rear disc conversion question

hi all. my golf has had a rear disc brake conversion put onto it (i presume from a mk2 as its still 4 stud?) and i was wondering what handbrake cables people use on them?

any advice would be great!

I could be completely wrong here but I think the disc conversion is off a mk3. I didn't think the mk2 came with rear discs

Maybe the 16v did tho

To many beers tonight 

Hi, 

Sure my rear discs and calipers are from mk2 16v golf, 90 spec. Cables are scirroco 16v , if you use mk2 golf 16v cables they are about an inch and a half too long. You can overcome this I believe by cutting the ends of the channels under the car to get them to fit, or adapting the cables ( I tried this on cables on a previous conversion but was never happy with it). 
Sure scirroco 16v cables are still available on the flea bay. 

Can't comment on mk3 golf parts sorry. 

pb

pbenny0 said

Hi, 

Sure my rear discs and calipers are from mk2 16v golf, 90 spec. Cables are scirroco 16v , if you use mk2 golf 16v cables they are about an inch and a half too long. You can overcome this I believe by cutting the ends of the channels under the car to get them to fit, or adapting the cables ( I tried this on cables on a previous conversion but was never happy with it). 
Sure scirroco 16v cables are still available on the flea bay. 

Can't comment on mk3 golf parts sorry. 

pb

ill give that a whirl then!! cheers

my original thought was that jellybelly but as it was 4 stud thats why i was thinking possible mk2

Mk2 golf Gti's all came with discs on the rear, even the 8 valves.
I've had 2 over the last 15 years and all come with rear discs fitted from factory. Most people don't fit mk2 calipers as they are know for the head brake seizing the design on mk3 and mk4 are better.

Careful, there are two different types of caliper from the Mk2. Those with the handbrake from the bottom and ones from the top.

The Scirocco cables (available still from GSF by the way) fit the early calipers but eh later ones will need the cables from a Mk2… can't remember if its the long or the short but I'll double check

if you have late/mk3 calipers fitted the right way up (you can fit them upside down to convert to early fitment, just need to take off and hang right way up when bleeding) you may have to trim the tubes under the car down about 10mm or so as the scirocco 16v cables end up a bit too tight. Basically when you look trim them back to the weld that secures them to the floorpan, you'll see what I mean.

mk2 cables are no use they're either way too long or slightly shorter than the scirocco ones (been thru all of this on my MK1 cabrio with mk3 rear discs!!)

this is a photo of the calipers….

thats a late mk2 one, and by the looks of it you'll probably want to file it under B for Bin and fit mk3/4s

could be it looks worse than it is, main thing if you work the handbrake lever it should move free and the piston in the caliper should gradually pump out (use proper windback tool to get it back in, NOT a G clamp!) if the lever is sticky or siezed then I would just bin it.

note the spring will be quite strong, so it'll take effort but it should mnove smooth and spring back under its own power strongly

They're defo Mk2 and this is what they should look like





Believe it or not mine looked a bit like yours before I had them refurbished

Fit the later alloy calipers, look better and will help slightly with unsprung weight.

rubjonny said

if you have late/mk3 calipers fitted the right way up (you can fit them upside down to convert to early fitment, just need to take off and hang right way up when bleeding) you may have to trim the tubes


 under the car down about 10mm or so as the scirocco 16v cables end up a bit too tight. Basically when you look trim them back to the weld that secures them to the floorpan, you'll see what I mean.

mk2 cables are no use they're either way too long or slightly shorter than the scirocco ones (been thru all of this on my MK1 cabrio with mk3 rear discs!!)

Would it be m2 16v scirocco cables?   

yeah mk2 rocco, they didnt do a mk1 rocco 16v

one other question. with a disc conversion, do you still run a load valve. if not, what restrictors are used to restrict the flow to the rear?

I use the original restrictors from the Sirocco 16V 3/15

you may struggle to find them these days, we never got the rocco 16v over here so not much call for em. gsf used to stock them back in the day or you could try http://www.classic-vw.co.uk/

if the old mk1 beam mounted restrictor is still working you can keep it, otherwise people use the mk1 cab/rocco ones fitted to the master cylinder. again you'll struggle to find 16v ones but the std drum ones will be fine.

on my cab i made a laser cut metal bracket to allow the mk2 golf beam mounted valve to fit as i had one in stock and the mk1 items were extortionate prices when I was looking

www.epytec.de have 3/15 prop valves. Not cheap but apparently the correct ones.

As johnny has mentioned the Cabriolet ones fit but they have a diffent level of proportioning (if thats even a word!) off the top of my head.

As the Scirocco originally had 256mm on the front I suppose it'll depend on what front brakes your running as well