Thank God for NASCAR

[Joe]

Here is a general shout-out and reminder how great the aftermarket/race team spares and auctions are, particularly NASCAR spares. I just won an Ebay auction for a set of short-course, heavy duty calipers for my project (Can-Am mid-engine) which calls for 2 sets of front 4 piston stoppers. I decided to go for something a little beyond spec and have been looking for 6-8 months for something suitable in a Brembo or AP/Alcon flavor. Last week I won an auction for 4 calipers, 2 of which are brand new race team spares and 2 which are used and apparently in great shape judging by the photos and reputation of the seller. They are AP model CP5850 (monoblock construction, titanium vented pistons, pure porno...), and retail for $3650 a piece. That is $14,600 worth of full-on race brakes I got for the price of one caliper, $3650 shipped (!) which is scarcely more than the street/track calipers called for by the engineer of my project. I'm ecstatic.

 

[Dave Deerson]

The only issue to be mindful of when shopping for NASCAR brakes is the orientation of the caliper on the spindle. Most NASCAR chassis place the caliper on the leading face of the spindle(rear steer) and most of the roadrace cars I have delt with have them on the rear face(front steer). Where that becomes an issue is when the staggered bore caliper cannot be flipped over to be used on the opposite side since it is set up a specific rotational direction( and the bleeders also need to be on top). The monoblock calipers with their internal fluid crossovers cannot be flipped. However the "older style" units with external crossover pipes can usually be flipped and switched side to side. Your car may be different than mine, so this may not be an issue, but I feel it is wise to look up the part numbers of the calipers before hitting the "buy now" button !!

Dave D.

 

[Jeff Young]

I thought most Winston Cup cars switched over to front steer early to mid 90s?

 

[Joe]

Dave, thanks for your sound advice. I had the same considerations which is why I contacted AP distributor Essex before I made the purchase and here is their reply when I inquired on the possibility of flipping calipers:


RE: CP5850-4SOM and -5SOM
Joe,

The two main considerations when mounting these calipers is to make sure they are mounted directionally correct (small piston on the leading edge of rotation) and that the bleed screws are at the highest point of the caliper. If you have a RHL (right-hand-leading) caliper you can mount it LHT (left-hand-trailing) and vice versa without swapping the bleeders/bridge tubes. If, for some reason, the calipers are not set up in the correct orientation for your application you can swap the bridge tubes and bleeder screws easily.


Very helpful advice. Now I'm off to find more bargains...