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Volvo Caliper with E30 Disk Brake Conversion
Details on what is required to fit Volvo Girling brake calipers and BMW E30 disks to a 2L Escort, including the removal of the booster -
You need to machine 5mm from the back of the hub, as the brake hat height is larger on the E30 disk. You also need to get the E30 disk drilled to the same as the hub mounting holes. The centre hole on the E30 disk also needs to be enlarged to match the Ford disk. The calipers you want are the Girling type for vented rotors. There is also a version that look the same and are for solid rotors. The E30 disks will not fit in this type. 1.5mm spacer washers are also required for the caliper mounting onto the strut. The mounting holes in the calipers themselves need to be elongated. Not too much so it will be safe. With the brake pipes, the Girling caliper has two outlet's so you will need a "t" piece to connect it all up to the existing pipework. I kept the stock solid pipe that attaches to the strut. On the master cylinder side, you just need to take out the booster bracket complete, then file the large hole in the firewall a little bit for the master cylinder to fit in. The mounting holes are already in the correct place. You will need to shorten the shaft that pushes in the master cylinder when you push the pedal down. I CAREFULLY measured mine so I cut it in the correct spot. Make sure you are 100% sure before you cut it. I then chamfered the edges on the cut end so it fitted snugly into the end of the master cylinder.
Alternatively, you could make the rod adjustable by shortening it a little more, drill out the centre, weld a nut to the end of it and use a suitable high tensile bolt with lock nut. Once it is all sorted out, file off all the sharp edges and round off the bolt head which can then be located in the master cylinder.
Once the master cylinder is mounted, make sure the push rod cannot fall out of the end of the master cylinder, as you will have no brakes! Some of the other guys have rigged up a bracket to retain the rod in place. This is a good idea which I am yet to implement. Now you will need to shorten and bend the brake pipes going to the master cylinder. This is a pain in the arse as my extractors are quite close to the master cylinder and the steel brake pipes are hard to bend. You will need a brake pipe flaring tool to finish off the pipes. I used the existing connectors. Because the master cylinder will now sit on an angle, the levels of the two chambers in the bottle will not be right. I drilled a hole between the chambers so that the front chamber would take some of the fluid from the rear chamber if it ever got low. You'll know what I mean when you have a look at it. Finally I wrapped the master cylinder, bottle and pipes that are near the extractors with heat reflective tape to reduce the heat.
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