4 pistion caliper write up

[JWP]

The new brackets came in. Since the passenger side is a mirror of the driver side, it only took a few minutes to transfer the cut lines and holes and make the other brackets. If time permits before Christmas madness sets in, I'll have the spindles and brakes installed to check for suspension interferences. On a side note Harbor Freight transfer punches are worth the 10 bucks IMO.

[PhillipM]

Then you have better dust boots than I did. I was running performance friction z rated pads which are close to an xp 10. Is your car a road course car?

They're like a woven mesh impregnated with rubber on these rather than just pure rubber.

[JWP]

Then you have better dust boots than I did. I was running performance friction z rated pads which are close to an xp 10. Is your car a road course car?

They're like a woven mesh impregnated with rubber on these rather than just pure rubber.

What calipers are these, I'd be interested in checking them out?

[JWP]

I was able to get one spindle, caliper and wheel on last night but too late to take pics. I'll try to grab some tonight. it appears everything will clear just fine. The drop spindles and my 5.5 Mangel wheels clear as well.

Found this pic on my cell phone so it's all i got for now.

[PhillipM]

What calipers are these, I'd be interested in checking them out?

HiSpec, their off-road varients, tougher seals and a bit more tolerant to dirt than the stock ones. They're nothing fancy tbh. Maybe you just got crap dust seals?

I actually rang them yesterday for a fresh seal set (winter rebuild), and got told they're some form of high-temperature silicone over a fibreglass cloth.

[PhillipM]

Google says Raybestos sell them on your side of the pond

[FJCamper]

JWP, Gentlemen;

We're working with VWDUBENGINEERING.COM in Canada to have 5.25" caliper brackets made for Super Bugs, and drum/disk brake Bugs and Ghias.

We were driven to this by our own experience with the EMPI brackets.

We will be able to make these brackets available to the US market, and make the Wilwood and clone calipers usable.

FJC

[JWP]

JWP, Gentlemen;

We're working with VWDUBENGINEERING.COM in Canada to have 5.25" caliper brackets made for Super Bugs, and drum/disk brake Bugs and Ghias.

We were driven to this by our own experience with the EMPI brackets.

We will be able to make these brackets available to the US market, and make the Wilwood and clone calipers usable.

FJC

What issues have you had with the wEMPI brakets? Mine are not perfect but so far I can't complain for the investment. I Know I have about 45 dollars invested in each one(side), not to mention my time.
There are some design changes I would make if I had equipment for more precise manufacturing.

My main complaints are the loose tolerance on the 5.25" spacing. One caliper bolted up just fine, the other the bolt is tight to thread in but it's due to the spacing of the bracket being close to 5.27 or so. The next thing is the 5mm metal, I'd prefer to see 1/4" material. It's not much but I'd like a little more security. I'd also like to have rotated the caliper counter-clockwise about 15* to get my bleeder screw a little higher and my lower caliper bolt out of the way of the steering arm. Another factor is the welded on thread boss is welded on such that it's not captured and if the weld were to break, there is no safety of having the bolts captured, however the caliper is captured by the wheel as the tolerances are very tight. should the bolt, or weld come loose the caliper would hit the wheel. This will at least let me get stopped.
Again, I don't have any type of manufacturing equipment so I was limited to what I had. and the purpose of sharing this was to show what could be done and how I did it.

I like the VDUBENGINEERING stuff, but it's too rich for my blood. I was at a position that if this didn't work I was just going to do stock style disc brakes and save these calipers for a future project, which is why I have them in the first place, they were in a box being saved for a future project.

[vwo60]

You can already purchase a six spot caliper from tarox that will fit straight onto a ball joint spindle with the correct offset, you can get them to suit a vented rotor or the standard thickness rotor, rotors are available to bolt straight on as well in vented and non vented, caliper piston area is 20 percent bigger, i just use a golf master cylinder, all available in the UK from Heritage parts.

[JWP]

You can already purchase a six spot caliper from tarox that will fit straight onto a ball joint spindle with the correct offset, you can get them to suit a vented rotor or the standard thickness rotor, rotors are available to bolt straight on as well in vented and non vented, caliper piston area is 20 percent bigger, i just use a golf master cylinder, all available in the UK from Heritage parts.

At what cost does all of this come. Most of the part suppliers here want an arm and a leg for items from the UK as shipping duties are quite high from the UK to the US.

[FJCamper]

Hi JWP,

Our experience with the EMPI brackets is the same as yours. Too, thin, sloppy fit, but better than nothing. We were in fact about to go a similiar modification route when I talked to VDub in Canada about some custom made brackets for the pre-74 super Bug and the ball joint axles for use in the Lemons and Chump car classes.

The whole point is, once VDub gets a pattern, we can have them made for everybody.

FJC

[JWP]

Hi JWP,

Our experience with the EMPI brackets is the same as yours. Too, thin, sloppy fit, but better than nothing. We were in fact about to go a similiar modification route when I talked to VDub in Canada about some custom made brackets for the pre-74 super Bug and the ball joint axles for use in the Lemons and Chump car classes.

The whole point is, once VDub gets a pattern, we can have them made for everybody.

FJC

Which I may be interested in buying when the time comes. Mine are installed and on the car, not much more I can test with until I get the car mobile.

[vwo60]

All the parts for the conversion came in under $1000 US, no time wasted making brackets, spacers and the set is proven, in australia all coversions are required to be engineered and inspected, then pass a brake test, no welded brackets are allowed and must be fabricated/ machined out of 12MM plate in one piece, i have fabricated several four spot conversions for my cars over the years complete with the engineering, i cannot get my head around not using vented rotors when converting as any improvement in braking is lost to brake fade, when the brakes are used for there intended purpose, the bigger caliper just heats the rotor up quicker,

[ProctorSilex]

At first, I was enthusiastic when I saw the EMPI caliper adapaters in another thread. Then I thought about the flat piece of steel without any structure to enhance rigidity and I remembered a review of an EMPI rear disc brake adapter in another build. The builder had trouble with vibrations under braking from the EMPI adapter which had no gussets.
I was thinking that I would like to machine my own adapter some day. I would make it from one piece and cut ridges into it to maintain strength while lightening it up. I have a mill now and hope to get to this project one day.
JWP, good job working with what you have. I hope that it works well.
Are the stock calipers not up to par? I thought FJC thought that the stock disc brakes worked well (or is that just on a shoestring budget?).

[JWP]

At first, I was enthusiastic when I saw the EMPI caliper adapaters in another thread. Then I thought about the flat piece of steel without any structure to enhance rigidity and I remembered a review of an EMPI rear disc brake adapter in another build. The builder had trouble with vibrations under braking from the EMPI adapter which had no gussets.
I was thinking that I would like to machine my own adapter some day. I would make it from one piece and cut ridges into it to maintain strength while lightening it up. I have a mill now and hope to get to this project one day.
JWP, good job working with what you have. I hope that it works well.
Are the stock calipers not up to par? I thought FJC thought that the stock disc brakes worked well (or is that just on a shoestring budget?).

The stock calipers are probably sufficient, however as I mentioned in the initial post. It was partly a matter of what I had. I am also of the philosophy that you can never have too much brake, rather not enough tire. It is the tires after all that stop the car. If I already had stock calipers on the shelf I probably would have gone that way.

I feel that the way I've doubled up the brackets and will be welding them together the strength will increase past the off the shelf part. If that doesn't work I could add some gussets perpendicular to the bracket.