Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: ted_one on 07 October 2016, 18:39:20

Title: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: ted_one on 07 October 2016, 18:39:20
Many thanks to Serek today,
                                          for sorting out the brakes/welding the door strap plate/air bag light on the 3.0,the usual high standard of work and service.Also it was nice to see Pauls again as he was also there for a his airbag light,got to drive his car to see the difference between the standard Omega brakes and the GTO conversion.Certainly an improvement even on early light braking,pulled up a lot easier with less pedal pressure,going to give it some consideration :-\
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: Bigron on 07 October 2016, 19:14:39
Could you please say what this conversion entails: do I need to change discs and everything and do you have an approximate cost, please?

Ron.
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: pauls on 07 October 2016, 19:39:08
Good to see you again Ken, Two minute job for serek to sort out airbag light on mine and also put on my irmscher(look alike) grill for me.  Cheers again Serek :y

Bigron.. my front brake conversion was straight forward thanks to other members on here doing all the research for me. It consists of orginal omega front disks, 2004 pontiac gto calipers shipped these over from the states and ebc brake pads.

I deceided to add new braided front brake hoses as well which caused a little issue when fitting due to them being to short but serek managed to sort it for me while he fitted the calipers.

The gains on these calipers are that they have 2 pots rather than single on the omega calipers. You gain in overall stopping feel and will pull you up quicker than standard.

I budgeted for around £300 and of the top of my head i dont think i went over that
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: Doctor Gollum on 07 October 2016, 19:39:49
Pads are £35, Calipers are around $120, and Monaro brake hoses are about £100 for braided :y

You need the Monaro hoses as the Omega ones aren't quite long enough.
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: pauls on 07 October 2016, 19:42:06
Thanks Doc thought you would remember :y
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: JamesV6CDX on 07 October 2016, 21:17:56
Out of curiosity, what reactions have your insurance companies made as a result of declaring these mods? :y
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: Doctor Gollum on 07 October 2016, 21:35:59
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EBC-FRONT-ULTIMAX-BRAKE-PADS-DP1505-TO-FIT-VAUXHALL-MONARO-5-7-04-/110924654030?fits=Car+Make%3AVauxhall%7CModel%3AMonaro%7CCars+Year%3A2004&hash=item19d39fe5ce:m:mtisV9ocQ7cjRqvgn06nVHA

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Braided-Brake-Hoses-6-Lines-Vauxhall-Monaro-6-0-VXR-2005-2007-/282167259572?hash=item41b27ab1b4:g:xMAAAOxyVLNSwuEt

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-Pontiac-GTO-OEM-Left-Hand-Driver-Side-Front-Caliper-LS1-/391246914932?hash=item5b18222574:m:mDpnK2ztAkcSqNo0JTMzbBg&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-Pontiac-GTO-OEM-Right-Hand-Passenger-Side-Front-Caliper-LS1-/311437490786?hash=item48831efa62:m:m22O4ahnwGnUdJbY9CfkA8g&vxp=mtr
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: Doctor Gollum on 07 October 2016, 21:37:22
Out of curiosity, what reactions have your insurance companies made as a result of declaring these mods? :y
Simply noted them as modifications ;) They didn't even blink at £2,000 worth of Whelen goodies ;D
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: steve6367 on 07 October 2016, 22:03:21
Good to see you again Ken, Two minute job for serek to sort out airbag light on mine and also put on my irmscher(look alike) grill for me.  Cheers again Serek :y

Bigron.. my front brake conversion was straight forward thanks to other members on here doing all the research for me. It consists of orginal omega front disks, 2004 pontiac gto calipers shipped these over from the states and ebc brake pads.

I deceided to add new braided front brake hoses as well which caused a little issue when fitting due to them being to short but serek managed to sort it for me while he fitted the calipers.

The gains on these calipers are that they have 2 pots rather than single on the omega calipers. You gain in overall stopping feel and will pull you up quicker than standard.

