DIY Brake Upgrade
DIY Brake Upgrade
Author
Discussion

edhorne

Original Poster:

423 posts

313 months

Wednesday 29th December 2004
quotequote all
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

I have been thinking about starting my upgrade program with the brakes.

I have read of peoples experiences with Hi_Spec and Tower View etc etc but I was wondering about sourcing the parts myself and have a local machine shop make up any brackets required.

Apparently the obvious choice is Sierra Cosworth 4-pot calipers with 283mm discs from the same and then apparently no brackets are required. As I have the earlier 240mm discs, the cosworth dimensions (apart from the diameter) are within 2mm of my current arrangement.

However Cossie calipers are few and far between so I could just go for the Granada Calipers as fitted to the 500 with brackets and 283mm discs. Any thoughts?

Someone has suggested Fiat Coupe/Pug 406 V6 4 pot Brembo calipers as having the correct hole location for the Ford Hubs. Obviously the discs would need careful selection but the are 287mm diameter so should fit under my 15inch wheels. And I understand that the PCD is the same. The calipers seem fairly available with 2 or 3 sets for sale on Ebay.

Has anyone else tried this conversion or know of anyone who has. I would be interested in any information.

Happy New Year

Ed

PS Does anyone have any experience of www.godspeedbrakes.fsnet.co.uk?

antonyj

5,254 posts

310 months

Wednesday 29th December 2004
quotequote all
I used godspeed, Ian is very good and helpfull
I fitted Granada Cosworth calipers to the front of my precat griff, with 283mm discs and NO brackets.
I also fitted the rear 273 discs and granny calipers

edhorne

Original Poster:

423 posts

313 months

Thursday 30th December 2004
quotequote all
antonyj

Did Ian at Godspeed source the calipers and discs for you or did he just point you in the right direction?

Having googled this last night it seems that some washers are required to space the caliper out so that the disc lines up in the centre of the caliper. Is this a problem you encountered or was it a straight swap?

Sorry for the barrage of questions.

Happy New Year

Ed

jsr

1,155 posts

279 months

Thursday 30th December 2004
quotequote all
Ed, keep us updated with how you get on.

I want to upgrade my brakes this year and sourcing parts from other cars has got to be cheaper than buying a new upgrade kit.

Steve_T

6,356 posts

301 months

Thursday 30th December 2004
quotequote all
I see the kit now. Will give em a call soon.

>> Edited by Steve_T on Thursday 30th December 15:38

shpub

8,507 posts

301 months

Thursday 30th December 2004
quotequote all
The only thing I will say is that be careful and check everything. There is considerable variation on the uprights/callipers/discs over the year and what fits one car doesn't necessarily fit another. This is why many people have had problems with brake upgrade kits in that they fit most cars but one turns up that had a slight difference and it doesn't. Of course we only get to hear of those that don't fit.

Been through this enough times to never trust anything!


Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

Corin Denton

8,762 posts

297 months

Friday 31st December 2004
quotequote all
I would be really interested to hear how you get on!

jellison

12,803 posts

306 months

Saturday 1st January 2005
quotequote all
There is an AP kit of 283 or 285mm (can't remember which) and the brackets to offset the std caliper. It has to have the bracket as the disc is bigger and the stand off from the hub centre is halfd the increase in th disc size. 15" rims fine.

They are ok maybe 15% better than std with fast road pads, but still not brilliant - but then you can do it all for under 300 quid. You have to tap the std stud holes I think but pretty easy fit. Std 500 brake IHMO are really not very hot for a car as fast as a 500 can go - built down to a price compared to Cerbs / Tuscan.

300mm discs and Tuscan calipers - Awesome (fitted yesterday), and not as much front dive on std suspension as I had heard there could be. The AP's are much lighter than the Grannie calipers, and the rotors are too (alloy bells). Only fits under 16" rims though.


