly don't drive far enough or fast enough). Although clearly the bells have got pretty warm?

But more importantly, the bells both need replacing. Were these replaced as part of the Alcon conversion (it was on the car when i bought it). Does anyone know where i could get hold of some tout suite...?

[The Gorilla]

Hi,

Quote- '' .....but rather than use a lathe, someone's tried using a file...


Are you sure it was a file ?

Looks more like Stevie Wonder has
been playing with an angle grinder .

The Armco at Spa in no more forgiving
than anywhere else, so I would get
it properly sorted before seeing if
''Stevie's'' handy work is up to task.

Alcon maybe or borrow some ?

Regards,

The Gorilla.

[shimmy]

Ouch, silly billy whomever it was.

[shane@mbtech]

Your calipers are on the the wrong side too, you will have been experiencing brake issues, overheating?

Give alcon a call, and tell them which kit you have, they may have some lying about.

[Johnnywb]

Your calipers are on the the wrong side too, you will have been experiencing brake issues, overheating?

Give alcon a call, and tell them which kit you have, they may have some lying about.

My plan is to call Alcon in the morning. The work was done by Thorney originally (at least the brakes were supplied by them as there's a receipt for it, it's in the car so will need to check whether it included fitting).

How the F.ck could someone install the calipers on the wrong side?! Can't say i've noticed a big problem, but then again...

[shane@mbtech]

My plan is to call Alcon in the morning. The work was done by Thorney originally (at least the brakes were supplied by them as there's a receipt for it, it's in the car so will need to check whether it included fitting).

How the F.ck could someone install the calipers on the wrong side?! Can't say i've noticed a big problem, but then again...

The leading piston on the direction of disc travel, should be the smaller piston. So it grabs the brakes gradually. They way yours are installed means the biggest piston is braking first, so is rendering the smaller ones a little redundant. :thumbs:

[shane@mbtech]

They have been made like that.

If you swapped sides and turned them the correct way, your bleed nipples would then be at the bottom. And bleeding from the bottom of the caliper would be difficult.So you will need to take bleed nipples out, and take connecting pipe off, then swap them top to bottom.

My guess is when they were painted yellow, and the decals applied, the nipples and connecting pipes were installed incorrectly.

[AlexGTT]

That is diabolical workmanship! Can't believe anyone would do that in a professional workshop..................but then again I shouldn't be shocked. The disc's look ready to part from the hubs on the first big brake at the end of Kemel! Glad you didn't get there with them in that state!:bigcry:

[NZ_M3]

My guess is when they were painted yellow, and the decals applied, the nipples and connecting pipes were installed incorrectly.

Lawsy's correct - your calipers are upside down and as stated the bleed nipple and the connecting pipes were installed incorrectly.

That wear mark looks to me like one of the brake pads have failed and come away from the holding slot within the caliper and made contact with the disc and chewed through it.

You can buy the bells independently from Alcon - if you search I am sure someone has posted a part number up before, otherwise I can look for it later on.



I think this is the correct bell part number (found it in my photo files)

[M5 Powered]

Hi Johnny,

That is pretty shocking. Those don't seem to be original Bells. The correct ones are as NZ shows (they have a black heat coating on them).

Call Alcon in the morning. Customer service was excellent!

[chicken]

what ever happened to good workmanship or at least pride? :banghead:

[leaded]

Give Dave a call at Ears motorsport. 01625 433773

[email protected]

They do Alcon stuff and are very helpful.

[shane@mbtech]

To me it looks like wheel acid/chemical has been used to clean the wheels and and the bell has reacted/oxidised and thats why they have gone this way?

That and the bolts holding the disc to the bell have been overtightened.

[Johnnywb]

Thanks all.

I've spoken to Alcon this morning who are going to have a look into sourcing something.

The guy i spoke to thought that the items were custom made for the CSL, in which case it might be a hassle to get something.

Will let you know how it pans out.

[Johnnywb]

Ok, latest update;

Alcon never called back.

Dave at Ears on the other hand, could not have been more helpful.

It would seem that my car isn't the first CSL he's seen with this problem and he has been working on a fix. He did explain the issue to me, but i'm hard of thinking.

From memory, i think (and i'm sure someone will be able to confirm), the alloy used for the front bell housings basically isn't strong enough and degrades over time. Dave has been working with an engineer to come up with a better solution.

He's sent down a couple of bell housings, bobbins and other bits.

Essentially i've opted to turn the fronts into a full floating set up in line with the race set up.

I'll let you know how we get on.

I'll also see if i can get Dave to post here exactly what's going on as he's got a much better idea than i!