Hey all,
 
What options are available for converting an Escort to rear disk brakes these days?
 
I see Paul Dunstan had a popular kit available for a while but he hasn't been on here for over a year now so that seems to have dried up.
 
Any help appreciated.
 
Thanks in advance.
 
Chuff
 
 

Hey Chuff,
Unfortunately I was messaged last year that Paul had passed away.
I had never met him personally but I'm sure from long term manufacture of brake adapters alone, that he would have helped many people here.
 
Definitely a loss to CF fans here. :( 
 
 

Oh wow, I wasn't expecting that. I'm sorry to hear it.
 
Guess I'll have to figure something else out.
 
Condolences to his friends and family.
 
Thanks for the update.
 
Chuff

Hi chuff,
Yeah I heard he passed back in July, he was a good fella, I met him many times to help with his RS zetec Escort.
Condolences to his family .

For rear brakes, you can use mk1 Focus rear disks ,calipers and handbrake cable which will need adapting lightly to fit Escort. Make up mounting brackets from 7mm plate to bolt to the axle

Thanks marty,
 
Is that the common conversion these days?
 
Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to look into it now.
 
Chuff

This is strange for two reasons.

I cant believe Paul past away, i had never met him but we had spoke alot by PM and he was a great help with my wheels and direction of my car. His workmanship was top notch.  He was a great guy and its sad he couldnt see his car onto the road. Im assuming he wasnt overly that old so it must have been a sudden thing.

I have been digging around in the shed to declutter and have a rear brake kit i picked up some time ago, includes calipers (r31) rotors, axles, pauls conversion kit and i think hand brake cables aswell.

of interest to you? Im in Adelaide, postage wont be great as its all heavy stuff.

Send me a PM or text 0412474161 and we can discuss, ill most likely list it on FB if your not interested.

Thanks Robbie,
 
Marty's comment has sent me down the MK1 Focus rabbit hole and I've discovered that RDA make a slotted & dimpled version which match my front RDA slotted & dimpled disks so I'm going to do my best to get the Focus items to fit.
 

https://www.empoweredautoparts.com.au/dimpl-slotted-ford-focus-4-stud-8-2000-4-2005-rear
 
Apart from finding what I believe are the correct disks, there really is very little on the internet that I can find regading this conversion.
 
If anyone has any information or links that may assist me in this I would be very appreciative.
 
Anyhoo, back to my rabbit hole.
 
Chuff

I believe paul gave his kit with instructions so maybe if anyone who has it could help that would be handy.
 

Hey Chuff, I used the Mk1 Focus rear brake setup on my RS ( the RS project car in yellow primer ) near the top of the forum pages. I can't remember if I put much detail in the build story, certainly some pics.  I got the hubs, calipers and discs plus the full handbrake cable set up from the wreckers for about $200.  My brother took all the measurements and got a mate to do a CAD drawing of the caliper mounts for the boily to do the plasma cutting.  I drilled out the holes. You will have to use the longer wheel mounting studs from the original hubs to mount the discs on the axle flange.
My brother over-engineered the attachment of the caliper mounts to the diff housing.  Instead of them just attaching  externally to the diff flanges he made them fit to the end of the diff, with a recessed hole in the middle for the axle to go through and four holes drilled for the bolts for the axle flange. The RS is gone now but I should be able to get the drawing sent to me if you would like.  The handbrake cable were too long, once I got them laid out on the underside of the floor I shortened them and got a brake place to refit the nipples on the ends to attach to the mounting bracket for the handbrake.  I had to make a small extension with an adjustable bolt to get it to meet the handbrake cable mounting.  I used 10mm plate for the caliper mounts, pretty much bullet- proof. Because it is OEM I had no problem getting a QLD engineering blue plate for the setup, making it fully insured.
Cheers, Len

Thanks Len,
 
Marty put me onto the Mk1 Focus rear disk option that's popular these days further up in this thread. During a few PMs with him he's given heaps of information regarding this conversion as well as making an adjustable bias pedal box. The Mk1 Focus route looks like a pretty simple conversion.
 
Any drawings or further information will not only help me but others as well so by all means post whatever additional detail you can.
 
I even bought a plasma cutter this week, so caliper & pedal box brackets should be a walk in the park now.
 
Thanks to everyone for your input. It's very much appreciated.
 
Chuff