2nd Gen R56 Cooper S Poor Mans Caliper upgrade?

Discussion in '2nd Generation: 2007+ R55 through R61' started by Grizld700, Jul 23, 2016.

  1. Grizld700

    Grizld700 Well-Known Member

    Feb 2, 2016
    1,212
    47
    48
    Service Advisor at a Toyota Dealer
    Eastern Iowa
    Ratings:
    +52 / 0 / -0
    I know the R53 has a poor mans upgrade by going to the R56 brake calipers. Well I have an R56. The problem is my car was a Wisconsin car prior to me purchasing it. And from the looks of the back side of the calipers they probably never washed the thing during winter.

    Now realistically if the calipers were in ok condItion, I would have been fine with upgrading rotors, pads, lines, and painting the calipers then calling it good. But these are all sorts of crusty and scaly. Not sure if they're worth the bother.

    So any known caliper kits? I daily this car so BBKs are over kill. I do not track and I hit an occasional autoX. Other than that No super hard braking. I do have a bit more power than stock so I would like something slightly better than stock. Just not overkill.

    That all being said, if there's any good cheap cooper S calipers I can just take those and paint them too.

    Oh and I'd have to be able to fit my stock 16's over anything I do for winter time.
     
  2. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,559
    4,419
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,003 / 1 / -0
    What's on the outside doesn't hurt anything as long as they work correctly.

    Good/cheap are mutually exclusive terms.

    I think the cheapest/best way to go would be to simply replace with like and if you want a little more performance get some more aggressive pads, but I've never seen an autocross that would outdrive the stock brakes on a MINI, they're pretty terrific right out of the box.

    Except for the black dust.....man I hate that black dust!
     
  3. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Sep 29, 2009
    12,713
    7,659
    113
    Ex-Owner (Retired) of a custom metal fab company.
    Columbus, Ohio
    Ratings:
    +7,913 / 1 / -0
    If the scaly bits bother you...

    Have them media blasted and then powder coated and go with some performance pads...

    Any good powder coater should have the ability to media blast the parts, so it's a "one stop shop"...

    Or spend a bunch of your time with a wire wheel on a drill and paint them with special caliper paint...

    But they will never look as good as the powder coat option... So choices / choices....
     
  4. ZippyNH

    ZippyNH Well-Known Member

    Jan 25, 2010
    1,404
    688
    113
    Pilot
    Southern NH
    Ratings:
    +688 / 0 / -0
    Refinish them....or just buy a second pair and then swap them....if the insides are good, the exterior is just decoration.
    No bbk will fit with your winter rims....so you are going to have to use about the same as what you have...
    I do take back about NO BBK kit...but no common one...there was the bmf (I think) Wildwood that would fit with 8 inch wide 15" rim...lol...kind extreme. Yeah...the disc was huge.. thick...
     
  5. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
    Lifetime Supporter

    May 4, 2009
    3,532
    2,896
    113
    Professional Facilitator and Alignment Consultant
    Holly Springs, NC
    Ratings:
    +2,896 / 0 / -0
    Detroit Tuned makes a kit that fits under my 15x8 track wheels, also.

    But, as has bees said, your best option is to stick with the R56s brakes.
     
  6. Grizld700

    Grizld700 Well-Known Member

    Feb 2, 2016
    1,212
    47
    48
    Service Advisor at a Toyota Dealer
    Eastern Iowa
    Ratings:
    +52 / 0 / -0
    Sticking with the stocks sounds good to me. Found someone parting out a Cooper S so I'll get those calipers. Clean them up, repaint them, replace the dust seals and call it good.

    The local paint shop I use can ceramic coat them or powder coat them. Any advantage to be had with ceramic coated calipers?
     
  7. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
    Lifetime Supporter

    May 4, 2009
    25,021
    13,497
    113
    Burbs of Philly, PA
    Ratings:
    +14,644 / 10 / -4
    I have used Dupli-colors ceramic paint and it looks great and lasts. It a lot cheaper than powder coating.
     
  8. Friskie

    Friskie Well-Known Member

    Jul 20, 2009
    1,650
    1,333
    113
    Highly motivated retiree
    In the here and now, for now.
    Ratings:
    +1,339 / 0 / -0
    #8 Friskie, Jul 25, 2016
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2016
    +1 on Dupli-Color...and beer. Paint the disc hats at the same time for added pop.
     

    Attached Files:

  9. 00Mini

    00Mini Well-Known Member

    Feb 24, 2013
    20,844
    2,021
    113
    Retired
    Ratings:
    +2,974 / 6 / -5
    What's your mixture ratio of beer to paint ??
     
  10. Friskie

    Friskie Well-Known Member

    Jul 20, 2009
    1,650
    1,333
    113
    Highly motivated retiree
    In the here and now, for now.
    Ratings:
    +1,339 / 0 / -0
    That's hard to say. Totally depends on the beer. You've got your 'sex in a canoe' lite at 3.2 down to O'Doul's clear up to one of my favorite imperial stouts at 11.6 ABV. The affect of that on the paint shows up in how widely it is spread and where.
     
  11. Grizld700

    Grizld700 Well-Known Member

    Feb 2, 2016
    1,212
    47
    48
    Service Advisor at a Toyota Dealer
    Eastern Iowa
    Ratings:
    +52 / 0 / -0
    Dupli-ceramic it is then!

    Now for the frequent spirited driver that does a couple AutoX sessions a year, what pads are recommended? There are sooooo many options and not enough consumer feedback on them all for me to nail it down. From what I've heard, EBC had pad issues at one time, but maybe they're better now.

    I'd prefer low dust (I'm sure everyone does) but decent stopping power
     
  12. Grizld700

    Grizld700 Well-Known Member

    Feb 2, 2016
    1,212
    47
    48
    Service Advisor at a Toyota Dealer
    Eastern Iowa
    Ratings:
    +52 / 0 / -0
    Ok, so after all that. Weighing my options and considering $200 for than what I was looking to spend on reconditioning front rotors, painting, uprated rotors and pads I decided to get the Wilwood kit after all. Ill just paint my rears to match and get a better pad and rotors back there. I won't really be pushing this kit too far, but I figured if I got more involved with track sessions and autoX then this would only be that much better than stock. Plus its nice eye candy.
     

Share This Page