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Cooling ducts/pipes and brackets fitted and tested


trackpig

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Hi all

 

I ran cooling pipes on my E36 M3 after having brake problems on road and track. The pipes kept the temperatures down and extended braking performance. After having the same initial problems on the Z, I fitted cooling pipes before the Nurburgring trip I’ve just been on. The brakes were great- I wrote about the brake setup here:

 

viewtopic.php?f=59&t=38546

 

I wanted to make the setup a little more permanent and solid so I’ve been busy in the garage and knocked up some brackets to hold the cooling pipe right into the disk. I also looked into some new style pipe that is a larger diameter and a lot more robust.

 

I have tested the new duct setup on the road and just recently on track at Teesside Autodrome which is pretty hard on the brakes.

 

We fitted a second set of ducts to my friends Z and he gave the brakes some abuse on track. He has EBC disks and ds3000 pads. Previously he had bad pad transfer at the Nurburgring which cleared up with some road use. This time around with the ducts fitted, the brakes just kept going, lap after lap! As a test we then blocked the passenger side duct with tape to simulate the ducts not being fitted. The effect was plain to see as we ran into the dark- the passenger side disc started to glow orange, while the driver side disc remained normal. Result!

 

Some pics:

 

Picture026.jpg

 

Picture030.jpg

 

Picture014.jpg

 

Picture017.jpg

 

Picture035.jpg

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(quote) I have tested the new duct setup on the road and just recently on track at Teesside Autodrome which is pretty hard on the brakes.

 

We fitted a second set of ducts to my friends Z and he gave the brakes some abuse on track. He has EBC disks and ds3000 pads. Previously he had bad pad transfer at the Nurburgring which cleared up with some road use. This time around with the ducts fitted, the brakes just kept going, lap after lap! As a test we then blocked the passenger side duct with tape to simulate the ducts not being fitted. The effect was plain to see as we ran into the dark- the passenger side disc started to glow orange, while the driver side disc remained normal. Result!

 

 

yeah the setup worked really well, on the ring the brakes where juddering that bad that i had to come off half way round.

At teeside i ran lap after lap with zero problems with my brakes, i wont be doing any trackdays without them now :clap:

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I looked at doing it like that but it would require holes to be cut in the under tray, it would then cause problems with the routing of the pipe when the wheels are turned from lock to lock.

 

The way I have it at the moment means the pipes do not have to be seen, do not fowl the wheels at full lock, no holes are drilled in the under tray or bumper and the whole lot can be fitted in under 15mins a side.

 

It is more of a functional mod than a styling mod. :drive1

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I tried to mount the pipe to the caliper with tie wraps and other methods but found I could not get a strong enough fix. This is why I went for the plate- it holds the pipe right into the hub of the disc without rubbing on it. This allows the air to flow through the internal vanes of the disc and cool the whole disc rather than just one face of it.

 

I feel a funnel or duct at the front of the pipe is not needed- if you were to drive at 80mph and put a section of pipe out of the window into the direction of the air flow, you would feel just how much air is blasted though the pipe- the setup has proved to work on track.

 

As for costs- I had to buy the pipe, metal sheeting and tools. The materials are not cheap, the metal sheet has to be the correct thickness- as the plate is mounted via the caliper bolt, the plate cannot be too thick as the bolt would not then be long enough to protude through the caliper.

 

I also dont have CNC facilities so the plates have to be made by hand (marking out, drilling, cutting and fileing) which takes time.

 

I didnt make the cooling ducts to make cash, just to get cooler brakes and they work. I would however make some more complete kits up for others but I wont do it for free. Once P&P, paypal fees, material costs and my time (getting it to work, purchasing tools and materials and making the kits up) is taken into account there not much in it.

 

Ive done the hard work and I dont think £45 is unreasonable. :thumbs:

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Doesn't this run the risk of sucking up chippings into your brakes? :shrug:

 

There's no sucking action as such but a stone could get blown into the pipe. I cant imagine the stone would make it up the pipe but if it did it would probably just fall out from the space around the back of the disc hub.

 

If was a still a concern, some mesh could be fitted over the inlet of the pipe to block any debris but its not something I am worried about. :thumbs:

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Good work. :thumbs: I think you could sell a few kits, but not for £45 ;)

 

Where did you get the piping? I've been after something stiffer like that for ages. Looking at this:

 

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/Motorspor ... /1687/3538

 

What diameter did you go for?

 

Cheers.

The piping you are looking at will come to well over £45, price it up for 2 two meters and see. It makes £45 for my setup sound cheap!

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researched this a bit this morning and last night, firstly some people on the know says it's not a good idea to blow cold air on only one side of the disc due to the running risc of warping the disc... any thoughts?

 

I was playing with the idea to push cold air down the top of the brembo calipers, this can't be done on my setup (and guess most other peoples setup) due to the tight distance between wheel and top of caliper. Considering running a seperate hose and point it towards the caliper though. I'll be using half the distance piping and get a funel type entry to force more air down the tube and use twice the piping and doubling the airflow (hopefully), thinking on doing something quick for the rears too. A little aluminium braket should be sufficient on the brake side and cable ties ftw attaching the hoses to under that car. :teeth:

 

Got my first little goodie today:

1336-LONGACRE-ACCUTECH-INFRARED-LASER-PYROMETER-600F.jpg

^ is to 'prove' if it's keeping the brakes colder...or just a placibo :lol:

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researched this a bit this morning and last night, firstly some people on the know says it's not a good idea to blow cold air on only one side of the disc due to the running risc of warping the disc... any thoughts?

Seems vaguely plausible, and yet I've never seen anything short of F1/LMS cars supplying cool air to both sides of this disc.

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researched this a bit this morning and last night, firstly some people on the know says it's not a good idea to blow cold air on only one side of the disc due to the running risc of warping the disc... any thoughts?

Seems vaguely plausible, and yet I've never seen anything short of F1/LMS cars supplying cool air to both sides of this disc.

GOing to have a look at some of the time attack cars on the 26th.

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I tried to mount the pipe to the caliper with tie wraps and other methods but found I could not get a strong enough fix. This is why I went for the plate- it holds the pipe right into the hub of the disc without rubbing on it. This allows the air to flow through the internal vanes of the disc and cool the whole disc rather than just one face of it.

 

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I tried to mount the pipe to the caliper with tie wraps and other methods but found I could not get a strong enough fix. This is why I went for the plate- it holds the pipe right into the hub of the disc without rubbing on it. This allows the air to flow through the internal vanes of the disc and cool the whole disc rather than just one face of it.

 

:dummy:

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