Restoreids VH/VX/VJ disc brake converstion

[Warren]

I feel that the work RestoReid has been doing on his camper is excellent.

I particularly like the Diff & Disc brake conversion how too's so I have decided to give them there own thread

It will be all Reids words without the chatter and hopefully will be a good reference for the future - hope you don't mind Reid.

take it away Reid

Well guys some more picks of my suspension & brake upgrade A armes cleaned & painted new bushes & balljoints





Parts for brake conversion  VH commie hubs  VX commie discs hats  VJ twin piston calipers



Cutting the discs off the hubs with angle grinder Yes Ben I was real careful







Now the machining starts to get the hats to fit the hubs



I have already got the new bearings & seals for the hubs Only got to get steel plates for caliper bracketsw will post more as I get it done Cheers Reid.

Here are the difference between VH & VX discs







Have had 1 hub turned down to fit inside VX disc hat for mock up purposes







Made a template out of masonite for the caliper bracket







Had to grinde the casting flashes & about 1mm off here to allow the caliper to come back far enough to get full pad contact with disc







Well that's about it for now till I get some more machining done I think it's coming togeather pritty good Cheers Reid









The main inner bearing is XE Falcon fits strait in no machining the outer bearing will be machined out for bedford size same as the old castlemain kit easy as Cheers Reid

Done a little more machining today Turned down outside diameter to fit inside disc hat & machined 3mm off the face so the spiggot came through enough for wheel to locate Next job to machine out outside bearing



Well guys I got a heap more done this week finished machining the hubs drilled & tapped the caliper brackets & trial fitted it all up needed 4mm spacer between the caliper & the plate to center the caliper up on the disc is all done & painted & will install tomorrow sorry no pics here their in my gallery Will get some more as I fit them up Cheers Reid

Things youl need to make the brackets



Very back yardish but it does the job



Made up centering plug to get the bolt holes spot on



Startin to look store bought



Machining all done



All painted ready to go on



Caliper brackets had 4mm spacer to center caliper on disc



Caliper bracket on with new unbreako bolts



From the back



Hub on with new bearings & 10mm longer wheel studs



Almost looks profesional



Disc on



From behind



Caliper holder on Have to clean up & paint yet



Had a good day finally starting to piece it togeather Photos worth a 1000 words









Some more









And some more only have to fit brake hose & make grease cap & job done Cheers Reid











Hi guys Here is a photo off finished front discs conversion all that's needed is a 2inch dust cap or ill have to make an adaptor to fit a holden one

Other photo for those that are interested is the non return valve in standard bedford master cylinder which I belive has to be removed when discs are installed Cheers Reid





Well guy's finally got it going & took it for a lap on thursday arvo Left the nonreturn valves out Not happy the pedal nearly went to the floor before brakes started to work so back up on jack stands all wheels off & had a head scratch what to do so I put the nonreturn valves back in they are plastic spring loaded & have a small bleed hole in the centre Gave the whole system a good pleed Wife came in handy there got a fair bit of air out Put wheels back on & went for another lap FANTASTIC best thing ive done to it sofar Just have to find some 2inch dust caps & job finished By the way the front track 'center of tyre to center of tyre only increased by 5mm at 1670 mm over standard bedford real happy with that steering will be NO heavier Anyway enough for now Cheers Reid

Well took the camper out for a good run today Man what a difference the brakes are excellent getting better as the pads bed in I was worried that the 3.08 diff as going to be too high but it is perfect will cruse at 100ks easy at 2800rpm & still got plenty of pickup left Its much quieter inside without the old noisy diff & it uses 2nd gear more which is good before it hardley used 2nd would go streight to top with the old 3.70 diff With all the new suspension parts & neww shocks it's gone from a shitbox to a LIMO & im as happy as a pig in shit Cheers Reid

Well another week gone & finally finished the brakes Took me 2 days to make dust caps for front hubs couldnt finde any that were2inch but they prob wouldnt it anyway Made up first one out off 2inch exaust pipe put it on & tried to put wheel on & it poped the center cap off the wag Binned it & made another had to be big enough to go over hub nut & small enough to go inside mag wheel took 2days bitch of a job but finished now take her for a spin into port tomorrow Cheers Reid





Went for a nice long drive into Port Macquarie today camper went great smooth as & the brakes work fantastic it's a totally different thing to drive still got a few attles to chase down but not too bad John you hit the nail on the head Finding someone to do the job is the problem there are shops in the cities that spcalise in these conversions but they charge a leg & arm & the smaller shops dont want to know about it & private blokes are a bit wairy about doing conversions like this for other people that's why I did it myself My brother in law lives next door he is a certified welder & has a smell laith so between us we had the gear to do the job Only had to farm out the machining of the outside bearing as his laith was too small to hold the hub without it jumping out & that cost me $50 It seams the Hopper stopper BA falcon kit would be the best & I think it's about $2500 & I think a diff would cost about $1500 you supply the diff I couldnt find anybody around here that was interested in doing the job & my b inlaw had done quite a few diffs for himself so it was easy & I nutted out the front brakes myself & got him to do most of the machining on the hubs & the rest was easy That's why I put so many picks up so others could see how I done it & maby they could find somewone to help with welding & machining Anything else you would like to know just ask & ill help if I can Cheers Reid

[Warren]

Ok I have unlocked this so that people can ask questions and Reid can respond
Any off topic or chat pots will be deleted to keep the thread clean
 
Warren

[restoreid]

By the way fellers there are a few photos off the diff & the brake calliper bracket construction on pages 5 - 6 in my gallery for some reason they wouldnt load in the posts so I put them in my gallery Cheers Reid

[Warren]

Reid

I have added the pics from your gallery

Warren

[Bedfordcrazy]

All i can say is i wish i had that sort of engineering nouse, awesome stuff reid. I do a lot of welding, but doing this sort of work i would be worried about my welds failing, or the hub not being true or centered, so i have a lot of respect for guys that can get stuck into that sort of work.
I like the idea of setting this up for everyone to read, ever thought of doing a dvd, start to finish on how to build a disc brake conversion. Just a thought. 

george

[Warren]

George

The only welding in this conversion is on the calliper spacers, and that could have been left out, as once the spacers are in place they are held together by the bolts.

Welding them in place just make it easier when assembing the callipers.

Warren

[restoreid]

Yes George Warren is spot on ya gotta make servicing as easy as possable & if I had just used washers your bound to leave one out George the only welding was on the diff conversion & my broinlaw who is a welder by trade done it all for me cause im hopless at welding I leave all those special jobs to the specialests Cheers Reid

[Sundownernz]

Awesome conversion Reid and a great reference article for anyone else to follow. Even if you don't have the gear to do the job yourself you could use this reference to show a machine shop what's involved and make them feel happy that they could handle it. Great effort and well done.

Garry.

[SubduedGoGetter]

Hi caspar here. Ive been very interested in your disc brake conversion. I was wondering if you did all for corners or just the front brakes? I have a 1977 lwb camper and would love to put 4 discs on. Can you help with anymore info. What you have up has been great to read.
Cheers

[restoreid]

Hi casper Glad you liked my conversion The disc brake diff is in the diff section Now your LWB is a whole different ball game they being a 6 bolt hub & dual wheel diff I would love to have a go at one but would need to sit & stare at one for a few days & work out if the front hub could be used or maby a F100 or some other 6bolt hub could be used Im sure it could be done but I dont know about the diff If it was mine Iwould keep the 6bolt stud pattern & put some of thoes cool truck wheels on Would look fat Where are you at It would be great to talk & try to work out something Cheers Reid