Discussion
Are they really worth going to the trouble of fitting, I took them off my 500 cos it wouldn't stop, (too much rear bias) I put 315mm bigger disks and Porsche Brembos on, it stops MUCH better now but has a bit too much front bias. Any sugestions for donor brembo calipers for the back?
Thumbs up to Godspeed for the conversion bits by the way.
Gordon
Thumbs up to Godspeed for the conversion bits by the way.
Gordon
Are the early discs 240mm dia? If so one of the more popular swaps withing the fast Ford community is to get hold of either Scorpio 24V or Sierra Cosworth 4x4 front calipers and brackets and use these with a rwd 283mm Sierra Cossie disc. The cariers will need a slight amount of work to open them out as the standard Scorpio/4x4 cossie disc is I seem to remember a 278mm dia disc, so obviously the 283mm rwd Cossie disc wont fit without a small amount of work. The other thing you might need to do is to space the carrier off the hub fractionaly to centre the disc in the carrier. A large dia washer usually does the trick.
I found this mod out from an Escort or Fiesta forum I think it was, and used it on my Cobra Kit Car (which used std Sierra hubs) to upgrade from 240mm to 283mm front discs. The difference was very noticable to say the least. I got a set of secondhand calipers and reconditioned all the rubber seals and got new pistons for them, at a fraction of the cost of a big brake upgrade.
I would have gone for Cossie 4 pot calipers but couldnt fit them behind the Halibrand alloys due to the offset.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Marty
I found this mod out from an Escort or Fiesta forum I think it was, and used it on my Cobra Kit Car (which used std Sierra hubs) to upgrade from 240mm to 283mm front discs. The difference was very noticable to say the least. I got a set of secondhand calipers and reconditioned all the rubber seals and got new pistons for them, at a fraction of the cost of a big brake upgrade.
I would have gone for Cossie 4 pot calipers but couldnt fit them behind the Halibrand alloys due to the offset.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Marty
Edited by Marty V8 on Tuesday 26th January 00:31
I'm not sure if you can get 315mm discs under the standard 15" fronts? There was an option I was considering before going over to AP calipers, which uses the Brembos that were fitted to Fiat Coupe/Focus RS/Alfas, etc.
Have a look here to get the general idea:
http://www.zyworld.com/caprisport/1_brakes.htm
The bolt centres on the Brembos are different, and depending on the size of disc you go for, it will need to be moved outward of the hub centre. You could get a bracket laser cut pretty easily once you have the dimensions. If you were going for 17" fronts I think a 324mm (Focus RS) disc will fit, and they are pretty cheap - and available off the shelf.
Not sure about using a Brembo as a rear caliper (without going for a separate parking brake mechanism). I think the general opinion seems to be that the rear brakes are more balanced when you upgrade the fronts. Were the earlier Grifs fitted with solid discs? Changing to vented may help with fade?
Hi-Spec do a bolt on Sierra replacement, but are >300 quid a pair, for the twin pot design.
Have a look here to get the general idea:
http://www.zyworld.com/caprisport/1_brakes.htm
The bolt centres on the Brembos are different, and depending on the size of disc you go for, it will need to be moved outward of the hub centre. You could get a bracket laser cut pretty easily once you have the dimensions. If you were going for 17" fronts I think a 324mm (Focus RS) disc will fit, and they are pretty cheap - and available off the shelf.
Not sure about using a Brembo as a rear caliper (without going for a separate parking brake mechanism). I think the general opinion seems to be that the rear brakes are more balanced when you upgrade the fronts. Were the earlier Grifs fitted with solid discs? Changing to vented may help with fade?
Hi-Spec do a bolt on Sierra replacement, but are >300 quid a pair, for the twin pot design.
pxw said:
Are they really worth going to the trouble of fitting, I took them off my 500 cos it wouldn't stop, (too much rear bias) I put 315mm bigger disks and Porsche Brembos on, it stops MUCH better now but has a bit too much front bias. Any sugestions for donor brembo calipers for the back?
Thumbs up to Godspeed for the conversion bits by the way.
Gordon
You don't need Brembo on the back, I went through the whole calculation process and ended up spacing the existing calipers out and running 300mm rear discs. Brings the balance right into the sweet spot Thumbs up to Godspeed for the conversion bits by the way.
Gordon
I used the bolt on cossie kit from www.compbrake.co.uk
jeboa said:
The bolt centres on the Brembos are different, and depending on the size of disc you go for, it will need to be moved outward of the hub centre. You could get a bracket laser cut pretty easily once you have the dimensions. If you were going for 17" fronts I think a 324mm (Focus RS) disc will fit, and they are pretty cheap - and available off the shelf.
I have already done the groundwork designing and making adaptors for these brakes and discs. They work well, but need at least a 17" wheel. I'll post some pictures when I get home.I have 500 front brakes on mine and they were a straight swap except for the addition of - or was it swap for - different spacers.
Anyway the spacer swap or addition makes no odds because I later lost one and it is now replaced with about 3 or 4 fatish washers to get the spacing right.
GD150 are the EBC rotors mentioned above.
Have a look at Ballistic Bananas profile blog, waaaaaay down is his detail of his EBC brake swap, its these I have.
I think I'm going to swap the pads for Mintex this time round and see how they are.
I too have braided hoses, 5.1 fluid and the difference in the braking is light years better. I can stop the car on its nose now, rather than it feeling like it needed a runway.
And you don't need to start upgrading the rears for balance. You can, obviously, but you don't need to.
Anyway the spacer swap or addition makes no odds because I later lost one and it is now replaced with about 3 or 4 fatish washers to get the spacing right.
GD150 are the EBC rotors mentioned above.
Have a look at Ballistic Bananas profile blog, waaaaaay down is his detail of his EBC brake swap, its these I have.
I think I'm going to swap the pads for Mintex this time round and see how they are.
I too have braided hoses, 5.1 fluid and the difference in the braking is light years better. I can stop the car on its nose now, rather than it feeling like it needed a runway.
And you don't need to start upgrading the rears for balance. You can, obviously, but you don't need to.
spend said:
I only upgraded the rears to 500 spec as I put AP's on the front John, just make sure the originals are working fine & you should be OK (possibly better combination than if you upgraded the rears?)
Agreed, I have the 5 stud hub upgrade and AP 4 Pot calipers up front on mine and I still feel (if I was being overly critical) the rears are a little over biased. Personally, on the rear, I wouldn`t upgrade to anything more than 500 standard discs and calipers and a decent pad like mintex 1144, work very well for me under very hard braking. 
AP's with 300's front and std 500 rears, better disks on the rear and the best pads I've used by far are Ferodo DS2500's front and rear . . . Awesome.
In fact, had my AP's on so long now that I need new rotors . . Ouch
Have had no issues with bias at all. Make sure your suspension is set up well as this will help a great deal when using the brakes hard
In fact, had my AP's on so long now that I need new rotors . . Ouch
Have had no issues with bias at all. Make sure your suspension is set up well as this will help a great deal when using the brakes hard
Johno said:
AP's with 300's front and std 500 rears, better disks on the rear and the best pads I've used by far are Ferodo DS2500's front and rear . . . Awesome.
In fact, had my AP's on so long now that I need new rotors . . Ouch
Have had no issues with bias at all. Make sure your suspension is set up well as this will help a great deal when using the brakes hard
Are you going to get bells J? Don't think the rotors are any cheaper but it must be quite a weight saving + greater choice of disc pattern.In fact, had my AP's on so long now that I need new rotors . . Ouch
Have had no issues with bias at all. Make sure your suspension is set up well as this will help a great deal when using the brakes hard
Gassing Station | Griffith | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff