'big brake' 280mm conversion

firstly thanks must go to 3dogsjonny for supplying the parts, and secondly to Grego for machining/supplying the carrier brackets, id of been buggered without them.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN THIS CONVERSION, BE AWARE WHEELS OF A SMALLER DIAMETER THAN 15" WILL NOT CLEAR THE BRAKES. Make sure you've got a decent set lined up, or you might end up having to borrow some…'scuse the swearing..vauxhall…wheels :redfaced:
Parts you'll need :

g60 or relevant calipers
+ carriers, be aware that you'll need the chassis number of the car they came off if you wish to replace the sliders
discs of choice
pads of choice
extension brackets and bolts (username Grego kindly supplied these, im sure if you message him he'll be able to sort you out)
basically everything in the picture, x2
you might not need to, but as i generally work on the 'if it aint broke, fix it anyway cause it probably will break soon' rule, i replaced all flexi hoses and solid brake lines, so if you go down this route  you'll need a brake flaring tool and some male ends
Tools You'll Need :
decent set of hex keys
regular wrench
torque wrench
loctite
copper grease
set of spanners
brake pipe flaring tool
good sized mug, kettle and makin's
Start by removing all the existing brake setup, i already had the wishbone off to fit powerflex bushes, so i removed the hub and cleaned it up, then covered it in hammerite to hold off the rust for a while, not necessary but worthwhile in my opinion. Took me a couple of go's to figure out which way round the brackets went, but with the disc on test fitting the parts figured it out…(don't use loctite at this stage)
Put your bracket on, apply loctite then tighten the counter sunk hex bolts down to 60Nm as per Haynes manual

Then fit your disc, its important you use wheel nuts to tighten the disc on aswell as the locating screw, as this will hold things square and help you get your alignment

With the disc in place you can fit your carrier bracket for the caliper…

This image better shows how the washers help return the carrier to its correct position

Check clearances by rotating the disc, if you hear a scraping noise something doesn't quite sit right, find it and fix it…

Re-assemble, Re-check for clearances, everything fit? Good. Loctite the carrier bolts and tighten down to 60Nm. now hammerite any bare metal to prevent rusting  EXCEPT where theres a mating of two brackets, only bare metal to metal gives the required surface friction, paint acts like a washer of sorts and things will become loose over time .
Place the pads in, be sure to copper grease any point they contact the carrier to prevent squealing
With the pads in place, push the piston of the caliper back to give you clearance, place over the pads then tighten the slider bolts, should look something like done now…

When you remove the old pipes, be sure to hang onto this washer, as the new flexi's don't come with them

If you don't keep it i imagine the pipe will grate on the strut and you'll have to replace them rather frequently

With the hose tightened in to the caliper FIRST (this will prevent twisting the pipe) attach to the solid line on your car, remembering to tighten by the fitting on the car, holding the flexi in place. Whenever i get the opportunity i  waxoil and areas of metal that look a bit crusty, helps preserve it 'til you get round to sorting it properly

One down, one to go

Smashing  

Now they're fully assembled, top up the brake fluid reservoir with the bleed nipples open on both calipers, tighten up when you see fluid in your bleed bottle (if you don't have one, i'll post a short thread how to make a simple one on't cheap) depress the brake pedal a couple of times, this pressurises the caliper and allows any bubbles still in there to rise to the top of the piston chamber, re-open your bleed nipple to let the last of the bubbles out then tighten up. Pop your wheels on, remember 14's WONT fit then road test. The G60 brakes i fitted are self adjusting, if yours aren't you'll either need a wind out key or a hex key, either way make sure you go anti clockwise to wind out and DONT depress the pedal til they're full of fluid otherwise you'll lose your adjustment
Hope this helps somebody out, or at least gives you something to think about if your brakes aren't quite up to it…i 'emergency stop' tested the brakes and almost got a mouthful of steering wheel! So yeah, theyre good!  :wink:

Great thread

are you going to paint those bare metal brackets????

They'll be rather heavily corroded very quick if you don't??

Damn good guide though, needs a sticky i feel, or moving to faq's

Jon.

cheers fella's, edited all my bad spelling and whatnot out now! hopefully usefull to someone…

great job, this was the conversion i planned for my car.

Thanks alot and definately get it "stickyed"!!!!

great thread mate but iv got a problem with mine    the braided hoses and standard hoses hit my wheel so i need spacers so this doesnt happen    

any idea why?



is it the wheels do you think?

d you have any pics of the back of the callipar where the hose goes in?

cheers foxy

stop the clock iv just notice iv put the hose in the bleed hole    
not to self less weed

foxy

glad you got it figured out! WOW your car is tidy! full re-build?

yes mate click the link in my sig

foxy

foxy mate stick a link in your signature for the mk1 jetta!

haynesheadache said

foxy mate stick a link in your signature for the mk1 jetta!

im not aloud to advertise it on here as its not a golf?

hi i have some questions to ask
im doing the same im useing CALIBRA 2.0 TURBO CALIPERS STEP BOLTS ECT
what size it the break pipe i need to buy to replace mine on my mk1 golf and what ends do i need to replace all my brake lines.

Are you talking about the solid lines or flexis? The Mk1 uses M10 Male fittings on the solid lines iirc.

from what i make out the solid lines are  3/16 inch (4.75mm) outer diameter
and the ends are 10MM, but i need one end to fit a vauxhall caliper that i think are not the same.

The solid lines do not link up the caliper, that's done by the flexis.

I covered this in the FAQ section 5 years ago…

http://www.vwgolfmk1.o…ms&file=viewtopic&t=17294

"Ok, Shopping list for the conversion:

VW:
-Mk2 Golf 16V 256mm Vented Discs (Same as Passat etc)

GM:
-90s 16V Spec Calipers and Carriers (with slider bolts etc)
-Matching Pads.
-Matching Vauxhall Front Brake Flexis (Bolt to Caliper with M10x1.25 Banjo Bolts/Copper Washers)
"

I'm assuming same fitment for the 280mm setup.  It's been done loads of time since, a few poepl have cocked around with the fittings from flexi to hardline so they mount in the chassis tab better.  I just used the vauxhall lines off the shelf.

the solid lines on all cars use a 10mm male fitting, with the same thread, so if you stick with the off the shelf vauxhall flexi it will mate up to both your caliper and solid line good luck with the conversion

It's M10x1 btw (Both Vaux and VW).

Hi guys, i'm planing todo this conversion, and was hoping you'd be able to shed some light on the master cylinder and servo? Cheerss

This is a great guide!
However i have one question:

Should the backing plates be replaced with bigger G60 ones?
Or will my stock plates do the trick?
Thanks, Shaney.