Start of AP rear brake conversion.

Well, I started playing today with an old rear subframe I have in the garden, complete with hubs etc, to see if the APs will fit.

If it wasn't for the handbrake problem it would be one of the easiest conversions ever.

Putting the handbrake part to one side at the minute, the only major problem is the fitting point for the calipers. The holes are too small for the bolts and are slightly closer together.

I reckon that they could be eased out to the correct size and in the correct direction using just a file. Might take a bit of elbow grease, but I have some in the garage.

The 304mm vented discs came off the old front subframe and mounted correctly on the rear hub.

One of my main worries was that the mounting lugs wouldn't put the caliper central on the disc. But......it is a perfect fit.

So, apart from adjusting the mounting holes slightly, it is all just bolt on.

Here's some pics.

Interesting, could you mount the standard calliper forward, just for the handbrake?

Is there a solution to the hand brake problem though?

we did fit athe 4 pot to the rear of one of our mgfs.its easy to make the holes larger and it fits on no problem.but it then means you have the same size brakes all round.the car was bloody dangerous.hard braking and the rear end stepped out,and if you are in damp conditions it will get into a skid that you cant recover from.the abs is designed to work with in the manufactures spec.its a nice idea in princeable but it wont work.if you can fit the larger discs and get bigger pins for the rear brakes already fitted and get a braket made that will work.we are trying that in a few weeks.I have two mgfs that i try different things on, the third one was written off in the wet with the idea you are trying to do.And i have race car experiance

The ABS should kick in at the sign of any wheel locking up so I don't see how the skid would be a problem. I would think the problem would be the ABS coming in all the time. Did yours have ABS?

While I see the ABS as a safety blanket, don't get the impression I will be relying on it, I won't be, as the brakes will be set up properly for the car.

Did you fit a brake bias valve and set it up for correct front/rear bias?

I would never run with a 50/50 bias, but I will be looking into what is the ideal bias for a small mid engined RWD car. I would think around 60/40 would be the best.

You could probably set it up to have the same rear braking as the standards if you wanted to.

The main reason for doing this is to get rid of the feeble single pot calipers that don't work very well when new and then get progressively worse over a short period. They really are dire. If the handbrake mechanism doesn't seize the caliper will. I want reliability.

As for the handbrake.

I am looking at fitting spot calipers from HiSpec which give the handbrake function in a seperate caliper.

http://www.hispecbrake.co.uk/Spot.html

cjj wrote: I am looking at fitting spot calipers from HiSpec which give the handbrake function in a seperate caliper.

http://www.hispecbrake.co.uk/Spot.html

That's a great solution. I never realised such a thing existed.

Neither did I until recently.

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