>> Edited by jellison on Saturday 1st January 22:52

antonyj

5,254 posts

310 months

Sunday 2nd January 2005
quotequote all
I had Ian at godspeed supply me the 283mm discs(he drilled them for the 5 stud 114.3 pcd for me)
I got hold of everything else myself

chimtvr

1,315 posts

263 months

Saturday 8th January 2005
quotequote all
ok so you got me thinking and remebering my cossie days had a close look and hmmmmmm..............
checked ebay............
for the monstrous sum of £100 bought a pair of good sierra sapphire cosworth 4x4 1991-1994 calipers and disks simple straight bolt on conversion 285mm disks great stopping power and they finally fill the wheels properly!!!!!!!!

antonyj

5,254 posts

310 months

Saturday 8th January 2005
quotequote all
The 4X4 cossie I dont think has 283mm discs, I maybe wrong but the 283's are from the two wheel drive ones.

I stand to be corrected, I think the 4x4 are 278mm discs.

I have the 283's on mine with grannie cossie calipers.

Infact, check out www.brake-eng.com/
i think the 4x4 front disc isnt tall enough.

>> Edited by antonyj on Saturday 8th January 22:50

chimtvr

1,315 posts

263 months

Sunday 9th January 2005
quotequote all
really i didnt realise the 4x4 and 2 wheel drive have different disk size i was lucky the disks are from a two wheel drive and fit in the 4 wheel drive calipers so the clearance is obviously there
the calipers seem pretty much the same they both have the same size pistons 60mm and they both take the same size disks maybe its a different offset????they have different part numbers
someone explain to me how to post pictures and i will show you what it looks like

>> Edited by chimtvr on Sunday 9th January 19:21

jsr

1,155 posts

279 months

Sunday 9th January 2005
quotequote all
Chimtvr, YHM!

Also a question to all...
When changing brake discs, is it just a case of removing and replacing, or are the wheel bearings integral to the disc and do they need replacing too?

chimtvr

1,315 posts

263 months

Sunday 9th January 2005
quotequote all
brake disk change is simply remove and install no wheel bearings by the way at least on my car the 2wd 4 pot calipers dont fit straight on you would need to change the hub for a 2wd cossie one which i THINK should bolt straight on (looking for a pair now) also if you fit the rear bearing carriers from a cossie you should be able to fit the larger vented disks and calipers from a 4x4 cossie

jsr

1,155 posts

279 months

Sunday 9th January 2005
quotequote all
Pics of chimtvr's brake upgrade:





Certainly fills the wheel better. Some calliper paint would look really good.

Gonna see whats available on ebay now!!!

antonyj

5,254 posts

310 months

Sunday 9th January 2005
quotequote all
Chimtvr, you are right about the rear disc setup, I have fitted Granny cossie rear setup, the discs are the same size(I used modified granny discs because of my spider setup), the bearing carrier sets the caliper further out from centre.The rear disc is 273mm dia.

The Granny caliper fitted straight on, to the standard upright,barr making the holes slightly bigger.

chimtvr

1,315 posts

263 months

Sunday 9th January 2005
quotequote all
that must be the difference between granny and 4x4 cossie caliper the holes were the right size on the cossie ones i was gutted the 2wd 4 pots didnt fit especially after i spent £15 and two days on caliper paint doh

sparkythecat

8,097 posts

284 months

Sunday 9th January 2005
quotequote all
chimtvr, are those pictures of the cosworth 2wd front desks with the standard chim calipers on?
If so, has that made any noticable difference to braking performance?
Cheers
Sparky

chimtvr

1,315 posts

263 months

Monday 10th January 2005
quotequote all
no 2wd disks with cossie 4x4 calipers and yes it does make a big difference!!!

sparkythecat

8,097 posts

284 months

Monday 10th January 2005
quotequote all
chimtvr said:
no 2wd disks with cossie 4x4 calipers and yes it does make a big difference!!!


Sorry to appear thick, butt do you mean Sierra Cossworth 4x4 calipers or the Granny/Scorpio cosworth 4x4 ones?