Bcs Automotive - Brake Calipers Re-Furbed

Having discovered a completely sticking handbrake, I decided to get the old rear Brembo callipers off the back end of the VX and get them looked at.

 

I settled on BCS in Long Eaton and they were completely brilliant from start to finish. They provided a very reasonable and detailed quote and their communications throughout were superb – particularly from Katie and Marc.

 

I sent the callipers to them and received communications to confirm they had arrived and were being examined. Following this they were completely stripped, parts replaced, cleaned, painted and tested. 

 

Being a VX the refurb was never going to be a simple process and the tiny grub screw didn’t pass muster and needed to be machined from scratch.

 

Again, BCS were superb and had these built and I got the callipers back as soon as these were done and QC had been passed.

 

I wish I could post pictures as they look absolutely ‘as new’, came back with new rubbers, sliders, seals, pistons, springs and bleed nipples. They were painted in a dark grey/silver paint – although I was offered various other finish options I opted for the ‘standard’ look. 

 

They work perfectly and were a very cost-efficient way of ensuring I had working rear brakes and a decent hand brake.

 

If you need this, I completely recommend them. You can find them here: https://www.bcs-automotive.co.uk/

 

DM me if you want to see the pictures, happy to send these, failing that they are on my twitter feed @jayton1973 .

 

J 

They look good James, but are they new springs? Looks like they’ve just sprayed over them (and the bolts).
Did you have the fronts done too?
BCS seem to have a constant sale which ends tomorrow - do you mind saying what you paid?

warranty?

Lifetime apparently.

I am thinking of sending my callipers off to a company called Bigg Red www.biggred.co.uk in the next couple of weeks.

 

They featured on an episode of car sos the other day and looked like a decent old skool company.  I have emailed them for a quote.

I paid £182 for the including them shipping them back to me. They did fit new springs, the old ones had very little spring left in them. They were really good folks to work with and I would definitely use them again. 

Edited by james.a, 24 February 2019 - 05:43 PM.

They fitted new springs and sprayed over them?
Fronts?

I presume so. I didn't get the fronts done as I converted to a Vocky engineered four pot MGtf on 308mm disks. Stops rather nicely now. 

I am thinking of sending my callipers off to a company called Bigg Red www.biggred.co.uk in the next couple of weeks.

 

They featured on an episode of car sos the other day and looked like a decent old skool company.  I have emailed them for a quote.

 

Bigg Red are good, but won't touch our Brembo rears. 

 

I am thinking of sending my callipers off to a company called Bigg Red www.biggred.co.uk in the next couple of weeks.

 

They featured on an episode of car sos the other day and looked like a decent old skool company.  I have emailed them for a quote.

 

Bigg Red are good, but won't touch our Brembo rears. 

 

 

I can understand that. Mine were delayed as they had to manufacture a particular grub screw themselves as a replacements were no where to be found. 

 

 

I am thinking of sending my callipers off to a company called Bigg Red www.biggred.co.uk in the next couple of weeks.

 

They featured on an episode of car sos the other day and looked like a decent old skool company.  I have emailed them for a quote.

 

Bigg Red are good, but won't touch our Brembo rears. 

 

 

I can understand that. Mine were delayed as they had to manufacture a particular grub screw themselves as a replacements were no where to be found. 

 

 

You are right, they have come back to me today saying they don't offer any service for our callipers.
 

Just to add to the comments, I have also had BCS re-furbish the rear calipers on my car.

 

The total cost was £200.00 (inc. VAT) with another £11.00 on top to send them to Long Eaton.

 

The work appears to be excellent, and the car has just passed the MOT.

 

BCS took about 6 weeks in total but to be fair, Easter got in the way. Communication was rather difficult to begin with but that was due to one of their team being off sick at the crucial time (so they said). The service comes with a ten year guarantee.

 

This does appear to be the only option other than new from Elise parts, so I can fully recommend them.

Just to add to the comments, I have also had BCS re-furbish the rear calipers on my car.

The total cost was £200.00 (inc. VAT) with another £11.00 on top to send them to Long Eaton.

The work appears to be excellent, and the car has just passed the MOT.

BCS took about 6 weeks in total but to be fair, Easter got in the way. Communication was rather difficult to begin with but that was due to one of their team being off sick at the crucial time (so they said). The service comes with a ten year guarantee.

This does appear to be the only option other than new from Elise parts, so I can fully recommend them.

Was this a *full* refurb (seals, pistons etc) or just paint?

It included new seals, new bleed nipples, general clean and paint. They considered the pistons to be OK. Had the pistons been replaced I gather the cost would have been nearer £250.00

UPDATE

My rear callipers were sticking slightly and after an event where I had a lot of smoke coming from the back brakes I sent the car in to my local garage to investigate. They diagnosed that the rear brakes were jammed on and they would need rebuilding.

I asked the garage to send these back to BCS and called them to let them know they were coming. After three days I called and asked how they were getting on with them. They told me they had callipers here but didn’t know they were mine and as such nothing had happened with them, this despite the fact the garage had clearly labelled them.

They said they would get on them as an urgent job.

I phoned on Friday as I was expecting them back and was told they were working on them at the moment and they would get them out so they would be with the garage after the bank holiday on Tuesday. They also confirmed there was nothing wrong with them but they would rebuild them anyway. The issue has been the mechanical hand brake release lever jamming, the main system was all fine.

Popped in to the garage today to see how they were getting on and they said they hadn’t arrived. Called BCS immediately to be told - guess what - they were working on them as we spoke and would get them out to the garage today.

Coms hasn’t been good on this since I have had the problem, hopefully they will get them out today but I will update accordingly.

.

how hard is it to DIY them? One of my rears is a little sticky, definitely the handbrake mechanism which does move but binds a little. Its not enough to really be of concern but Id rather it didnt get worse.

 

The spring seemed to be badly located, so I fixed it but it didnt really make much difference. cable seems nice and free.

From my understanding it’s a doable but tricky job. A full ref rub will destroy the grub screw which needs to be manufactured as they are no longer available.

From my understanding it’s a doable but tricky job. A full ref rub will destroy the grub screw which needs to be manufactured as they are no longer available.

There's a guide on seloc, looks very tricky!

any mileage in getting this far then trying to lube up the handbrake mechanism a bit?

 

https://wiki.seloc.o..._Caliper_18.JPG

Edited by paul_mck, 31 May 2019 - 06:42 AM.