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Conversion to VW Disk Brakes

Conversion to VW Disk Brakes

I wanted to change the rear drums on my 2002 to disks. There are no problems with using drums for daily use, but in a race car i wanted to have a bit more maintenance and better consistency day after day. The rules for SCCA FSP class require the car to retain the parking brake. So one of the better ways was to go to the VW Disk conversion. Ireland Engineering sells the full kit that can easily be installed by anyone. What i installed was very similar, but i used an aluminum caliper.

 

Ireland Engineering Kit includes:

  • Custom Steel mounting bracket
  • VW Golf MKII Rear Caliper carrier (1985 to 1989 Golf or Jetta)
  • VW Golf MKII Rear Caliper (1985 to 1989 Golf or Jetta)
    • I used aluminum caliper from MKIV VW. (2000 to 2006 Golf, Beetle, or Jetta) Pros: aluminum, lighter weight, less corrosion, better reliability. Cons: Bleeding can only be done with caliper not mounted to the bracket since the bleeder is at the bottom after the installation.
  • VW Golf MKI Front Rotor (74-84 Rabbit) (239x12mm)
  • You will need to machine the edges of your hub to fit inside the new rotor or IE can do this for you.
  • Several Bolts and Several Spacer Washers

 

To start the installation you will need to remove the Drum, Hub, and backing plate with all the brake parts attached to it.

 

Mount the bracket to the control arm. Try to clean it before mounting. These parts were never designed to be precise but cleaning will make them a bit better for installation something that requires some precision like a caliper.

 

Install the hub and tighten the castle nut properly.

Install the rotor over the modified hub and use a couple lug nuts to tighten it to the hub. All this has to be done prior to installation of calipers since and movement afterwards might cause the disk to rub on the caliper.

 

Now it's time to test fit the carrier. Use the washers to get it properly aligned to the rotor. Use lock tight after you have positioning all set

 

Now it is time to fit the caliper and the brake pads. These calipers are equipped with a parking brake mechanism that will require a special tool to push the piston back in place. This caliper can be loaned from your local Auto Parts Store or purchased on Amazon. It will allow you spin the piston as you apply the pressure.

 

 

At this time you might notice that the caliper protrudes about an inch away from the mounting face of the wheel. If your wheels do not have that much clearance at that spot you will most likely need to use a spacer.

 

Aluminum calipers have cooling fins that make that slightly larger then the cast iron calipers. You might have to shave them to get to fit them inside your wheels

 

Once all is in place, you will need to hook the parking brake over the mechanism of the caliper and do some adjustments on the cable side to get them to be tight

 

You will notice that the bleeder on the caliper is on the side. You will need to undo one of the bolt, swing the caliper and bleed it. You will not be able to use the "pump the pedal" method, but both push and pull vacuum tools work well in this situation.

steve k.

p.s. if you find any of the information incorrect or you have something to add, feel free to modify the article.

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Edited by steve k.

steve k.

By steve k. (edited)

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02dag
On 1/13/2019 at 7:22 PM, Robocopywriter said:

Interesting.  I may be wrong but I can't see where anyone mentions the VW MkIV caliper uses a banjo fitting that is M12x1.0 thread.  Ireland doesn't have a solution for this so I'm wondering what people are using.  Banjo bolts are easy to find on ECS but I'm not seeing a banjo that fits and has an M10x1.0 thread to fit the Ireland hose.

 

you can use the brake lines from a golf mkiv as well. The last part on a golf with the banjo fitting is long enough to connect to where the 02 line connects to the trailing arm.

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02dag
On 6/26/2018 at 1:08 AM, chargin said:

I used the Ireland kit and it was a pure bolt on with no additional mods required.

be sure the brackets are correctly located 

 

if if you’re having problems give Ireland a call,  they’ve been very helpful for me on the conversion 

 

you up will need to shim as your car requires, each caliper takes a different spacing to fit just right 

 

406E539C-387A-4333-B8F5-3810D548C2AC.thumb.jpeg.f33c72ab8c047565807a4586409cfdbb.jpeg

 

 

No offence, but the MOT guys will probably die of laughter when they see your parking brake wire "shims"

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chargin
1 hour ago, 02dag said:

 

No offence, but the MOT guys will probably die of laughter when they see your parking brake wire "shims"


 

I actually used the Wilwood Machined shims but they were not as effective as stacking washers to get the exact Offset I wanted 

 

?

