by Steve Finberg
On a recent trip to my favorite parts emporium, I was told they were no longer stocking brake shoes for my Series V Alpine; but if I would leave a $10 deposit, they would be glad to special order the part. Somewhat of a bummer, however the long put off brake job would wait another week. On the following Saturday I was told the parts were only available through Lucas. As my parts store was not dealing with Lucas for anything excepting electricals (seems Lucas is getting a bit unfriendly), the parts were deemed “unavailable”. To make a long story short, I then asked for shoes to fit a 1973 four cylinder Capri. It seems the ’71 thru ’74 Capri used the same Girling brakes. Not only were the brakes in stock but on sale for about 1/3 the price of the Sunbeam replacement part. Be careful to get shoes for the 4 cylinder Capri as the 6 cylinder used a similar but wider shoe. In addition the associated hardware for the Capri brakes also fits the Alpine. The return springs (Gibson P/N 10325-2) are identical. While the hold down springs (Gibson P/N 14016-2) are slightly larger, they fit fine.