VW type III disc brake conversion

[Youngster]

Last summer I bought this disc brake conversion at a swap meet. It had been used on a Model A roadster and the seller said he was never quite satisfied with it. The price was right at $125 so I brought it home.I found the calipers to be both passenger side units which put the bleeder at the bottom on the drivers side. The caliper mount had also been modified for the spindle steering arm. A new set of calipers are on the way. When I started fabbing the caliper mount, I wanted one that would hide the disc and add some bling at the same time. here's what I came up with.

Here's the kit with the old mount, and the new one beside it,

Here's the mount installed. I still need to buy the hardware.

And from another angle,

The preliminary polishing is done. I will do the finish polishing during finial assembly.

Ron

 

[v65rider]

VERY nice craftmanship!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tfeverfred]

Nice job!

 

[blownt]

looks like a Super Bell Super Stopper kit. I got one on mine with VW calipers. I have always wanted to make a full circle caliper bracket. The one you did is VERY NICE.

Here is a sketch I drew up for when I was thinking about changing over to Wilwood calipers with my early Chevy spindles. I did another one for the VW calipers but I cannot find it right now.

 

[VegasBruce]

Beautiful work Ron :tip:

 

[Youngster]

Thanks blownt ... That's just the info I was looking for. The seller didn't know who made the kit when I bought it. The original mount was made out of 5/16 material, I made mine out of 1/4''. My thinking is lighter material will work because of the 360 degree mount plus the fact it picks up all 4 of the spindle bolts. What do you think?

Ron

 

[all-world1]

Super-clean fab work Ron. Looks great.

 

[rooster57]

If both calipers are a right make sure that you remove the one with the bleeder that points down and flip it over temproraly when you bleed it or you will never get the air out of it . JMHO

 

[Gerry]

If both calipers are a right make sure that you remove the one with the bleeder that points down and flip it over temproraly when you bleed it or you will never get the air out of it . JMHO

Hi
just wanted to say great work. Its a shame we could nt get together and have a build session but 3000 miles plus is a long comute
Gerry

 

[Youngster]

I thought of that Rooster but since they have been run I would want to rebuild them anyway. When I was checking for rebuild kits and found I could buy new ones so cheap and eliminate the problem all together, I desided to go that way.

Ron

 

[rooster57]

Thanks gerry that would be cool. I will say the UK is on my list of must go places. My company has a place in Hawaii so we can stay their for free. private beach, Golf and so on . Its hard to get the warden to go anywhere else but i am workin on her.
Ron how well does that VW brake system work i like the looks of it . The GM calipers look ok but i would like something a bit more custom less bulky i guess . The wildwood is just to pricey for this boy.

 

[Youngster]

I donno Rooster. Never built a car with disc's on it ....LOL. Look back at post #4 from blownt. He's runnin a set. Maybe he'll see this and answer our questions. The plan is to run a pair of 15x4.5 ET Gasser spokesup front and American 15x10 5 spokes out back on a Jag axle. Working on the Jag set up now.

Ron

 

[rooster57]

sounds cool mabye he will see it thanks

 

[Gerry]

Thanks gerry that would be cool. I will say the UK is on my list of must go places. My company has a place in Hawaii so we can stay their for free. private beach, Golf and so on . Its hard to get the warden to go anywhere else but i am workin on her.
Ron how well does that VW brake system work i like the looks of it . The GM calipers look ok but i would like something a bit more custom less bulky i guess . The wildwood is just to pricey for this boy.

Ron
Let me know if you are coming over . I will give you the heads up for good dates (shows) and maybe we can meet up
Gerry

 

[Ted Brown]

Thanks gerry that would be cool. I will say the UK is on my list of must go places. My company has a place in Hawaii so we can stay their for free. private beach, Golf and so on . Its hard to get the warden to go anywhere else but i am workin on her.
Ron how well does that VW brake system work i like the looks of it . The GM calipers look ok but i would like something a bit more custom less bulky i guess . The wildwood is just to pricey for this boy.

Here is how I figure if the front or rear brakes are big enough, will they lock up the tires at speed? If so, plenty of brake, nothing stops faster than a tire that is not turning, in a panic stop...:hoist: Drive safe

 

[blownt]

The VW calipers are decent brakes. I have NEVER gotten them to lock up and glad they don't. I was gonna make some 360 degree caliper brackets to mount some Wilwood calipers. But at $125 or so per caliper I decided to stay with the Vdubs.

 

[Ted Brown]

My take on brakes, One must be able to fully lock up all 4 wheels in a panic situation... If you can not do this, then changes need to be made to your brake system.. pedal pressure? leverage? master cyl. bore size? wheel cyl. bore size? it takes the right combo to have a safe stopping car, and each car is different... Weight ratio, wheels and tires = leverage, each and every car must meet it's own requirements when it comes to brakes... What works for one car, will not be correct for the next... Testing is a must, change only one thing at a time, then test... Ride safe, well I meant STOP safe.. :angry:

 

[blownt]

then I guess you don't like ABS

 

[Ted Brown]

then I guess you don't like ABS

You got that right! unless it is on a track where you have a clean surface and need to stand on the brake pedal HARD to slow before a curve, otherwise I like to be able to lock things up when NEEDED... like I said, nothing stops a car quicker than 4 tires hollering WHOA!!!!
If you were going to hit a person in the street, which would you prefer? just me here after many panic stops over the years and miles... PS, I may be not able to steer, but I want to stop all forward motion, even if I do end up sideways...