TheSamba.com :: View topic - Disc Brakes for Bus / wheel pattern for front and back

Mon Jan 06, 2003 1:39 pm

So I am 6 months into my first bus ownership. A pretty 1964 splitty. I have already rebuilt the engine and re-wired her. Now I will be moving on to the brakes.

I have done a bit of reading and have been told that a 1968 front beam will bolt right on, thus accomodating mid-70's front disc brakes. The drawbacks for this type of disc brake conversion are, wider wheel base, front end raised about 1.5", need a larger master cylinder, and different lug pattern for the wheels.

My only concern is the need to carry two spare tires. My question is, is it possible to add the same rear drums from the mid-70's donor bus to the rear, thus resulting in the same wheels? My bus has already undergone the IRS conversion prior to my purchasing it. I have been told I have a 1971 Ghia tranny in it. Does anyone have experience in enhancing the rear brakes/wheels like this?

Thanks,
Brian

Tue Jan 07, 2003 3:56 am

Hi Brian,
I am currently in the process of converting my '63 bus to front discs after some research.
The route I have chosen (and would therfore recomend) is:
CSP Disc conversion on '68 ball joint arms, into OE beam.

The CSP kit (www.csp-shop.de) is a real quality piece of kit. Its good for me in the UK because it uses GM / Vaxhall / Opel components for the rotors and calipers etc which are readily replacable - I guess they will be in the US too.
You need to convert the brake cylinder to a duel circuit type but this is available from CSP aswell.
It's not a cheap kit, but is, I think, very good value and worth it for the peace of mind where braking is concerned.
You can keep the wide five pattern and the hub looks identical to OE.
The only problem I have found with this kit is that you must run no smaller than 15" rims, BUT the 15" VENTED BUS RIMS WILL NOT FIT due to fouling of the vent pressing on the caliper.
If you use this with a ball joint setup it will narrow the track by 8mm each side (which is quite nice)

The reason I have used ball joint trailing arms is because they will have a longer service life, will be cheaper and easier to refurbish and give a better ride quality.
The ends of the trail arms (where they join the tortion tubes) will need to be proffesionally machined to fit.

Hope this helps,
JC