Chrysler Valiant VE.....discs and pads etc needed?

[Gus]

Hi....I'm a new member. I have a Valiant VE 273ci, that has been in the family since new. can anyone point me to where I can obtain non American spares please?.....the OZ content of the brakes etc is proving to be a problem.

Thanks very much
Gus

ps...I live in Northants....anyone else out their with a similar vehicle?

[Derek]

Welcome to the club Gus, I can't help with what you are looking for but i'm sure Dave 999 will be able to point you in the right direction

[Blue]

I'm sure Dave 999 will be along shortly with far more information than you ever knew you needed

[MattH]

Hi Gus,
There may be some crossover on US stuff, but I think most Aussie is unique to there, I certainly found that with my VH Charger.

These days the guys in oz are pretty good at shipping things quite quickly.

One good place is Hemi performance. They list everything and will post to the UK
https://www.hemiperformance.com.au/shop ... -disc.html

Also PP&R , Pentastar parts and restoration. Ive had quite a few bits from them as well.
http://www.pentastarparts.com.au/store/ ... list&c=598

Dave999 may know of the interchange parts with bits available over here, but I have usually sourced bits from Aus without too much issue.

[Gus]

Thanks very much Matt.....will check them out and let you know how I get on.

Gus

[Dave999]

Hello

We need to work out what you have on your car.
Are the disks vented or solid? i'd expect solid.

VEs used a PBR caliper with square pads. this is a 2 piston caliper 97.5% sure yours will have them
however i'd normally say a UK car will have been messed with and what was available at the time used to update it
so you can't be sure... however you sound like you can be sure if the car is a 1 owner car

but it is still worth checking

are the calipers Kelsey calipers where the caliper head slides on bushes and pins. A 1 piston slider caliper
or
Girlock calipers where the caliper head slides on a crab claw type bracket and is held on by spring plates and half height bolt heads. visible when the wheel is off again a 1 piston slider caliper.
These look like mid 80s to mid 90s US 1 pot calipers but are 1/16th of an inch different in a number of dimensions meaning pads don't fit and swaps are awkward

be good to know you wheel PCD as well would expect 5 bolts on a 4 inch PCD

VE could be had with disks but many in Oz had drums so yours has either an Option or special UK spec Export only brakes i.e the option won't be called out as it would be in Oz as all UK export cars got them

VF VG and VH used a kelsey caliper
VJ onwards used a girlock.

later again 1976 chrysler went back to PBR with a crap aluminium caliper that warped badly they are not very good and you won't find any here in the UK

VE pads for the PBR caliper
https://www.pentastarparts.com.au/store ... etail&p=47


VE disk brakes in total (2 pages in the link below) check the caliper image to help ID yours, look also at VF VG VH and VJ each has a picture of the caliper and the pads to help discount any changes made.
https://www.powerbrakes.com.au/shop/ind ... daf0a99cc4

here (link below) is all the gear for a car that could be a VE from 1968 or indeed a VF 69, VG 1970, VH 1971 i.e a Car that got kelsey calipers for some reason, used initially in a piecemeal way VE and VF (probably supplier problems with PBR) then always from very Late VF (the ones that got VG bits) onwards until the end of 1973
check the image of the pads. definitely not square but you do have the potential for these to be fitted to your car in which case refer to them as VG 1 year only solid disc brakes on a VE if you speak to a supplier

https://www.empoweredautoparts.com.au/d ... -fro~11444


Pads for all could be ordered via your local bendix supplier but it is easier to just get this stuff from OZ, your local parts store will just have a guy who asks you for you registration number and then gets all hot and bothered when he can't work out what your car is, and you insist on buying a part he can't link back to data on his computer.
computer will say NO and so will he.

if completely stuck i think a set of VJ 73--> calipers brackets hubs and rotors will bolt on to your car i.e Girlocks but your wheels might not fit afterwards. this is the best aussie set up if your wheels fit. but 5 on 4.5 inch PCD hubs are necessary and that won't match your wheels or your rear axle

all is not lost

just need to work out what you need....

keep in mind that australia used the same factories for GM Ford and Chrylser parts so there may be cross pollination

for example pads for my VJ Girlock disc set up cost 2 times the price of the very same pads when they are advertised for a Holden
getting the part number from a website or ebay and then searching for a supplier based on part number alone brings rewards, and rewards that are usually enough to pay the import duty, you would have paid, had you purchased the part as advertised for a valiant.
....Mopar Tax is alive and well in Australia as well as the US, the parts always cost more if chrysler, Mopar or valiant appears in the advert, but in Oz the market was small and the same manufactures made parts for all 3, Ford GM Holdens and Chrysler.

