Discussion
J C. Princess calipers?
The wedges with larger engines did have the princess calipers with AP bells and Rotors as standard. I can just see from the pictures that you have the separate AP bells and Rotors. Look after these as they are getting quite rare. Quite a few people have fitted the Princess calipers with a Granada vented disk but I don't believe this was ever a set up from the factory.
Hope this helps. Cheers Steve
Hope this helps. Cheers Steve
I don't think all larger engined Wedges had Princess calipers as standard, I think it depends upon which week and what was on the shelf. Certainly a number of 390s just had the larger 2 pot Granada calipers and I'm aware of at least one SEAC also with the Granada set up. With refurbished large Granada calipers, new vented and grooved discs and Greenstuff pads the brakes on my 390 are superb.
KKson said:
I don't think all larger engined Wedges had Princess calipers as standard, I think it depends upon which week and what was on the shelf. Certainly a number of 390s just had the larger 2 pot Granada calipers and I'm aware of at least one SEAC also with the Granada set up. With refurbished large Granada calipers, new vented and grooved discs and Greenstuff pads the brakes on my 390 are superb.
Maybe my term 'standard' wasn't quite correct but they were fitted from new by the factory. See the post below from 2009. JR said:
When I pushed my 350i hard I found that the limiting factor was the brakes overheating and brake fluid boiling (DoT 5.1) Whilst the solid Granada discs are reasonable they are not good (and the Princess calipers aren't brilliant.)
JR,sorry,gonna have to disagree there! there's nothing wrong with the AP-Lockheed 'princess' calipers apart from their rather substantial weight!. I've still got the factory fitted 'princess' calipers on my 390,with the AP 268mm 28mm thick disc & alloy bell setup. AFAIK,they haven't been rebuilt yet' and i've given them a damn good spanking on several trackdays (including the GP circuit at Brands) and they've never complained,and I've never had boiling problems,even with only DOT 4,which I still use!
True they're getting like hen's teeth nowadays,but they do occasionally pop up for sale(Austin princess and ambassador AND MG RV8 used them,the spacer kits are still available in several dealers(Rally Design still have them) and they would still make a reasonably priced upgrade for any wedge . Hi spec will sell you the discs and bells separately (although they are 25mm thick not 28,but AFAIK this is more suitable for the spacer kits available..
HTH
Andy
Despite 5 years of Wedge ownership I still don't think I've seen two exactly identical! I did donate a set of damaged Princess calipers to Leigh which he was going to repair. I did fit a 4 pot Hyspec set up on my 350i which is in a different league to the assorted factory offerings however at £750 for the kit it's not a cheap option but they are awesome and look great.
Its difficult to see from the photos but they do look like the Princess AP callipers. If I remember correctly there should be a bridge pipe from on side of the calliper to the other as the Princess had a dual circuit braking system. I am running these callipers on a solid disc and they are a decent upgrade from the single pot setup which used to frighten me senseless on occasion.
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