Vitesse Brakes with 15" Wheels

[St00bies]

Hi All,

I have been reading around and have hit a stumbling block regarding the project I am currently working on.

I am in the process of developing a special using the vitesse chassis and running gear. I have currently fitted 15" Austin Healey wire wheels using MGB Hub adapters. unfortunately the front disks and rear drums look a little lost inside the wheel and as I have the additional space I thought it would be ideal  to uprate the brakes front and rear. I have read of people fitting Saxo and Capri disks but these both seem fit comfortably within the 13" wheel (with some machining). I understand that the offset of the disk is the most important factor in doing a conversion but do not want to over look any other key factors!

Has anyone fitted larger brakes and if so has there been any issues with strength of the stub axle casting taking the additional force of braking? Any help on this would be much appreciated!

Cheers,

Stu

[ferny]

I completely understand changing them for aesthetics. But... have you considered the consequences of having much bigger and better brakes in such a light car with no electronic stability gubbins?

[Clive]

citroen xantia discs have the correct offset etc, and there is a pretty good sized disc available. Needs a little machining, but should be easy enough. A couple of people run them.

As to rears, Marcus (he is one who runs the big discs) uses MX5 rear discs, I (and several others) have MGF rears. All require the making of a caliper bracket, but it really isn't rocket science. Needs to be done properly of course.....

[GT6 M]

thee,s fit well, no undue diffrence to my ride, but then im on diff tyres / shocks / springs.
Note, if useing thee,s  discs, it would be easier to shave off the hub.
rasoning, I never going back to standard stuff, so no need to keep shaving disc doon, when hub is already done for new discs. but done quite a fe K on thee,s noo, and no sign of wear at all.
got to tek off about 20 thou only for them to fit, and ..re drill the  PCD to match yer own hubs.

will need to make up a spacer for the discs to fit to thicker disc.
and also need to make a diff caliper braket,  easy to doo.

The discs I got will fit a standard caliper,and apart frae some distance biits to mek em wider.
they will also require the services of a angle grinder with a 10 inch disc to cut away the curve of the caliper to fit the bigger disc.
the smaller 280 ones may be a better bet for ye though

the bigger ones are heavey, but with the alloy calipers they are less than the smaller ones.
OE brake clipers are made frae dark matter stuff , hence the weight.

the sttopping is great, and pedal needs only touched upon, much much nicer to use than a servo.

Also fir a RPV to brake line, it helps no end at all.
drums and discs, ye need 2.

M

3.0 V6 24v  2949cc  5/97 -> F-V  NBD 804  305.0 28.0 26.0 28.0 66.0 4
or thees, full set of stuff.
any thing frae 27-30 can fit no probs, but 28 is same as standard off set.
also best to ditch the dust sheild, prob be rusted to pot any hoo by noo.

http://www.national-auto.co.uk/assets/content/documents/brake_disc_catalogue_2013_apr.pdf

[Hughbert]

Are you building a Sammio by an chance  :)

I fitted rear discs from an Alfa on my GT6 and used Citroen Saxo rear callipers as advised by Marcus and I replaced my front discs with a set of cross drilled and vented ones that are a direct replacement. I also fitted a brake balancer to give bias to the front brakes oh and a Pressure Relief Valve on the brake cylinder. I found no need to put larger discs on the front as the rear discs are so much better than the old drum brakes there was no need to.  :)  :) :)  

I think its possible to buy old style replica drums that cover over your modern disc brakes like those fitted on C or D Types or old Bugatti replicas. Might be a lot easier than fitting larger discs ;)  

[MrSpeedy]

I have a brand new pair of Xantia discs if anyone wants them. Your's for postage plus a drink  ;)

[St00bies]

Thanks for all the advice,

Does anyone have drawings/pics of their caliper brackets? Additionally if anyone has documentation/ photos of their conversions these would be great to see! I have access to a lathe, Milling machine and CNC but need to use my favours wisely  :P regarding the drum covers, does anyone know where I can pick some of these up as they would be perfect!

I am running a dual line/master cylinder braking system and will be fitting a bias bar in due course to even out the braking capabilities.

With regards to what I am up to, I have built a couple of Sammios previously and loved them but got bored of fixing the same problems! That said, I have never owned another car that has given me the same ear to ear grin that the sammios did and they are bloody good fun for not a lot of money!! Following a lot of measuring and a bit of luck I have managed to get my hands on some moulds taken from a Bristol engined AC Ace. The chassis design of the Ace is very similar to that of the vitesse and as there is only 1" difference in the wheelbase the Vitesse makes a perfect donor. When purchased, the moulds and initial plug came to me in a bit of a state of disrepair and as such have taken months of work to restore to a usable condition. I am currently in the process of preparing the car to take a new mould from to minimise time spent on bodywork for future builds!

To ensure that the car is fit for the road (and hopefully will avoid the pitfalls of the sammio reputation) I have used a reconditioned chassis (Shotblasted, zinced and painted) and fitted recon running gear. Fitted it with spax (ride and height adjustable) shocks and springs to the front and a swingspring conversion with 1" lowering block on the rear. I have also moved the engine back so that the 6 cyl lump sits in the same location as the 4 pot 1200 lump. By placing a 65L fuel tank directly over the rear axle the car ahould remain firmly planted to the tarmac and should make for a good ride!

If anyone is interested in the build I am happy to send/post more info

Cheers,

Stu

[ferny]

I'm interested!

[Sheepy]

Stu,
That sounds interesting, can you post up some pictures of your build.

Cheers