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Libra MGF calipers - not upside down? 
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Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2021 6:32 pm
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Post Libra MGF calipers - not upside down?
Having only just scraped through the last MoT on handbrake efficiency, I've been trying to give my rear calipers a refresh.

I have MGF rear calipers, and I understand that they were pretty awful on the MGF anyway, so not expecting miracles.

Something that's struck me is that I thought the calipers were meant to be upside down on the GTM? Mine do not seem to be - the bleed nipples are on the top of the caliper. Could this be part of my problem due to handbrake cable angle? The cable on the off-side is only 20mm from the exhaust pipe, which can't be good for it.

Cheers

Gary


Sun Feb 04, 2024 11:47 am
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Post Re: Libra MGF calipers - not upside down?
The hubs are changed over side to side to put the caliper behind the axle centre line when it was fitted on the front of a metro it would be in front of the axle centre line. The caliper should be fitted in the same place as mgf. The mgf has a much smoother cable route as the cables go over the gearbox so there are no sharp bends.


Tue Feb 06, 2024 12:16 am
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Post Re: Libra MGF calipers - not upside down?
Thanks Mark. So am I mis-remembering people on here or the old TGTM bleeding the, upside down?


Wed Feb 07, 2024 9:46 pm
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Post Re: Libra MGF calipers - not upside down?
Not sure about the upside down thing. I'm guessing that in putting them behind the axle they also swapped sides of the car to get the bleed nipples back on top and that would put the handbrake entry bracket back on the same elevation too.

Mine had MGF calipers and the handbrake was marginal at best and gradually got worse until I could no longer do hill starts without heel/toing the footbrake! Part of the problem is the sharp angle the cables come through causing too much friction in the cable and the angle also causes the outer to split which allows Toffee in and the inner rusts so even more friction in the cable. My solution was to ditch the MGF calipers and swap to MGZR ones and then the handbrake cables come smoothly along the trailing arm and pull forwards rather than from the side. The only issue(s) with the swap is that they use a different mounting bracket as the mounting hole centres are significantly different and also on mine the lugs on the Metro hub carrier had been drilled out but the MGZR adaptor brackets need the original threaded holes in the lugs to screw into! Fortunately for me I had a set of unmodified hub carriers so swapped those out too although they needed new bearings so the swap became quite involved! The cables for that arrangement are shorter too. Good luck!


Thu Feb 08, 2024 9:21 pm
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Post Re: Libra MGF calipers - not upside down?
Not Libra but...... On the Coupe I would just pass the MOT but steep hill starts were a pain, there was nothing wrong with cables etc so I tried swapping to better pads also was a requirement for track day use and the handbrake got better. Some of the issue was the cheap pads I had installed when I first installed the rear disc conversion.

Neil

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IF wile e coyote had a GTM he would have one with Nitrous too! watch out road runner! The First GTM into the 11s then the 10s, PB 10.87 @ 125.5 Mph on A048 tyres, and fully road legal at Santa Pod


Sat Feb 10, 2024 11:27 am
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Post Re: Libra MGF calipers - not upside down?
Hi, fitted 280mm discs on the front & rear. The rears improved the handbrake by doing this. The rears I bought from Ebay which includes the adapters. It takes some adjustment to make them fit well. It is not ideal using but it also improves the foot brake performance with the same pedal pressure.


Tue Feb 20, 2024 8:40 pm
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Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2021 6:32 pm
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Post Re: Libra MGF calipers - not upside down?
Thanks chaps. I've put refurbed calipers on and adjusted the handbrake bracket angle, but it's still a very weak handbrake. I've bought one of the 280mm rear disc kits Howard, so hopefully that'll help.


Tue Feb 27, 2024 10:31 pm
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