Hey guys
Does anyone know of commodore disc brake conversion for IRS pan or any other big rotor conversion.
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You talking front or back?
Ford brakes work better for the rear
But the question is why?
A lot of work, and unless BIG horse power is there, is it really needed??
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Originally
posted by Smiley
Yeah sure. Just have a read of my thread, I have them on my Baja. Page 33 about halfway down. http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=80275&page=33 Smiley |
I would much prefer these over the skyline calipers as they are so obsolete. I got piles of commodore brake parts, rebuild calipers
for them often as I use them on all my cars including the VW.
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Hi Smiley,
and thanks for bringing that link of yours back up, has given me another possible option in the future for better brakes.
In your photo below, can you please tell me what hub you used and rotor. Is it one of 'Shermans' rear hubs with a VN Commodore rotor.
I will have to go through the rest of your link now and see if your front brake modification is there also
Thanks, Kevin
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Originally
posted by Smiley |
Hey Kev.
Happy to help out mate. If you (or anyone for the matter) have any more questions feel free to ask.
The hubs are from John Sherman. They are just blank Type 3 hubs that have been drilled for the Commodore Stud pattern. You also have to machine the
outside diameter down slightly for them to fit inside the Commodore disc. And yes, it's just a standard VN rear Commodore disc.
If you like this then you should see the upgrade I'm cooking up at the moment. I'm planning to fit the Commodore front calipers onto the back now as
well, to give me a more neutral braking bias, due to the Baja having a heavy ass!
As for the front brakes they are also Commodore, this time front rotors and calipers. It was a very easy mod with the Country Buggy front spindles
I'm running, as the stub actually measures in at exactly the same dimentions as the Commodore one. And so, I'm running Commodore wheel bearings and
seals on the front. Makes them cheap and easy to replace when I need to!
These spindles are larger than the stock bug Link Pin or Ball Joint ones, so you might have to measure it up and find the right bearings to adapt it
to fit.
I would highly recommend the rear brakes to anybody. They work fantastic! And because the pads and shoes are from the most common car in the country
they are cheap and widely availible everywhere.
Smiley
Smiley
Thats really cool what you did there Smiley. The commys have really good brakes from late VP onward to VS with the same setup and no ABS oh and V8,
forgot about the v8 brakes as I forget there is a v8 versions of these cars lol
Given that you got entire commodore front brake setup, that might give you head room to upgrade to VT-VY twin pot setup using conversion hubs readily
available off the shelf.
Are you using VN standard front setup or late VP/v8 VN/VP brakes?
got any pics of the front setup?
oh and one other thing, these brakes with QFM A1RM pads are ace! makes your passengers sick every time without fail 
I'm running the V8 VN front brakes. They have the finned cailpers and 300mm rotors instead of 270mm like the V6s.
I have found that these brakes are also on the VN Toyota Lexcens, they put the good stuff on before Holden did!
I thought about upgrading to the VT setup, but that would require a heap of extra work, probably having to fit the master cylinder from the VT and
boost it too. And I'm perfectly happy with the front brakes, they actually work too well, hence me chasing more bias towards the rear.
My plan is to fit the front calipers to the rear and then play with different pads to tweak the bias more if required, eg hard pads up front and soft
ones out back to give some more rear bias if required.
Pictures of the front setup are on page 29 of my build.
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=80275&page=29
Smiley
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Originally
posted by psimitar
So does Commodore stuff :P |
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| Originally
posted by Smiley I'm running the V8 VN front brakes. They have the finned cailpers and 300mm rotors instead of 270mm like the V6s. I have found that these brakes are also on the VN Toyota Lexcens, they put the good stuff on before Holden did! I thought about upgrading to the VT setup, but that would require a heap of extra work, probably having to fit the master cylinder from the VT and boost it too. And I'm perfectly happy with the front brakes, they actually work too well, hence me chasing more bias towards the rear. My plan is to fit the front calipers to the rear and then play with different pads to tweak the bias more if required, eg hard pads up front and soft ones out back to give some more rear bias if required. Pictures of the front setup are on page 29 of my build. http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=80275&page=29 Smiley |
oh
and its 290mm 
VR-VS is smaller at 289mm and the VT upgrade is
296mm. 300mm might be VE brakes? | Quote: | |
Originally
posted by psimitar
So does Commodore stuff :P |
Front calipers in the rear is actually a great idea particularly for a baja like smiley's or myself!
