Guys, I thought this would be a hot topic so I'm just setting up the thread.

Right, I reckon most of us will be using what started out as the front end of a front engined car mounted behind the driver.
No such cars use front drum brakes so we will be looking at discs and we will need calipers that have provision for a cable handbrake.
I'm using Ford stuff (Mondeo) so the ideal calipers will be those from rear-disced Sierra or Granada. I'm pretty sure they'll fit on my uprights, just a question of fiinding the right discs.
After that the rest should be easy, right?

John

ill measure caliper bolt spacings and disc diamet morrow for you,thats the deal on my rear end(the cars not mine i mean!)

Obviously, I can't help much here, but I AM very interested in your discoveries.
If you need any MR2 pics just shout, it may give you some ideas

from what I've read and seen the citroen bx and subarus have their handbrake on the front diskbrake. Reckon the calipers can be made to fit, maybe with some smaller diameter disks.

info as promised distance between caliper carrier bolt holes 90mm,fiesta mk 3 1100cc front disc 240mm dia10mm thick,inside flange to inside working surface 35mm hth

Thanks for the info, Conrod. I took the Mondeo caliper and disc off and tried the sierra disc and caliper I got from you a while back. Very nearly. Everything lines up good, only two little probs, first the caliper mounting hold the caliper too near to the centre of the disc, so that either the diameter of the disc needs to be reduced or the caliper needs to be spaced out somehow. Also, Mondeo caliper bolts are bigger than the sierra caliper bolts so I need to drill and retap the sierra caliper or some other solution not sure what

John

Guys,

I know the photo section is good here (when it works), but I have loads of space on my site if you want to e-mail any parts photos sketches etc. and then I'll organise them into relevant sections.

Just a thought, obviously don't want to tread on Chris's toes.

check the offset of the disc,if its 35mm then you can use fiesta discs,trimmed by a few mill,bolts with shoulders will sort out the other prob

Sierra disc is 25 mm offset but I think it's probably usable, I'll work out how much has to be turned off the outside diameter and decide if it's feasible.

Looks like I'm close to a solution anyhow, thanks

John

well I don't have to have one here in the states if i do a locost.....I can register it as a lotus replicar using the lotus year and anything over 30 years old in IL doesn't need a ebrake I'll have to check my code book but I might even have a weight breakoff for needing a secondary braking system.

for alan.....look into exploder rear disc stuff...alot of the rodders use it and you can get custom cables cheap. I got a setup off a mustang gt I am going to use on my fairlane. also I think it is wilwood makes a 1 piston caliper that is lever driven for carts and ebrake setups.

I could tech use a second hyd caliper with a hand leverd MC. in my state it is just a secondary braking system...doesn't have to be cable.

nick

No offence intended, but the thought of having no e-brake on any vehicle would horrify me!

Being a professional driver by occupation it is amazing how common brake failure is.

I have been saved many times from injury or death by the hand brake (e-brake).

This is why all(?) manufacturers use dual circuit brakes, and all(?) homebuilders in the UK.
I know it is quite common practice in the USA for kitcar builders and home builders to use single circuit braking.

Maybe it's because they don't have our traffic problems they become less aware of the potential problems.

Anyway rant over, please, please, please put an e-brake on your car!

Terry

Gents,

If it's of any use, I'm fairly sure the old Alfasud had (on the front):
a) inboard discs
b) front wheel handbrake

ATB

Simon

well my friend has a similar kinda problem..... putting mcpherson strut in the rear and all the frnt setup with it......

what are my options.. any way to mdify the callipers so that they can take e brake....

IIRC all SAABs or certainly the 900 had the hand brake on the front.

Yes Suds had front handbrakes, they were crap. Mine used to work for the MOT and probably the week after .

A quick search on eBay motors will reveal that there are many manufacturers who used the rear caliper as a mechanical handbrake too:

http://pages.ebay.com/ebaymotors/index.html?ssPageName=ML01

I personally wouldn't use any of these on the front of my car as they're all weedy single piston slidey-pin types as far as I can see.

Another alternative solution is as used on the current Corvette where the inner of the brake disc 'top hat' is used as a drum for a mechanical brake.

And of course there's the Wilwood mechanical caliper. I personally think this is the way to go as it doesn't compromise the 'real' rear brakes at all.

Due to the rearward weight bias the rear brakes can do more work than on a front engined vehicle so if you're using the front end of a fwd car I'd want to keep the original brake system intact (or better).

The vast bulk of vehicles with rear discs now use the inner drum arrangement for the handbrake. Unfortunately, converting hubs & discs that were on the front of a FWD vehicle to that format is problematic. Most of the ones that use a handbrake caliper have skinny, unventilated rear discs so the calipers are too small. As I mentioned in another thread, I've just bought a set of Series 4/5 RX-7 rear calipers (see below) which should fit over my Corolla front discs quite nicely.
[img][/img]

@TheGecko
yuo have u2u

Integral handbrake caliper:

http://www.rallydesign.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=11370