Thermal backing plates/shims?

vette427sbc

vette427sbc

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I picked up some new braking goodies in preparation for another track day hopefully soon. Last event I faded my pads pretty good, but still managed to keep the fluid from boiling. So this time around Im going to try some Hawk HP Plus pads. I also scored a piece of titanium sheet that I would like to cut into some backing plates to keep some heat away from the fluid. My concern is that it is only .015 thick (supposedly- havent confirmed this but it feels a little thicker)... Is this worth my time to use? I read that some of you are using .05x" stainless shims... I cant imagine titanium would have such a greater thermal impedance to compare to a thicker stainless piece.
It only cost me a favor so if its not worth my time I would rather give it back and look for something thicker
 
Thicker stuff would require worn pads to fit. That's the tradeoff. I can't remember if you are using stock calipers. I don't think you can fit a sheet of paper in there with brand new pads. I have some ti plate in 2 thicknesses to do the same thing but never got around to cuting it up, so i have no real world experience.

Conversion to Wilwood made the mod unnecessary for now.
 
Yeah stock calipers and soon-to-be new pads. I was going to use the belt sander recommendation seen a few threads down.
 
I've been using SS shims for years. Stainless' thermal resistance compares very favorably to titanium, and it's dirt cheap (I just cut the shims out of scrap SS with my plasma cutter). I used some on my original calipers years ago, and am using shims in my Wilwood calipers. I started out with .038" shims once I got a little wear on the pads, and am using .058" shims now.
 
So whats everyones opinion?
Ditch the .015 Ti and look for something thicker? Is Ti worth it over stainless?
 
vette427sbc said:
So whats everyones opinion?
Ditch the .015 Ti and look for something thicker? Is Ti worth it over stainless?
Click to expand...
Unless the titanium is annealed grade, I will be difficult to cut .015 and get a good edge. Maybe waterjet but that's probably not a solution to make a couple shims.

If you did the waterjet, cut a patern where it is under the piston. Less thermal coupling surface might help.
 
I ended up using the .015"... I saw a place online offering Ti backing plates in .020" so I figured it couldnt hurt :rolleyes:

One thing that I didnt think about was cutting a hole for the pin to slide through. I only made two without the hole before I realized its probably better that they have the hole. We'll see if they move much without the pin to hold them up.
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I also put in my HP Plus pads up front... Holy sh!t these things bite hard! They feel like a regular street pad under normal pedal pressure, but as soon as you start pushing them a little harder they will pull you right out of your seat. I can only hear them squeak a little when they are really cold, but nothing obnoxious.

I heard they were pretty dusty, so I cleaned my wheels right before I took it for the first drive with the new pads... this was 20 minutes of street driving later with about 8 hard highway stops
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I still have to put the rear pads in and flush the fluid once the new lines are in.
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Way ahead of ya...
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3" ducts... I have been running ATE fluid... Not bad for the price. I got pad fade before I boiled my fluid last time. Ill probably put in some SRF next time I flush the system
 
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