When the brakes were switched over from Dunlop to Girling

darth sidious

darth sidious

New Member
Apologies if this question has been asked before, beforhand!

When were Dunlop brakes replaced on the P6 range with the Girling brakes? Was there a specific reason (reliability, damage, etc) for the change? :?
 
There will be others who will have more exact details, but I'd expect to see Dunlops on everything up to and including "D" reg's, a few of either on "E" plates, and Girlings on "F" and onwards. I remember the pistons used to seize on the Dunlops, particularly on the fronts where it could end up snapping the disc away from the hub, the same on the rear, but less so. Girlings have their own problems as we know so the change was worth it for Rover for whatever reason, and it certainly was worth it for me......
 
The changeover was caused by Girling acquiring the brake interests of Dunlop. It wasn't a clean change, the first item to change was replacement of the Dunlop servo and master cylinder by the ex Lockheed (also acquired by Girling) servo and Girling master cylinder. This gave the best 2000 brakes of all - Girling topside and Dunlop at the wheels. The servo's and master cylinder change over from early January '66, the calipers from September/October '66. It is entirely possible that some cars were built with a mix of Dunlop and Girling calipers! The Girling rear brakes were developed for the Ford Zephyr/Zodiac MkIV rather than the P6, so Girling already had them waiting when they bought out the Dunlop brake interests.

There is no problem today in overhauling the Dunlop calipers at either front or rear. In fact the parts are cheaper for the Dunlop! And of course, the Dunlop rear brakes are infinitely easier to deal with than the Girling. Today, the Dunlop rear brakes are also considerably more reliable, thanks to development work undertaken by the E type fraternity, who share the P6 rear Dunlop set up. So Dunlop rear brakes have actually become the most desirable option. E types use fractionly larger cylinders at the rear which improve the P6 further.

Chris
 
harveyp6 said:
There will be others who will have more exact details, but I'd expect to see Dunlops on everything up to and including "D" reg's, a few of either on "E" plates, and Girlings on "F" and onwards. I remember the pistons used to seize on the Dunlops, particularly on the fronts where it could end up snapping the disc away from the hub, the same on the rear, but less so. Girlings have their own problems as we know so the change was worth it for Rover for whatever reason, and it certainly was worth it for me......
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As I understand it Girling bought out Dunlop's braking interests, which meant that Girling imposed their own system on the cars.

Full details are in the August 1966 Service Newsletter.

For 2000's the gist is - all chassis numbers up to and including suffix 'D' were built with Dunlop brakes. 'E' is Girling braked.

Chassis number 40038509E is shown in Glass's Guide as the first chassis number with Girlings. Introduction would be the first week of September 1966 (after the customary works holiday), so there are 'D' reg cars with Girling. I believe all 2000 autos and all UK market 2000TC's are Girling braked.

Cheers
Nick
 
harveyp6 said:
Dave3066 said:
August 1966 was the changeover date I think.
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If that is the case then there should be a few OE Girling cars on "D" plates but I've never seen one.
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I've seen at least a couple - an almost dead October 1966 TC we had a few years ago, and Humphrey Steven's white Auto, built November 1966.

Cars from that time are not in great supply at all. Plenty of early 1966 cars seem to survive, not so much from later in the year.
 
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