Rear disk conversion

[donsayers]

My rear axle has never been a quiet one, but it runs ok. I now havea spere from the Marina I scrapped and i am going to get that one rebuilt.

I would like to change the rear drums to dick. I have see at leat one conversion like this, and I know that a kit was made for Estcort axles which were very similar.

Calipers are easy, Golf, MX5, to name but two, but how what disk to use and how does it attach to the hub.

Also has anyone had experience of up rating the front brakes? Are there any alternatives to the Princess 4 pot calliper that are sometimes used? The original callipers were shared with early Cortinas so is there a bolt on alternative from Willwood and the like.

[dogoncrazy]

Re: Rear disk conversion

Don
You need to speak to Lee Hunter on this one as he has converted his Lotus powered roadster to disc rear.

[jon_cox]

Re: Rear disk conversion

Don,
I have designed and fitted a rear disc conversion using the components from an MGF. The disc has a 95.25 pcd which is perfect. You need to make the holes slightly bigger to fit over the Marina wheel studs but this is easy compared to getting discs drilled on a lathe to ensure accuracy.
The brackets are similar to the ones used on Escorts. I just need to sort out the plumbing and cables......

[donsayers]

Re: Rear disk conversion

Thanks Jon. That is a very important piece of information. I had not thought of MGF disks.

Are the brackets home made or bought, I can find several suppliers of Escort brackets.

[ggrum]

Re: Rear disk conversion

Don,
Sometime ago the Marina Owners Club made available an adaptor that would enable the fitting of a Sierra front caliper with, I believe, the original Marina discs. At the time the adaptor was about 40 quid but I don't actually know anybody who tried it.
Just a thought!

[jon_cox]

Re: Rear disk conversion

Don,
I have designed my own brackets to suit the MGF caliper as the escort conversions use Golf / Sierra calipers which have different spacing for mounting lugs and suit different diameter discs. I think the mounting to axle flange PCD is different also.
To be honest the biggest issue with any brake upgrade is getting them to fit under the 13" wheels. Princess 4 pots will fit the front caliper brackets except they use metric bolts NOT the Marina imperial size. Therefore the holes in the caliper lugs are too large. HiSpec do a conversion collar for this exact problem so that you can use their M16 calipers on early Escorts (did you know that the M in M16 means Metric). Although the Marina Forum quotes "I have finally sorted out how to fit 12mm mounted calipers to 7/16" Marina caliper mounts - Shoulder Bolts - buy some M12 x 1.25 bolts (must be 1.25 thread pitch), cut them to length and then run a 7/16th Die down them. The metric thread pitch is the same as the imperial one." - not tried this myself so can't comment but if you do make sure they are the correct tensile bolts not just any old crap.
Ben from the Marina Owners Club has created a front brake upgrade from XR3 parts which might be of interest. Not sure I see the point of this though!!!
http://www.fastmarinamagazine.com/viewtopic.php?t=425&sid=12c115a5053e00356eeb3c 1e14391b4c
I have spoken to HiSpec about a kit for the Marina front leg which they said would be no problem using there bells and discs, just needed to have a front leg with bracket and wheel to mock something up but as I live in Bristol and they are in Kent it never happened.

[CosworthCabrioLee]

Re: Rear disk conversion

Hi Don,
Type in rear disc conversion in search you will see pics of my conversion etc. However I have a dolomite sprint axle. Give me a call if I can be of help. Must say the conversion works perferct and looks the dogs bits.
I still want the peddle box if you still have it ??

[donsayers]

Re: Rear disk conversion

Still got it., Lee!

[andyf]

Re: Rear disk conversion

Don,
I have designed my own brackets to suit the MGF caliper as the escort conversions use Golf / Sierra calipers which have different spacing for mounting lugs and suit different diameter discs. I think the mounting to axle flange PCD is different also.
To be honest the biggest issue with any brake upgrade is getting them to fit under the 13" wheels. Princess 4 pots will fit the front caliper brackets except they use metric bolts NOT the Marina imperial size. Therefore the holes in the caliper lugs are too large. HiSpec do a conversion collar for this exact problem so that you can use their M16 calipers on early Escorts (did you know that the M in M16 means Metric). Although the Marina Forum quotes "I have finally sorted out how to fit 12mm mounted calipers to 7/16" Marina caliper mounts - Shoulder Bolts - buy some M12 x 1.25 bolts (must be 1.25 thread pitch), cut them to length and then run a 7/16th Die down them. The metric thread pitch is the same as the imperial one." - not tried this myself so can't comment but if you do make sure they are the correct tensile bolts not just any old crap.
Ben from the Marina Owners Club has created a front brake upgrade from XR3 parts which might be of interest. Not sure I see the point of this though!!!

http://www.fastmarinamagazine.com/viewtopic.php?t=425&sid=12c115a5053e00356eeb3c1e14391b4c

I have spoken to HiSpec about a kit for the Marina front leg which they said would be no problem using there bells and discs, just needed to have a front leg with bracket and wheel to mock something up but as I live in Bristol and they are in Kent it never happened.

I'm considering fitting rear discs as well as converting to a dual circuit system. How are you getting on with your conversion? And do you have drawings for the brackets that you could share?

[boustrophedon]

Re: Rear disk conversion

Hi Don here, my user name got rendered useless and I had to rejoin with a new moniker. I am afraid the old Roadster is long gone, I never did get around to converting to rear disks. On the Westfield forum the consensus is that if your car is an early one (for them) then rear disks are probably not worth the bother on a live axle.

I'm currently running a YKC sierra based Roadster, pinto engine, type 9 five speed and the De Dion rear with drums.

[jon_cox]

Re: Rear disk conversion

Hi Andy
Unfortunately, life got in the way and this is another of my re-engineering dreams that never got finished. I have a beautifully painted, partially stripped axle in my shed with one end fitted with a MGF rear disc and a MDF mock up of the bracket but that is a far as I got. It was all going very well up to this point and I can see no reason why this would not have worked. Only issue would be does it all fit under a 13" wheel. My early measurements suggested it would but could be very tight, hence the mock up with MDF. I have lost all the drawings now due to a hard drive failure so would need to revisit all of this again.

[andyf]

Re: Rear disk conversion

Sorry to hear that you didn't manage to complete it Jon. I hope you're keeping well in these difficult times.