Brake Upgrate

[nerobo]

Im after some help.
Ive been through the search looking at the cosworth 283mm brake conversion. Theres are so many different topics but i carnt seem to find the exact parts that are required.
The calipers need to be 887 and 888, but what carriers? Do i need the sierra cosworth 4x4 carriers of the mondeo v6 carriers or are they both the same?

Hope this makes sence any help would be great as im trying to order the parts i need.

Thanks Graeme

[Podie]

You want the carriers from the 887/888 calipers.

[nerobo]

Of which car? The mondeo, cossie Granada’s or 4x4 sierra cossie? Or are they all the same?

Graeme

[Podie]

You want the calipers and carriers from 887/888. Doesn't matter which car they were on.

[nerobo]

Thats great and the disc are 283 of a 2wd sierra cosworth is that correct? And the carriers need a little taking out to allow for the bigger discs?

Graeme

[Podie]

Calipers need spacing - can't recall the amount off the top of my head.

Discs are larger, but again not sure if it was 278 or 283.

Will have a dig around.

[phillpot]

From my notes I've got;

Disc - 278mm Scorpio 2.9 (12 valve) '95-'98

Caliper - 887/888 Scorpio 2.9 (12v) or Mondeo 2.5 '93-'00

Spacer 11mm

Mounting bolts 12mm (holes in hub carrier will need to be drilled out)

[Podie]

phillpot said:

From my notes I've got;

Disc - 278mm Scorpio 2.9 (12 valve) '95-'98

Caliper - 887/888 Scorpio 2.9 (12v) or Mondeo 2.5 '93-'00

Spacer 11mm

Mounting bolts 12mm (holes in hub carrier will need to be drilled out)

Sounds about right. Note that not all Mondeo 2.5s had the 887/888 calipers.

[Simon says]

With 283mm discs you need 2 spacers of 2mm on each caliper carrier to hub (4 x steel washers for both calipers) if it as the early fr brakes i.e 240mm (mine did) you will need to drill out the hub bolt holes this is very easy with a normal hand drill in situ just keep the drill square to the hub and the drill bit will chase through the previous hole and not go off centre, I also found I at to relieve just a small amount of casting flash/metal from the carrier to clear the outer edge of the disc this will be obvious as you do a dummy build. 4 brand new bolts from a Ford dealer (still available) from the sourced car as these are the correct length & spec even with the small spacers, hope this helps. you keep your original brake lines, I would also recommended carrying out a full inspection of your sourced calipers before fitting as they are getting on now

[nerobo]

I do want to use the 283mm discs.
So just to make sure i have this right i need
:- 887 and 888 calipers and carriers
:- 2wd sierra 283mm Discs

Whats pads are used?

Thanks Graeme

[carsy]

Granada cosworth pads. Escort cosworth fitted with the 887/888 will obviously also fit. I have just done this conversion and compared to the standard breakes they are awesome.

[nerobo]

A guy on Ebay selling a Pair of calipers froma Mondeo Mk2 ST24 V6 1999. Ive asked for the numbers on the calipers and he said they are 817 an 818 are these the same?

Thanks Graeme

[Podie]

nerobo said:

A guy on Ebay selling a Pair of calipers froma Mondeo Mk2 ST24 V6 1999. Ive asked for the numbers on the calipers and he said they are 817 an 818 are these the same?

Thanks Graeme

No.

[Nosh]

Any idea where I can get the carriers from if I was to attempt this?

Thanks in advance

Nosh

[Marty V8]

Nosh said:

Any idea where I can get the carriers from if I was to attempt this?

Thanks in advance

Nosh

If you already have a set of calipers then ebay is the place to look. TBH with you, the carriers on their own often carry the same premium as buying a set of calipers and carriers together. There is a set of Escort calipers and carriers on ebay at present.

Ive done this conversion twice now - most recently to my Griffith 500 (std 260mm dia) and previously to a Cobra Kit Car which had 240mm discs. Both conversions were a bolt on job with only a single washer/spacer needed between hub and carrier in order to centre the carrier over the disc. You will need to relieve the carriers slightly as they were designed for a 278mm disc, whereas the discs you will be putting on will be 283mm. So you only need to take 2.5 to 3mm off each side of the carrier to get it to fit. I have not had to drill hubs to be able to bolt the carriers to them for either oif the conversions I have done, but this might be the difference between the V6 Mondeo/Scorpio carriers and the Cosworth carriers.

