Ever since I bought my FRP I’ve been ‘underwhelmed’ by the brakes,
![1112202173.gif](http://www.pumapeople.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/1112202173.gif)
overwhelmed by everything else but the brakes have been a different matter. With increasing vibration and growing ‘underwhelmedness’ I eventually went along to my local Ford to find out what the issue was. They pontificated somewhat then pontificated some more until I got the impression that these ‘Alcons’ needed a specialist touch. I found Chris (eldoodarino) on the site and arranged a trip to Nottingham for a complete brake overall. It soon became apparent that my Alcons weren’t all Alcons, they had been bodged up with some discs that probably came from a Focus and had seen more than one skimming, I think they were something like 22mm thick so the pistons stuck way out and were consequently reduced to some word beginning in f and ending in ed.
Chris was brilliant stripping down the whole shooting match and fitting new pistons. The pistons seem brilliant too, as some of you know he’s had them specially made up and they look quality and I was more than happy to give them a try. Many hours later with everything stripped, cleaned and renewed including a brand new set off ‘proper’ Alcon discs (yes they are expensive) we finally had a brake-bedding-in session. Even from the off my brakes were far better than they had been before and have just been getting better and better ever since.
![biggrin.gif](http://www.pumapeople.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
They are truly fabulous brakes and if your FRP doesn’t have ‘fabulous’ brakes then I’m guessing there’s something wrong with them. Go and see Chris, apart from being a real nice guy he’s generous with his knowledge, conscientious in his work (and his pistons seem jolly good too!).
Taking a wider perspective, as main stream garages loose interest in the FRP and its ‘differences’ become more problematical or too expensive for them to fix, I think the future of the car will fall to enthusiasts like Chris (and others like him) and the forums dedicated to our cars then become even more important as we rely on each other to fix our problems or point us in the right direction. I’m not worried about this actually, should I be?
JJ