Front disk brake kit questions

Al- are you looking for a kit with drop or stock height spindles?  Can you post links to the sets you're looking at?

Stock height, Al. link to one here:

http://www.cbperformance.com/P...asp?ProductCode=4202

Air Cooled:

http://vwparts.aircooled.net/0...-Pin-T1-p/401498.htm

And Mid America Motorworks part #313-315.

I like the Aircooled.net setup because there's zero wheel offset and it used the Rabbit calipers, so replacement pads and even calipers would be easy to find. It doesn't say anything about a part # for the rotor/hub assemblies, but I would think they're available. Would be a good question befor plunking down your money. The kit even comes with a dual master cylinder. The 1 negative I can see- the rotor/hubs are going to be a little heavier, but that's not the end of the world. Maybe ask if they can be drilled for wheel studs....

The CB kit- The hubs are lighter, as they are aluminum, but I seem to remember hearing something about problems with them separating from the rotors which are cast iron? I'm not crazy about the 7/8" they add to each side. And they don't tell you where (what car) the calipers are from, so you have to buy pads and replacement calipers (should you ever need 1) from them. You'd have to hope they're still marketing those kits. 

That's all I've got (for now...). Before buying, maybe ask about the 2 kits over on the Samba- put it in the Performance- Engines/Transmissions forum. Your buddy Yoda

If you want to find out more about the kits sold by AirCooled,  you can call Andy Shouse at SoCal imports.  He also owns AC industries, (the manufacturer of these kits), and can help you find the right kit for your Speedster.  He just helped me with a 4 lug to 5wide conversion for my VS.  He was awesome to deal with, and is very familiar with the various speedster builders...

http://www.socalautoparts.com/index.php

his email ( but always best to call). andys@socalautoparts.com

Luis E.

Thanks, Luis, that looks like everything I need. Did you install the kit yourself and was it as easy as they say? They're temporarily out of stock but I'll give them a call.

Al--get tyhe SoCal Imports kit.  The C.B. hubs will definitely come apart---I had two do that and it was a mess. One went after 5 years and the other went after two days!  I switched to the solid steel hubs from SoCal Imports and I know those babies are not gonna separate. They went right onto the C.B. rear disc brakes with needing just a small shim.

I'd seriously consider the kit from SoCal becaiusr of the non-separating solid steel hubs.   www.socalautoparts.com  

Al,  i did  install the kit, but due to poor planning on my part and international work travel i have not finished the project yet!  All parts are on and i seem to have gotten most of the air out of the system...  but still a little more work to do, + addressing the alignment.   I originally had 4 lug disk breaks, so i had to change the spindles back to stock parts as part of this modification... thus the alignment check requirement ;-) 

if i would have had stock spindles on, and a service station near by to mount/balance the tires on the new wide5 wheels it would have been a much quicker project.  Also, a second person to help you bleed the lines is a must.  (i recurited my 7 yr old to help me out).   

Andy and his team were extremely helpful, and the straight forward instructions he provided were suffient to guide me through the install.

good luck!

Al

Let me know if you are able to contact Andy at Socalimports and whether he is still making the kits. He knows his stuff and his product.

I know the are not showing on the Socalimports website anymore, but I believe that he may still be selling through his side company AC Industries.  I am looking for the same thing but for a ball joint front end.

As reference, i contacted Andy and purchased my kit ~2 weeks ago, received it 4 days after placing the order, and installed it last weekend.

Socal still list AC industries ball joint and link pin kits on their web... Though they have been showing as out of stock since June.  Best to call or email him.   Tell him what set up you have, and he will tell you what kit you need.

 For my VS he sold me a kit specific to my car ( after talking to Kirk) which was not advertised on the SoCal web.  the kit didn't include master cylinder or brake lines... Since I can re- use the ones that came installed on my VS when built in early 2013.  They are practically new, and originally supplied by Socal when the car was built by VS

Cheers,

Thanks, guys. I called today and talked to John, he said he had 2 in stock and would check and call me back. If I don't hear back before the end of the day I'll call again.  Best driving of the year and I'm out of business...

