Mk1 Commodore Caliper, 278mm Magna rotor conversion

[golfnutracing]

Okay for this conversion what you need is:
2 VB-VP Commodore Calipers
2 Manga 278mm Vented Rotors (undrilled, dba supply these)
2 Rings made up (difference between mk1 disc ID and magna disc ID, about 3mm)
4 Washers made up (to space caliper for right offset, apparently the washers from the seat belt bolts work)
2 Brake lines to suit commodore brake fitting and golf line fitting (same as for camira conversion)
4x 8mm-10mm shoulder bolts, or 4 bushes with 10mm OD and 8mm ID (commodore caliper has bigger bolt holes)

Here are the parts laid out:


As you can see i have had the discs drilled to 4x100 pcd, and there is a copper ring in the disc, so that it fits up on the hub nicely

The washers you need are about 4mm thick, i will measure and edit this post very shortly with size.

Here are the bushes:


The commodore caliper runs 10mm bolts, so you can either get a shoulder bolt which will have 10mm od with 8mm thread or get bushes made up, i had these in the camira stuff that came with the car.

Washers/spacers:


I had these spacers made up, washers is an option, but i felt safer with a larger surface area to work with (will post sizes!)

Final:


And that is how the caliper fits up!!

Brake lines:


Not a good picture, but you will need a joiner from this fitting to the brake, pirtek or someone like that could knock em up for you.

That is all i can realy think of at the moment, quite an easy conversion, they stop so bloody hard, i recomend that you run genuine vw brake light switches off the master cyliner, or piss it off and run a pedal switch. My dad is always killing switches on his road car.

-Jamie

[vee_dub]

awesome article. Nice work Jamie!.

Just wondering would it work on golf Mk3? I really want a bigger brake, but bremebo and others cost arms n legs.


Thanks
Fred

[imported_brackie]

Excellent article! Old Commies are a dime a dozen. There's one at our local tip with the struts and brakes intact. I'll take my tools next time I go Magna discs could be a bit harder to source. Anyway, our knowledge base is growing.

[worm]

Mate, your a champ! That is a great article... god bless the interweb *kiss*

Where would you get the washers/spacers/rings made up? What type of shop makes such things in small quantities?

Also, how much would it cost buying all the parts new? discs are quiet expensive yes? Under $500?

[worm]

My dad is always killing switches on his road car.

-Jamie

I broke one of these about every 3 months. At least they only cost me $12 for a new one, and u only need to replace the one not both.

[golfnutracing]

Any machinist/apprentice can knock up these parts, places such as engineering shops, but i would suggest going to small ones. I had a bloke knock up the 4 washers, the 2 bushs that go on the disc and press in my wheel bearings for $50

the discs were brand new about $235 all up i think, and the calipers i got were new at about $250 i think. I had a mate drill the discs for nothing which helped, but a small machine shop would probably charge $30

so with brake lines etc it could probably be done with all new parts for $600

[Golf Loon]

Thats Gold mate, exactly the sort of project I want to read about, and pics. Nice one.

Yeah guys find a local small machine shop, prices are less than you think for getting stuff made, especially if you are not in a hurry for it.

[roccodingo]

Thats Gold mate, exactly the sort of project I want to read about, and pics. Nice one.

Yeah guys find a local small machine shop, prices are less than you think for getting stuff made, especially if you are not in a hurry for it.

Why find a machine shop when at least one of your subscribers has a machine shop...

When you can confirm the thickness of the washer I will get these made on one of the CNC lathes..

The sizes of the disc spacer would be cool also guy's then I can send em off as a total set..really the way to do it...

Need accurate sizing tho, tape measure wont cut it I'm afraid..LOL

Good upgrade too Jamie...

[golfnutracing]

I will take the stuff to work on sat and get the mics over the ring, i cant confirm the spacer thickness yet because i am waiting on a die to make some wheel studs and then i can get the hub in and caliper bolted up and confirm the spacer size. Hopefuly i get the die thursday and calipers fit up mon/tues.

Another consideration is that the ring is an interferance fit, the hubs when machined at vw would have a tollerance of say +- 0.1mm, the type of fit i wanted was about 0.05mm, so making up kits may not work that well. 1 of the rings on my dads setup is a little sloppy and it picks up a little vibration at 100+kph. Plus there would be a tollerance on the disc as well, so making them a custom fit would be a better way to go. So that would give an overall uncertinty of 0.4mm which would be nice and sloppy.

I am actualy a full time uni student and machinist part time, but unfortunately i dont get any time at work to knock anything up, or else i would make some kits.

-Jamie

[82cab]

excellent work!! Just a quick question what model or year do the magna discs come off?
Also just as a quick suggestion, you'ld be better off incorporating the bushes and the spacers into one piece and pressing it into the caliper holes that way you won't loose the washers when you're changing pads.