What's interesting about that article is that, as usual, Carroll Smith
presents a no-nonsense, no-compromises way to fix the problem (assuming you
didn't get cementite too deep into the rotors, and there is sufficient
thickness): You get them Blanchard-ground. Even though all discs come from
the factory with a Blanchard-ground finish, and when you get a flywheel
refaced, any competent machine shop will Blanchard-grind them, I've never
seen a brake machine that was more than a special-purpose lathe, and it puts
a concentric-ground finish on the disc, which is terrible for bedding in new
pads. With all the improvements in remanufactured automotive parts and in
overall quality of replacement parts, why haven't the car manufacturers
forced the brake repair guys (i.e. the equipment manufacturers as well as
the operators) to start properly remachining the rotors?
This goes to how you scuff up rotors, too, if you're just trying to quickly
fix or diagnose a brake squeal: Get the emery cloth and rub the rotor in
staight lines while holding the rotor steady, then turn the rotor about 45
degrees and repeat the process, until you've gone all the way around.
Spinning the rotor while holding the emery cloth in one place is far less
effective for pad break-in.
Best regards,
Theo Smit
PS: If you haven't, get Carroll Smith's books: Engineer to Win, Tune to Win,
and Prepare to Win - there may be another title that I'm omitting here.
These books contain some of the most insightful writing ever put together on
the topics of materials science, chassis design, and maintenance philosophy
as applied to high performance cars. Carroll Smith had not very much good to
say about racing sedans, but with our cars all going past 40 years,
everything he says about repeated stresses on materials and choosing the
proper fasteners, torques, and tools to put things together, applies to any
Tiger that's been on the road or track for most of the past four decades.
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