Al, I make it a habit not to make any major changes/upgrades to my cars this time of year. I know your upgarde was not 100% planned out.

Thanks, Marty. This was totally unscheduled....I got bad brakes. Bubble gum and bailing wire ain't gonna work.

AC industries isn't going to work for me either. They offer a kit on their web site that looks to be the one I need.  They insist that I don't need that one, and that I need the one with the bus master cylinder. I said that I don't have a bus, I have the front end of a '65 beetle, but I have a dual circuit master cylinder.  They say that if I want a dual circuit master cylinder I need to buy another one separately and sell the bus m/c on the Samba.

Is this bull sh!t or what?   Must be me 

Al - I didn't know you had a bus! 

If you've got a 65 front end, then yes, the one with the single-circuit bus MC appears to be the one you want because the brakes will fit your kingpin spindles. They use the larger bore bus MC in the kit because it delivers the extra fluid the disk brakes need. They supply a single-circuit MC because 65 VW's only had single-circuit MC's which means customers don't need to redo their brake lines to use the kit.

They are selling someone else's kit, they can't swap out parts in it. Hence their suggestion that you buy a separate dual-circuit MC if that's what you need. I suggest one that's advertised for disk brake conversions as it should have the larger bore needed, though not necessarily the 4-wheel disk ones. I'm assuming you're only doing the front.

I suggest either using CSP or Airkelwd.com 

the CSP are from Europe. Contact Pierside parts in Huntington Beach,ca. They stock them. Speak to ralph. Tell Anthony-@ Anthony's racing components sent you.

the Airkelwd is out of Arizona. I have worked on and installed CB kits and they work fine. But these others are better but your going to pay more for them.

the AC weigh too much. And be careful of these 300-400 kits. You get what you pay for!

Al:  I may be wrong, but I think that the Bus master cylinder may have a larger bore to handle the disk brake circuit better.  Remember that the piston volume in a disk caliper is greater than a wheel cylinder, thus you need a bit more volume coming from the MC.

When I was messing with my wheel cylinders last Spring, the guys at Bug City were telling me that they have a larger bore (20.6mm), dual-circuit master cylinder JUST for disk brake conversions and it worked very well.  Their item number 16-9554 at $35 bucks.   Don't know who makes it.

The MC I have on Pearl is for a '75 Super-Beetle and is bigger (19.0mm) than "stock" for my '69 pan, and it stops OK.  Not like it has a power brake booster, but OK for me.

Chinese ones usually run $25-35, Varga (Brazilian) run $55-$75 (I usually get one of these) and NOS or New German ones run $110-$150.  Choose your poison.

Of course, if you're getting a conversion kit with the MC included, one would think that they've sized their MC for the application and it should work well or they would get lots of complaints.

When you get your boxes 'o parts, will you need me and my pressure bleeder to magically appear??

Thank you, gentlemen.

Justin, I stand corrected. That point did occur to me after a while, but I was irked at the time. So I guess it IS me

It's not like 100 bucks one way or the other makes that much difference. I just want to get the right stuff the first time. Returning stuff etc. is a PIA and I don't have much experience with this.  Thanks again

Keep in mind that if your just putting on front disc the super beetle M/C will work since super beetles only came with frt disc brakes. if your going to four wheel disc you may need a residual valve for the rear brakes.

also when setting up your rear disc brakes check the inside clearance between the caliper and frame. I just recently had to notch the frame for the caliper to clear.

The Superbeetle MC mounting flange is clocked at a different angle than the standard's MC. That may cause issues with brake line fitment and air bubbles getting trapped in the MC since the inlets wouldn't be pointing up. You'd want the Karmann Ghia style MC, they're dual-circuit, front disk brake, and standard mounting flange.

Thank you 

I stand corrected.

part number I use is 113 611 015 B.  Or BD

you will need to plug some of the ports.