Rear Disc Conversion : The Shopping List
I don't need a rear disc conversion and I doubt anyone really does for a road car. But I "want" one and as my dad used to say "you'll keep fixing that car until it's broken", so I'm going to have a go.
The first job was to go shopping, and this was the list of parts;
The calipers chosen for the project were as fitted to the European version of the Renault Scenic Type Lucas, Trailing mounting position with cable operated parking brake mechanism, single piston, 34 mm diameter. As fitted to :
Renault Calipers
The calipers require 2 bolts each to mount on the car, the fixed calliper mounts are threaded metric M12. I bought four high tensile M12x40 mm bolts, 1.25 fine pitch threads and cut the length to suit.
2. Disc Specification
The discs fitted to HTU35K for the rear disc conversion were as fitted to the European version of the MGF.
Correct bolt PCD but need slight modification
These discs have the correct PCD for the Europa hubs, and a very neat top-hat section which suits the installation.
The "doh" is that the internal diameter of the disc top-hat is too small and the hubs need approximately 1 mm grinding away to fit properly, as shown in the second photograph.
3. Handbrake Cable
The standard Lotus cable consists of a single wire cable with two sections of outer covering going from the chassis to rear drums. The outer casings are both 49" long, and the inner wire 120". (dimensions are approximate.) This will work with the new calipers but as the adjuster on mine was already more than half way, I decided to make a custom cable. I did this by purchasing a handbrake cable as follows;
Quinton Hazell Number BC2147 : Vehicle Applications : Vauxhall
This has an inner wire of 3130mm and two outer casings of slightly differing lengths, but the shortest is still equal to the OEM Europa one. The intention was to use this as a basis for a custom cable.
Click on the button for the Fabrication stage
