Disc brake conversion questions.

[oprn]

I just bought an Empi front disc conversion kit for my Manx copy street Buggy. The kit did not come with the bracket for mounting the caliper. Is was listed as a "completer kit" which to my flawed way of thinking means that it is more complete than most? Um, nope! It means it is less complete apparently...

Ok, my mistake... now I have the brackets in hand but did they come with mounting hardware? Um, nope again! So off to the John Deere dealer to get metric mounting bolts. These turn out to be flange headed grade 10.9 bolts. Sound alright? Should I be using lock washers with these?

Will the bolts holding the backing plates on the spindles now be long enough?

Do I need some sort of gravel deflector tin on the inside of the disc? This Buggy will see a bit of gravel road driving...

Lastly, I have in mind to use 944 NA rear disc brakes. What do you think of the front/rear brake balance that will produce? Type 4 engine so even a bit more rear weight biased than normal.

Thanks in advance for your time!
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[clonebug]

I used the original bolts but installed a thin Wavy Washer instead of the standard split lock washer. The head of the bolt wanted to rub on the rotor seal area with the thicker washers.
The mounting bracket that came with my Empi kit is just slightly thicker than the drum backing plate it replaces.

They definitely weren't a bolt on kit but once I got all the quirks taken care of they have been a reliable setup. For the price they work well but some say they are quite heavy......which I would have to agree but I'm not doing heavy offroad stuff.
I took the time and money to have studs pressed in but they come with screw in studs which do work.

There are pics of the rear and front installs in my build if you need any visual content.
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[H2OSB]

Most(I want to say all...but I've obviously not seen every disc brake conversion kit out there) disc brake kits are not intended to run the backing plates. Personally I would love to have them, just for the additional protection they would provide, but there are hundreds of thousands of disc brake conversions on Beetles across the world and it's not known as a major issue so I forced myself to not worry about it.

I think you'll have a nice brake balance. You will have 40mm calipers on the front and 36mm calipers on the rear. I'm running the vented disc brake kit from CSP on the front which has 42mm pistons along with 944 rears. Based on anecdotal evidence as well as the fact CSP sells the set up essentially the way I have it, I expect perfect brake bias. I think you'll be pleased. I've seen people use the same brakes you have on the front with VW Golf/Passat calipers on the rear (38mm pistons) without issues so you'll in the right ballpark. That said, you could always install an inline proportioning value, accessible in the cab to dial in the bias if you feel you need it.

Btw, the 10.9 bolts are fine

H20SB
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(o\_i_/o) I'm not a vegetarian because I love animals, I'm a vegetarian because I hate plants.

[VW_Jimbo]

I purchased my brake kit from Amazon. It was an Empi kit that included the backing plates. 22-2850-0
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Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[cbeck]

I seem to remember a trip to the flaps because the factory backing plate bolts have a smaller head on the bolt for the thread size . My rotors rubbed on the bolts I first used.
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My cut in half and rebuild thread
www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647779

[nextgen]

Do any of your kits have a Rear Emergency Hand Brake???
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email: [email protected]
The TYPE IV UPRIGHT CONVERSION MANUAL
BEETLE MAGNETIC DEFLECTOR SHIELDS
LETS TALK DUBS https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joe+cali+ghia https://letstalkdubs.libsyn.com/ep-200-joe-cali-ty...qI3xJTCzjs

[clonebug]

[jpaull]

Take note where your bleeder valve is. If its on the lower part of caliper it will never bleed with caliper mounted. You have to swing caliper up so air can exscape.

[clonebug]

[oprn]

Thanks all! Just what I needed!

These brackets are cast so are pretty thick. I bought enough longer bolts to do them too but with the flange on them they will not fit down in the reliefs that are machined into the brackets. I will need to chuck them up and trim down the flange on the bolt head a bit. Maybe take a pass off the top of the bolt head too for seal clearance... we will see.

This kit didn't come with any wheel studs. I am assuming I can use the stock wheel bolts.
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[jpaull]

[clonebug]

[oprn]

[jpaull]

Yes, those are the good ones! Great! One less headache

[oprn]

All is well so far. The only issue was the calipers were almost touching the disc on the inside. A thin washer between the caliper and bracket put the spacing very near equal both sides of the disc.
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[slayer61]

[oprn]

The conversion went well. It even self bled! I just topped up the reservoir, opened the bleed valves and gravity took over. Nice firm peddle.

I was expecting a bigger change in the feel of the brakes on the road but there is really not that much difference. Should help with the brake fade pulling the trailer in the mountains though.

There was one annoying thing, at one time in the distant past I could take the C clip off the speedometer cable put it aside in a safe place and find it again when I was done. Not anymore! Think I could remember where I put that little bugger? Nope!
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[madmike]

I've use 'safety' wire in a pinch
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'Black Ice'Drag Buggy 'Turbo'
Rail Buggy 1915 turbo
76 Drag/Street bug 2180cc 'Turbo' 11:85 @113 mph"If I go any faster I'll burn up the Hamster" ,gets 28 mpg. also 10/09/22 11.90 @115 mph
"If I'm ever on Life Support,UNPLUG Me, Then Plug me back In see if that Works"

[clonebug]

I don't even use the clip....I just stuff the cable in the hole...turn the tire until it fits the square and then drive. It never gives me any issues that way.
This way I don't have to pull the wheel off when I remove the body...I can just pull the cable out.
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[oprn]