Technical Rear disc conversion

[GhostWKD]

2: i want a working handbrake that doesnt fail after 1000miles

do a proper rebuild of the drums will give you just that, trust me i know

 

[arc]

do a proper rebuild of the drums will give you just that, trust me i know

not really.. the design is flawed. if you need to replace the whole rear drum assembly like i had to (needed new back plates, drums, shoes, linkages) then its much cheaper to go disc, and since doing my conversion the car has been on the road since september and i can still lock the rears in the dry if i want.

 

[soozukisteve]

I have never had any luck with the drums at all despite overhauling/periodic maintenance etc the only seem to last a few weeks before 'going off'!
In addition,that doesnt really help the grabbing effect you can get with the drums.
It is possible that a different shoe material,ensuring everything is moving freely ,or giving the leading edge a small chamfer might help slightly,but after a given amount of pressure,the self servo action of the drums/shoes becomes hard to modulate hence the grabbing/locking people experience.

Junk the drums and go discs.

Cost of parts so far-
tempra rear disc assemblies £80
new discs and pads(standard brembo) £50
Paint and bits&bobs £25
=£155
I would gladly pay £155 to have working rear brakes that look really swish through a set of open spoke design alloys.....

 

[fingers99]

My view is that the design is basically OK, but suffers in detailing. Specifically the actuating elbows are made out of poor quality material and would benefit from the inclusion of a nylon or teflon bearing on one of them.

Compared to the disk/drum arrangement on many cars (BMWs and Lancias come to mind) they're an excercise in production engineering and simplicity.

 

[soozukisteve]

Eventually,i managed to finish off the rear disc conversion and they look pretty snazzy through the alloys!!
I managed to use the bracket that i got from the tempra and using the template from earlier in the thread and some jiggery pockery to get them to hold the calipers in the right position.
I also managed to use the original tempra brake hoses and just made up two short lengths of brake pipe to connect it to the seic original brake system.
I had a test drive last night to bed them in.The rears used to lock occasionally under hard braking so i could never test out the big front discs properly.Now im worried about detaching my retinas if i really get on the brakes.
Im slightly dissapointed in the handbrake.its not as powerful as i had hoped but maybe a bit more bedding in and some adjustment will help.
The handbrake cable on the o/s also doesnt appear to be quite long enough so for the moment i have taken it out of some of its brackets to allow it to reach properly.

I had to bleed the calipers off the brackets so that i could position the bleed nipple at the top.It took a little while but they bled up well.I left them to gravity bleed with a clear hose so i could check for air for about 5 mins and finished (after putting a well fitting block between the piston and caliper) with a couple of vigorous pumps to shift any stubborn air!

Overall,it was a day well spent and im really happy with the results..
Hopefully,the pics will load for you to look at (and drool over!!)

So...chassis/suspension done...wheels done....brakes done...now for the engine(and ive never been one to choose the well trodden route!!!!)

 

[Brooky]

Looking good but look too small under the 15"s

 

[soozukisteve]

Looking good but look too small under the 15"s

Im going to have a play with some 14s once i get the engine done and see how well each copes with the power.

Tbh,they look much better in the flesh, and my fronts fill the inside of the wheels nicely!

 

[randomizered]

I would have though the calipers were upside down, but as long as they work fine I guess thats all that counts


The flex to solid looks tidy as well but not as practical I'd imagine.


Wheres the pics of the rest of the car

Kristian

 

[soozukisteve]

I would have though the calipers were upside down, but as long as they work fine I guess thats all that counts


The flex to solid looks tidy as well but not as practical I'd imagine.


Wheres the pics of the rest of the car

Kristian

Well spotted.Calipers are indeed upside down.It was the only way for me to utilise the original handbrake cable.It doesnt affect it in anyway,just means you have to take it off to bleed so the nipple is at the top!
The brake pipe arrangement was just an exercise in tight-arsedness(!!!) and using whatever i had lying around!I will be changing to braided hoses all round before i sort the engine.