Discs need to be 283x24mm from a rwd Sierra Cosworth (or equivalent) as the offset is totally different to that of an Escort Cossie or Sierra 4x4 Cossie.

Brake pads should be bought to fit the caliper not the disc so need to be Escort Cossie or Sierra Cossie compatible.

As has already been mentioned, check that the calipers are okay to use before nailing them on. Each time Ive done this conversion Ive used a rebuild kit from Bigg Red (google them) which contains all the rubber seals. I think you can get new pistons as well if they turn out to be no good.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Marty

[Nosh]

Marty V8 said:

If you already have a set of calipers then ebay is the place to look. TBH with you, the carriers on their own often carry the same premium as buying a set of calipers and carriers together. There is a set of Escort calipers and carriers on ebay at present.

Ive done this conversion twice now - most recently to my Griffith 500 (std 260mm dia) and previously to a Cobra Kit Car which had 240mm discs. Both conversions were a bolt on job with only a single washer/spacer needed between hub and carrier in order to centre the carrier over the disc. You will need to relieve the carriers slightly as they were designed for a 278mm disc, whereas the discs you will be putting on will be 283mm. So you only need to take 2.5 to 3mm off each side of the carrier to get it to fit. I have not had to drill hubs to be able to bolt the carriers to them for either oif the conversions I have done, but this might be the difference between the V6 Mondeo/Scorpio carriers and the Cosworth carriers.

Discs need to be 283x24mm from a rwd Sierra Cosworth (or equivalent) as the offset is totally different to that of an Escort Cossie or Sierra 4x4 Cossie.

Brake pads should be bought to fit the caliper not the disc so need to be Escort Cossie or Sierra Cossie compatible.

As has already been mentioned, check that the calipers are okay to use before nailing them on. Each time Ive done this conversion Ive used a rebuild kit from Bigg Red (google them) which contains all the rubber seals. I think you can get new pistons as well if they turn out to be no good.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Marty

Marty - excellent!

Did you fit the 888/887 calipers?

Thank you.

Nosh.

[Marty V8]

Hi mate,

Yes they were the 887 and 888 calipers. Ive attached a couple of photos. One shows the calipers and the carriers after being painted in high temp paint, and then heat cured in the oven.
You can see the 887 and 888 casting numbers in them. You can also see '310' on one of the carriers as well. Cant remember if the carriers are 'handed' or not and I cant find any other photos that Ive taken of the two carriers together either, so not much help there.

The other photo just shows the difference between a 260mm disc and a 283mm disc. Although the difference in dia isnt that great, I certainly noticed a difference in the braking on my Griff after fitting the larger discs. For an outlay of approx £200 all in inc calipers, rebuild kit and paint, its a cheap brake upgrade, and certainly very effective if upgrading from a 240mm dia disc. When I carried out this conversion to my Cobra, the brakes were that effective I started to suffer from the effects of oil surge in the sump and a corresponding drop in oil pressure if I hit them really hard.

[Nosh]

Marty V8 said:

Hi mate,

Yes they were the 887 and 888 calipers. Ive attached a couple of photos.....

<snip>

Looks lush mate

And you didn't haver to drill out the holes in the carrier bracket? (sorry, just trying to get my head around it)

Nosh

[BIGMIKE1]

I'm interested in doing this myself, is it the difference in carriers between sierra, escort, mondeo etc that dictates whether you have to drill out then??? Just can't understand why some people have to drill and some don't, obviously I'd rather get hold of the right parts to make the conversion as easy as possible.

[Marty V8]

Sorry for the delay in responding, just been out for a blat in the Griff.



Regarding the difference in carriers, I'm not 100% sure TBH with you. It might be what the difference is but then again, there may be a few 'weird' hubs on some TVR's. As I understand it, some need to drill hubs and some dont. When I upgraded my Cobra, it had 240mm discs on and used Ford hubs from a 2.0 litre Sierra. I didnt have to drill through the hubs then but I'm not sure if the hubs are the same as on TVR's that use a 240mm disc. It would make sense, but this is TVR after all....

The 'Cossie' carriers that Ive always used are threaded to hold the caliper and also to bolt to the hub - photo attached. I'm not sure whether the V6 Mondeo carrier is the same or whether it takes a bigger bolt which may require a drill to go through the hub to widen the hole. Dont know either if it works in reverse i.e. that the bolts go through from the caliper side rather than from the hub side - pure speculation though.

If someone could post photos of the Mondeo setup and/or hubs then we could perhaps compare to see if there are any obvious differences.

Edited by Marty V8 on Thursday 12th April 20:07