some parts are just better sourced from the US (drum stuff especially, is identical with US 9 inch drums so with a bit of research getting rear drum stuff cheap from rockauto.com is the best way).
Investigation indicates that Aussie front brakes are Aussie front brakes, conversion to US spec involves changing everything from the stub axle outwards. The caliper mounting holes in the stub axles are however in the same place as US A body cars. and you would need a friendly bearing place to assist with fitment of the hubs to the spindle.

nothing wrong with standard brakes provided the brake bias junction thingo still works

your master cylinder is standard VE VF VG VH and i have a spare lid seal somewhere if you need one. i have no idea about servos but believe an aussie one can be swapped with a UK one from a similar vintage rootes or ford. can't remember who designed them but the recipe was the same across continents UK sourced diaphragms and springs can be fitted to aussie servos etc are they lockheed??? dunno mine doesn't have one

PS I steer clear of Hemi performance as a supplier...i just don't like them, i use them only if they are the only sellers of a product i want. This is based on prior dealings where i have been most annoyed by what arrived and the excuses made when I complained. having said that i have bourne this grudge for 10 + years and recent dealings on oil seals etc have been trouble free

let us know how you get on. and if i've just served to confuse matters let me know and i'll do a YES/NO or 1 sentence answer

Dave

[Dave999]

ah yes sorry

just seen Blue's comment

that will teach me to dip in and out all afternoon....

i appear to have created a disjointed mess...

Dave

[ScottyDave]

Dave999 it always amazes me just how much stuff you know

[lough3969]

BOOM!.... Dave999 does it again...

[Kev]

Dave. My 273 VE VIP UK export had the servo remote on the passenger side firewall. Binned it off and didn't make much difference.

[Dave999]

Dave. My 273 VE VIP UK export had the servo remote on the passenger side firewall. Binned it off and didn't make much difference.

yeah the power brakes were considered a bit much with discs by lots of people, provided you get the leverage point in the peddle arm swapped to manual position all should be well. they binned the servo on many chargers as well. none of the RTs had them, option on an XL and always on a 770 with its high aspirations to be a GT

yours also had kelsey calipers with the pin sliders normally used on VG and VH. did you upgrade? the VH calipers are rumoured to be similar in the pad size and shape to one of the 60s mustangs so i'd guess easier to get in the Uk before we all had internet access.


Dave

[Dave999]

Dave999 it always amazes me just how much stuff you know

mildly expensive mis-ordering of parts has a lot to do with it when it cost you both money and shelf space AND there is no market here for the bit that just arrived that doesn't fit you tend to remember

Dave

[Gus]

Hi Guys.....re VE discs etc.

Thank you very much for all the info.....particularly from Dave.....brilliant!

Using the contacts from the site, I did end up ordering from Hemi in OZ.........I'm having a job finding out where my parts are in their delivery schedule, and haven't received a reply to my email chasing......

I will let you know how I get on.

But once again, thanks very much for the advice.

Gus

[Kev]

Dave. My 273 VE VIP UK export had the servo remote on the passenger side firewall. Binned it off and didn't make much difference.

yours also had kelsey calipers with the pin sliders normally used on VG and VH. did you upgrade? the VH calipers are rumoured to be similar in the pad size and shape to one of the 60s mustangs so i'd guess easier to get in the Uk before we all had internet access.


Dave

I'm sure mine had PBR calipers, Dave. Then I went to Wilwoods off an ex Chris Alphabet Dart which had a Chevy implant...

[Dave999]

well it might have done and it probably should have done

but you purchased a set of VH pads from me

i had purchased VH pads becasue mine was a VH, only to find it had girlock VJ calipers... Did I saddle you with a fist full of useless pads...

my car when i first got it had 1 kelsey caliper VH and one girlock caliper VJ so before i shipped it i had it sorted. gearbox and diff rebuild sort the clutch and the brakes

they sorted my brakes the wrong way, or the right way.... upgrade to VJ, as parts for kelsey calipers VH were unavailable in Oz for much of the 90s and 00s

no a problem now the bushes and pins that so often corrode and being made again

unless of course the wilwoods used a pad the same as the VH.

Dave