 

if you ever really want to see funny take a look at any pre-Audi Lamborghini, the whole body is leveled with shim washers as many as 12 in one spot. we were shocked when we saw in real life

 

0B8C7254-C2E6-47D9-8D7E-EFE0DDF6742B.thumb.jpeg.ba9e92ed31feda92169d988dc8132380.jpeg

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Robocopywriter
On 1/13/2019 at 10:22 AM, Robocopywriter said:

Interesting.  I may be wrong but I can't see where anyone mentions the VW MkIV caliper uses a banjo fitting that is M12x1.0 thread.  Ireland doesn't have a solution for this so I'm wondering what people are using.  Banjo bolts are easy to find on ECS but I'm not seeing a banjo that fits and has an M10x1.0 thread to fit the Ireland hose.

In the end I had mine made up so I got them to look the way I wanted them.

BrakeLine.jpeg

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Dudeland

Report on the Blunt kit for those who care. 

 

1) Hardware that comes with it is wonky. The threads were off on at least 3 of the hex head bolts. 

2) Chase the threads with a M10 x 1.5

3) You will need to notch the shock bracket.

4) The little washers were the right amount of spacing between the bracket and the caliper. 

5) There is a left and right bracket as well as caliper. 

6) Make sure to put the little shiny bits between the pads and the caliper, they allow them to slide back and forth

7) You may need to grind a bit of either side of the pad to get them in there. 

8.) Grease the hell out of the parking brake cables.  They will get seized up pretty quick as they are now open to the elements. 

9) I did a riv nut and a p clip on the top of the trailing arm to secure the hard line. 

10) I used a grinder and a 250 grit flap disk to clean up the surface where the bracket and trailing arm meet, 

11) Remove the VW parking brake cable guide by removing the small cap head screw and put the Blunt  supplied ones in. 

12) The parking brake on the VW's ratchet up, meaning that every time you pull the lever it will move the parking brake in.   In order for it to ratchet in,  the mechanism needs to return completely...  If your parking brake cable are sticky, they won't return all the way and the parking brake will not adjust properly.... Again grease the hell out of them, or perhaps get new ones. 

 

 

 

 

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1602driver

Hi guys!

I’m Erol from Turkey and its my first comment. I don’t want to retrive a dead post but I recently bought a 72’ 1602 and i have major issues with my rear brakes. I want to change to this conversion kit instead of fixing original drum. I have all the donor wv parts. All i have missing is brackets. Does anyone have the dimensions of brackets? If you can send message to me I would be appreciate. 

Edited by 1602driver
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PhilC

Hi All,

I am about to embark on this conversion but have a question about the wheel mounting surface final position. Does the mounting surface end up the same as the original drum surface or is further out or recessed in more? The reason I ask is my wheels do not have the clearance for the caliper and will need spacers but then if the mounting surface is the same as the original drum my wheels won’t clear the arches.

Thank you

Phil

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steve k.
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15 minutes ago, PhilC said:

Hi All,

I am about to embark on this conversion but have a question about the wheel mounting surface final position. Does the mounting surface end up the same as the original drum surface or is further out or recessed in more? The reason I ask is my wheels do not have the clearance for the caliper and will need spacers but then if the mounting surface is the same as the original drum my wheels won’t clear the arches.

Thank you

Phil

The mounting position is about the same the width of the drum and the rotor in the spot is very similar. 

 

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PhilC
5 minutes ago, steve k. said:

The mounting position is about the same the width of the drum and the rotor in the spot is very similar. 

 

Thank you. So if I need spacers my wheel will be pushed out further than it is now?

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steve k.
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21 minutes ago, PhilC said:

Thank you. So if I need spacers my wheel will be pushed out further than it is now?

That is correct!

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02dag
56 minutes ago, PhilC said:

Hi All,

I am about to embark on this conversion but have a question about the wheel mounting surface final position. Does the mounting surface end up the same as the original drum surface or is further out or recessed in more? The reason I ask is my wheels do not have the clearance for the caliper and will need spacers but then if the mounting surface is the same as the original drum my wheels won’t clear the arches.

Thank you

Phil

There are small differences between the mk2 and the mk4 calipers and carriers, but nothing your washers or in worst case a spacer won't handle..
 

In my opinion the mk2 caliper fits better inside a 13 inch wheel, for the mk4  caliper you need at least a 14 inch wheel. It's  not necessary to use the mk4 calipers when you have to grind off all of the cooling fins.

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PhilC
33 minutes ago, 02dag said:

There are small differences between the mk2 and the mk4 calipers and carriers, but nothing your washers or in worst case a spacer won't handle..
 

In my opinion the mk2 caliper fits better inside a 13 inch wheel, for the mk4  caliper you need at least a 14 inch wheel. It's  not necessary to use the mk4 calipers when you have to grind off all of the cooling fins.

My wheels are 15” so that aspect is not an issue for me. 
it may be that I have to buy a pair of narrower wheels to compensate. Mine are 7” at the moment. I’ve already switched to 6” on the front for aesthetics so 6” on the back won’t be out of place.


Out of interest how much does the hub have to be machined down to fit the disc?

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