I budgeted for around £300 and of the top of my head i dont think i went over that

Genuine interest here - if I press the brake pedal hard enough my standard Omega brakes will lock the wheels up, which implies that any extra brake effort would be wasted. So how does the mod stop you quicker? (I get that it could feel much better).
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: STEMO on 07 October 2016, 22:08:28
Good to see you again Ken, Two minute job for serek to sort out airbag light on mine and also put on my irmscher(look alike) grill for me.  Cheers again Serek :y

Bigron.. my front brake conversion was straight forward thanks to other members on here doing all the research for me. It consists of orginal omega front disks, 2004 pontiac gto calipers shipped these over from the states and ebc brake pads.

I deceided to add new braided front brake hoses as well which caused a little issue when fitting due to them being to short but serek managed to sort it for me while he fitted the calipers.

The gains on these calipers are that they have 2 pots rather than single on the omega calipers. You gain in overall stopping feel and will pull you up quicker than standard.

I budgeted for around £300 and of the top of my head i dont think i went over that

Genuine interest here - if I press the brake pedal hard enough my standard Omega brakes will lock the wheels up, which implies that any extra brake effort would be wasted. So how does the mod stop you quicker? (I get that it could feel much better).
Depends on the tyres you currently have.
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: Bigron on 07 October 2016, 22:44:12
Thanks for the clarification, gents; sounds like a job for Serek when I've saved up the pennies!

Ron.
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: JamesV6CDX on 07 October 2016, 22:59:29
Out of curiosity, what reactions have your insurance companies made as a result of declaring these mods? :y
Simply noted them as modifications ;) They didn't even blink at £2,000 worth of Whelen goodies ;D

Awesome, I was just genuinely interested in how they reacted :y
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: TheBoy on 08 October 2016, 09:42:49
I've never really had issues with the standard Omega brakes on the road, so long as you're not unlucky enough to do more than about 8-10 high speed stops in quick succession, when they do melt quite badly.

If I were to consider a brake upgrade, I think bigger discs would have been part of it to overcome that rare issue.
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: biggriffin on 08 October 2016, 09:56:46
In basic terms you have an increase of 100% brake pressure, as the gto has 2 pistons the omega has 1. So you have more clamping pressure.

I find the standard omega brakes adequate, for normal every day use.
If I could warrant the outlay, I would fit the gto/monaro brakes.
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: Nick W on 08 October 2016, 10:03:18
I've never really had issues with the standard Omega brakes on the road, so long as you're not unlucky enough to do more than about 8-10 high speed stops in quick succession, when they do melt quite badly.

If I were to consider a brake upgrade, I think bigger discs would have been part of it to overcome that rare issue.

That's been my experience too. Although the brake mods I've done were on older cars with small discs, fitting bigger/'better' caliper exacerbated fade and disc distortion problems. Fitting a large four-poster caliper with high quality pads to a Capri vented discs(they're only 8mm thicker than the standard 247x12mm solids) to only allowed for a couple more hard stops before the wheel bearing grease boiled. And you really don't want that! The most cost effective cure was to manage the heat better, by fitting a bigger disc(260x24mm) between the hub and wheel, and use a sliding caliper. You claim they're RS turbo brakes, although you actually bought Sierra ones, as they are the same without the RS tax. A similar conversion using Fiesta discs and caliper transforms the pathetic stock brakes on a Dolomite.

Usefully increasing the Omega disc size, which is already quite large, and still getting a caliper over it isn't going to be easy with standard wheels.
Title: Re: Big thanks to Serek.
Post by: Nick W on 08 October 2016, 10:32:52
In basic terms you have an increase of 100% brake pressure, as the gto has 2 pistons the omega has 1. So you have more clamping pressure.


That's true if the surface area of two pistons is greater than just one. If you compare a four-piston caliper to a large a single-piston one, there is often very little difference in piston area. Fitting two big pistons side by side requires a massive caliper that brings other problems. Sliding calipers have lots of real world advantages until you need the last few performance numbers all the time. On a road car, that's not really the case.

Bolting on a different caliper is easy, but if  you are already suffering brake fade, then it is unlikely to help. Moving the same caliper further out on a bigger disc is harder to do and has no blingy race parts to brag about, but is normally more effective.