If given the opportunity to deal with two rear brake rotors that are slathered in leaking brake fluid, how wise would I be to take a pass?
For the record, the rotors are on the back of a 1981 Roll Royce. Where do you even get parts?
Need to stop hanging around people who like British cars who are not responsible enough to become rich.
Kill it with fire
I made it over a steep pass with only front brakes in a t boned ls400 just fine. Then again, that's a better quality vehicle
Its kinda dumb but I watched gas monkey garage and they worked on one idk if it was an 81 or 82 but they called rolls and asked a question about parts availability and rolls just laughed...its that kind of bad.
Edit: but if you wanted to park it in the yard and live in it, go for it
Take a look here to get a sense of the system you'll be working with.
Espartan wrote: Take a look here to get a sense of the system you'll be working with.
Never before have I read such a well written technical description and said "what the hell were they thinking" so many times. "Yeah, lets make the brakes and suspension run off the same hydraulic system, because you know, hydraulic suspensions are really reliable and a lot like brakes, aren't they?"
Do it. Those cars have chain-driven window regulators. There's nothing that could be bad enough for me NOT to own a car with chain-driven window regulators.
Some of the RR systems have a SPECIAL brake fluid requirement, which of course is VERY expensive.
Yeah....pretty much what I figured. And an owner that is not financially prepared for anything more than a set of seals.
TWO FULL DAYS to do rear brakes. I cant even imagine the engineering supervisor who would sign off on such a design.
This is me leaving....
The car itself will be far less trouble than the owner. With only the facts presented in this thread, I predict he is a king sized pain in the ass.
I guarantee that the moment you put it in the air you will realize it needs spheres. The test is to run the car. Turn it off and depress the brake pedal until the brake failure light comes on. The spec is 30 brake applications. I have never seen one go past 25. Most will turn the light on at ~10 if they need spheres.
The replacement schedule for the Citroen suspension spheres is every 5 years, regardless of mileage. If it is a convertible the FIRST 40 HOURS of the replacement procedure is complete removal of the the quarter ton of top mechanism.
On one hand I am hesitant to tell you not to do it because everyone needs to realize just how terrible these cars are and you can't truly appreciate that until you have dived into the fiddly bits. On the other hand it will be the worst automotive experience you will ever have and likely make you want to give up the hobby.
While you are sitting in the seat pushing the worst feeling brake pedal in the world (since there is no master cylinder, they stuck a spring under the pedal to push it back when you let off) you can count the enormous gaps (ones you can stick your thumb in) in the "handcrafted wood dash" (it is veneer laminated plywood)
Jumper K. Balls wrote: I guarantee that the moment you put it in the air you will realize it needs spheres. The test is to run the car. Turn it off and depress the brake pedal until the brake failure light comes on. The spec is 30 brake applications. I have never seen one go past 25. Most will turn the light on at ~10 if they need spheres. The replacement schedule for the Citroen suspension spheres is every 5 years, regardless of mileage. If it is a convertible the FIRST 40 HOURS of the replacement procedure is complete removal of the the quarter ton of top mechanism. On one hand I am hesitant to tell you not to do it because everyone needs to realize just how terrible these cars are and you can't truly appreciate that until you have dived into the fiddly bits. On the other hand it will be the worst automotive experience you will ever have and likely make you want to give up the hobby. While you are sitting in the seat pushing the worst feeling brake pedal in the world (since there is no master cylinder, they stuck a spring under the pedal to push it back when you let off) you can count the enormous gaps (ones you can stick your thumb in) in the "handcrafted wood dash" (it is veneer laminated plywood)
Not to worry. Pretty much followed the trail y'all put out and let myself off the hook. Key thing was an owner with wrong expectations. He would appear to have a huge wallet, but very short arms.
I have a feeling that doing this job properly will cost more than the car is worth if it were in good condition.
Everything I've read of those cars indicates the only way to own one would be to remove the engine, transmission, braking system, and suspension, and start from there with old american full size car parts.
In reply to Kenny_McCormic:
We had one as a lemons car. The engine and trans were Actually pretty nice. The problem is in the suspension and brakes, and replacing it isn't as easy as just "put some full size American stuff in there", it would require some pretty significant re-engineering because of how the other systems are setup.
Yes, the rear brake rotors are a multi day job. Insane. About $300 each too.
Having one completely ended my desire to have a Bentley Turbo R, and that's even though I now know how to work on them pretty well.
The ride really was spectacular though.
Sounds like a perfect use for a set of weld on stock car caliper brackets, some $25 GM calipers, and a dual master cylinder brake pedal to me. Add air bags for the suspension and you're $500 all in and can probably drop 200# from the car.
In reply to Sonic:
That's why I said to remove it all. I feel like we've discussed this before and landed on a late Crown Vic front subframe.
In reply to oldopelguy:
You can't really even do that. They are such heavy cars and rolls decided anything under an 80 series tire would impact the ride quality so they stuffed two calipers on each rotor to give it enough braking power. Of course this means they also overheat like crazy.
They really are completely terrible cars in every single way.
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