Regarding pics of the rest of the car.The body is probably the only thing that lets it down!its got a few car park dents and the paintwork isnt brilliant.Im a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to bodywork tho so as it stands its acceptable.
Gonna try to upload some pics to my gallery if i can work out how to do it,but for now,heres a couple of old pics to keep you going...

 

[J333EVO]

On all the rear conversions I have done I have used the original cables and had the callipers the right way round. You take the cable and run it under the suspension arm not over it and it works out fine.

As it works the way you have it then cool, just means a bit more work if you ever need to bleed them.

 

[soozukisteve]

On all the rear conversions I have done I have used the original cables and had the callipers the right way round. You take the cable and run it under the suspension arm not over it and it works out fine.

As it works the way you have it then cool, just means a bit more work if you ever need to bleed them.

I had that very same thought earlier today!
If i get my front calipers and brackets finished(its colour coding gone mental!) today i might have a blast as it looks as though the cable routing might look even tidier than oem!

 

[fingers99]

Looks good. Another thought: one of the cables (either early Cinq or late Cinq/Sei) is longer. Problem is, I can't remember which! Might be possible to mix and match cables and adjusters/lever actuators to get the length right.

Then again, a trip to the factors might turn up something which can be used.

 

[soozukisteve]

Looks good. Another thought: one of the cables (either early Cinq or late Cinq/Sei) is longer. Problem is, I can't remember which! Might be possible to mix and match cables and adjusters/lever actuators to get the length right.

Then again, a trip to the factors might turn up something which can be used.

Thanks mate.luckily enough,ive got a new cable lying around from a cinq(must be an early one) and its about a foot longer.Ive just got the rear calipers off so im going to try switching them over first and see if routing the cables differently will help!

 

[J333EVO]

TBH it makes no differance, I've done both Cinq ans Sei which have different cable arrangements, you juts unclip the cable run it under rather than over rear suspension arms, use large tie wraps to secure it, this is more than secure, and in fact the integrale as standard has clips that are no better than tie wraps than over time break and are replaced with tie wraps, its an acceptable way to secure the cable.

 

[arc]

*looks under the back end of his cinq*

i should've used stronger cable ties

 

[fingers99]

TBH it makes no differance, I've done both Cinq ans Sei which have different cable arrangements, you juts unclip the cable run it under rather than over rear suspension arms, use large tie wraps to secure it, this is more than secure, and in fact the integrale as standard has clips that are no better than tie wraps than over time break and are replaced with tie wraps, its an acceptable way to secure the cable.

Sei for Sei, Cinq for Cinq, no. But Cinq cable on Sei for more length (where length is a problem) might help.

 

[col7104]

Anyone recognise this caliper? It doesn't look like any on this thread, if you look at the ribbed effect on it.

I couldn't make out what Coupe it was - there was a distinct lack of badges. The front brakes were already stripped so couldn't tell from that. The brake pipe goes in to the caliper unit vertically from the top.

 

[randomizered]

looks like the newer alloy bodied one to me. The one that I and Emma's Sei use...among others. Should work fine (its in that rear caliper thread, I made a bit post on the types )

Kristian

 

[Smiler121]

Just to let people know, I went for 300mm hose + fittings from Earls & when run into the existing fitting point they are a serious stretch to get onto the calipers, although the route they follow is spot on!!!

Also, when using the newest style calipers with the fins all the way along their back I ended up having to grind off the fins in order to get them to go under my 13" Speedlines!!! Possibly explains why the older ones don't have the fin extended over their whole length :bang:

They'd go on OK but near the outer edge inside my rims get thicker & the caliper impedes their rotation unless "shaved". Means I'll have to get the caliper paint out after having originally gone for the posh coating from Biggred

 

[clock34]

hi, ive seen some marea callipers im looking into buying, i have the fronts from the same car on at the moment and work perfectly, however, is the mounting bracket the same for the marea or does it need one making up.

cheers, ste.