How To: Convert your Mk1 to Mk2 Golf G60 front brakes

Done this a while back to my GTi as the brakes at best leave much to be desired.

To do this conversion you will need;

- Girling 54 calipers and carriers - found on Mk2 Golf G60s, Corrado G60/VR6s and OBD1 Golf GTI/VR6s (92-95)
- 280mm disc brakes and accompanying pads from a Golf/Corrado G60
- Golf Mk1 GTi hoses, you can use your existing ones, but now is a good time to get yourself some braided brake lines
- Adaptor brackets to allow the fitment of the carriers to the mk1 bearing carriers. Epytec make excellent kits, alternatively you can buy some on eBay
- 15" wheels

Depending on your car, you may need to file the face of the bearing carrier to allow the brackets to sit properly.
If you are keeping the debris shields, you will need to trim these to allow the fitment of the brackets and carriers.

REMOVAL

1. Loosen (not undo!) the 4 wheel nuts
2. Jack your car up and support it on axle stands. Your head is going to be in the wheelwell so don't trust a jack to hold it up.
3. Remove wheelnuts and wheel.
4. Either clamp the brake hose with an appropriate tool or have a plastic pot ready to catch the fluid and loosen the union on the caliper. Depending on your car it might need a bit of persuasion to get off!
5. Remove the 2 13mm bolts holding the carrier to the hub and remove the caliper/carrier unit
6. Remove the retaining screw from the disc and remove the disc
7. Remove the dust shield, either discard it or trim it down to fit with the new brake set up

FITTING

1. Install your adaptor brackets. Mine came with no instructions so I just used my noggin. The kit I bought came with 4 countersunk screws, 4 cap heads and 4 spacers. The countersunk bolts screw into the bearing carrier. Do not loctite these bolts or tighten them too much as the kit may need alignment.
2. Fit your big shiny new discs
3. Insert your cap head bolt through the carrier, put the spacer on and then bolt to the adaptor bracket.
4. Check that the carrier sits perpendicular to the discs and that the pads have an equal spacing between the disc throughout. Make sure nothing binds. If it does, remove the bracket and file the bearing carrier until the surface is flat. This took me the best part of an hour of test fitting and removing until it worked on one side, the other side needed 2 minutes of sanding

5. Once you are happy that everything is aligned and nothing is binding, tighten all the bolts - for piece of mind I used medium strength loctite on the bolts.
6. Install your brake pipe


Repeat for the other side, fill with fresh fluid and bleed the system. Refit your wheels and test them out!

Once again, you need to have 15" wheels for these to work, I have about 2mm of room between the carrier and the inside of my wheel


Excuse the lack of pictures, it started to rain halfway in so I had to rush it and forgot to note down what tools I used and pictures of the brackets!