23 replies to this topic

[robin]

remember seeing someones vx at the national that had porsche calipers fitted front and rear, was a baby blue one. is this something that can be done easily as looking at the porsche calipers they do look similar for fitment etc. any thoughts.

[ArticMonkey]

He came to an Essex drive and we all had a good chat about his car. It's not an easy job as he needed to change the brake servo which was from an old scooby. A lot of work went into the car and done by the owner. He's an engirneer from what I remember.

[rob999]

JoshuaUXB.

[robin]

intresting seemed a good idear but getting the brake servo would be the fun bit.

[FLD]

Bin the servo and fit a bias bar. Swapping MC's to get roughly the right braking is fairly straight forward and then you can tweek it on the adjuster.

[techieboy]

I think it was just the Subaru master cylinder that JoshuaUXB used. He did a sh*t load of calculation and research to find the right size. From memory, he's also got a bias adjuster in there as well. Plus humongous 330mm+ disks.

[joshua]

Fitting Porsche calipers to the front is quite straightforward, the rear more tricky partly because it requires a separate handbrake caliper. The Brembo 4 pot one piece calipers are stiff, light, compact and easily available. Perhaps oddly it's the use of such large discs which makes this conversion more simple. For the front sitting the caliper out on 330mm discs allows room for a simple alloy adapter plate, and leaves no machining needed to the front hub. Only 8mm gap between caliper and front wheel though... For the rear I initially used an adapter meant for attaching original front calipers to the rear and which mounted to the hub bearing carrier. I've since opted for a much simpler adapter to locate the new caliper on the existing rear mounts. This also needs no machining to the hub, the large discs again make this mod more simple. A small separate handbrake caliper is bolted to the rear adapter. I drew up a rotor bell design and had X4 6062T6 alloy bells machined to suit the new rotors. Top marks for recall Matt! Master cylinder is indeed now Subaru, 29mm up from 23mm. First time out the brakes were overpowered, too much pressure from the small VX master cylinder. A Subaru cylinder only requires mounting holes relocating inboard and a small adapter machining for neat fit to the original servo, this gave a perfect cylinder fluid ratio and a nice solid pedal. Final task was to fit a bias valve and also eliminate bias interference from the ABS. Disconnecting the ABS via the yellow wire disables the ABS anti lock but still leaves the cars rear circuit compromised. I now have a simple switchable valve which along with some non-return valves and new pieces of pipe bypasses the rear ABS when not required. After all this messing about I kind of lost sight of my original goal but was happy to find my car now has fine pedal feel, balance and gentle lock progression. Also I shed 1.5kg each hub from the front and 3kg each from the rear.

[OneYet]

I'm surprised over how quiet this thread is. This seem like a brilliant idea Joshua. You don't happen to have a "how to" guide lying around somewhere in a deskdrawer?

[JG]

apart from it won't fit under 16in fronts.

[joshua]

apart from it won't fit under 16in fronts.

Yes it does. My front wheels are 16" .These calipers have a low profile off the disc.

You don't happen to have a "how to" guide lying around somewhere in a deskdrawer?

The components are few and very simple and could be easily copied, only to reproduce the bits I'd have the arse-ache of stripping it all out again.

[Mopeytitan]

 

apart from it won't fit under 16in fronts.

Yes it does. My front wheels are 16" .These calipers have a low profile off the disc.

You don't happen to have a "how to" guide lying around somewhere in a deskdrawer?

The components are few and very simple and could be easily copied, only to reproduce the bits I'd have the arse-ache of stripping it all out again.

 

 

Sorry to reserect an old thread but which subaru MC did you use?

 

cheers

 

Al

[joshua]

Hi - Impreza sti or Forester 4x4.

[Mopeytitan]

Thank you ::

[FLD]

 

apart from it won't fit under 16in fronts.

Yes it does. My front wheels are 16" .These calipers have a low profile off the disc.

 

I don't suppose you know the profile height above the disc do you?  I'm toying with the idea of 330mm discs with some 17Z brembo's.

[Nev]

Matt, I think 330 discs with Brembos will very likely fit under a 17" wheel. Be advised not all Brembo calipers have the same profile, some are considerably better than others. Josh used Boxter calipers and I used 911 calipers (Part #996 352 426 and #996 352 425) both of which are really quite compact. With my setup, with 330 discs I had over 1" of clearance between the caliper outer edge and the inner barrel of the front wheel. This means even a 16" wheel might possibly fit (but risky) ! Wheels vary, many have a taper on the inside barrel, so you'd have to buy the calipers and disc and offer it all up to check if it fits, but overall I think it's likely. HTH.

Edited by Nev, 13 May 2015 - 01:14 PM.

[FLD]

Matt, I think 330 discs with Brembos will likely fit under a 17" wheel. Be advised not all Brembo calipers have the same profile, some are considerably better than others. Josh used Boxter calipers, and I used 911 calipers both of which are really quite compact. With my setup, with 330 discs I had over 1" of clearance between the caliper outer edge and the inner barrel of the front wheel. Wheels vary, mnay have a taper on the inside barrel, so you'd have to buy the calipers and disck and offer it all up to check if it fits, but overall I think it's likely. HTH.

 

Yeah, I know.  Given he has 8mm room on a 16" wheel if he knows the profile outside the disc I can figure out the disc to wheel distance.  I can then measure the profile of the 17Z's and work out if I should fit them or ebay them. 

[Dakkon]

I am going to the Elise 16" front, 17" rear and am very interested in a decent brake setup for the track, so I would e very interested if this setup really does fit with a 16" front wheel.

[joshua]

 

apart from it won't fit under 16in fronts.

Yes it does. My front wheels are 16" .These calipers have a low profile off the disc.

  I don't suppose you know the profile height above the disc do you?  I'm toying with the idea of 330mm discs with some 17Z brembo's.

I've done a nice measure and it's 32mm from outer edge of disc to inside of rim with 16" Comp Speedalikes. Originally conversion was done with TDs fitted and above dimension was 36mm. Nev's conversion has been easier as he uses the EP front uprights which have two sets of caliper mounting holes seemingly to aid fittment of a caliper like the Brembo 4 pot. Otherwise an adapter is required.

[Aerodynamic]

Joshua, do you have some pictures to share. And maybe a list with parts needed. And drawings? Br,Per

[FLD]

 

 

 

apart from it won't fit under 16in fronts.

Yes it does. My front wheels are 16" .These calipers have a low profile off the disc.

  I don't suppose you know the profile height above the disc do you?  I'm toying with the idea of 330mm discs with some 17Z brembo's.

I've done a nice measure and it's 32mm from outer edge of disc to inside of rim with 16" Comp Speedalikes. Originally conversion was done with TDs fitted and above dimension was 36mm. Nev's conversion has been easier as he uses the EP front uprights which have two sets of caliper mounting holes seemingly to aid fittment of a caliper like the Brembo 4 pot. Otherwise an adapter is required.

 

 

Outstanding!  Thanks very much for this