With a baja, you got BIG rotating mass in the rear (33's or 31's for instance) and the front weights next to nil which makes it easy to lock up the
front brakes so you don't want anything 'hectic' at the front end regardless of the theory of weight transfer.
I personally need to upgrade the rear type 3 brakes. During hard braking the fronts lock up (stock discs) while rear still rotates about, to the point
you got to go hard on the brake to stop those rear drums quickly while the front squeels (say on slippery gravel). I have to ensure i don't want to
turn when i'm at this state of 'ploughing' . A super performing
disc setup on the rear willl balance the brake bias such that the rear can kick in harder before any chance of wheel lock up at the front, slowing
down those big heavy 31's at the back.
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Originally
posted by vlad01
far more reliable than vw though :P |
And I'd rather use these 356 Porsche drums than any of the above.
Rear Porsche nice cooling fins
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| Originally
posted by HappyDaze And I'd rather use these 356 Porsche drums than any of the above. |
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| Originally
posted by HappyDaze And I'd rather use these 356 Porsche drums than any of the above. |
Be interesting to test these against, say, the CSP vented disc kit
or Airkewld Wilwood kit. Volksworld did a test of std drums and disc fronts against performance stuff but never a 356 Drum. Would be interesting
reading
Saturday, 24th May will be the perfect oportunity for such a test. Nationals Supersprints at Wakefield Park.
No.8 Beetle, withe 356 drums F & R, will be there.....so bring all the disk-braked Beetles along for the "Big Test"
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| Originally
posted by HappyDaze Saturday, 24th May will be the perfect oportunity for such a test. Nationals Supersprints at Wakefield Park. No.8 Beetle, withe 356 drums F & R, will be there.....so bring all the disk-braked Beetles along for the "Big Test" |
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Originally
posted by psimitar
Well I kinda meant more quantifiable tests as your driving is probably better than most of the competition |
Fade has not shown to be a problem.
At Wakefield Park, after 10 laps [5 BIG brake applications per lap] there is still plenty of 'pedal'.
well I suppose there shouldn't be much fade on a bug with bigger brakes, not much weight to stop.
stock brakes on a type 3 certainly fade fast. heavy bastard with pissy little brakes lol.
reminds me of the time my squareback's front pads caught on fire haha, burnt off all the paint on the center of the rims too. 
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Originally
posted by vlad01
10 consecutive 100-0 stop tests side by side would be a good test. what are those 356 brakes like for fade? |
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| Originally
posted by vlad01 well I suppose there shouldn't be much fade on a bug with bigger brakes, not much weight to stop. stock brakes on a type 3 certainly fade fast. heavy bastard with pissy little brakes lol. reminds me of the time my squareback's front pads caught on fire haha, burnt off all the paint on the center of the rims too. |
The bigest thing would be the cost and avilability of the porsche drum brakes, they are not for mere mortals
I still can't imagine 356 brakes being as good as disks used to stop a 1400kg v8 powered car.
I would go for these disk brakes any day, coz I know how well they work in the 1400kg they come from and they work like a brick wall in a vw.
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Originally
posted by psimitar
Tis why T3 rears on a bug is a good upgrade |
Chokeau, sorry if I've caused this to drift off-topic. 356 brakes are 11" [280mm] diameter, and I consider them "Big brakes".....it was not my
intention to start a 'drum v disc' debate.
The reasons I use 356 drums are:- They are light, strong, smooth, and [when I bought mine] fairly cheap. They stop well - with good linings - and I
like the look of them.