Volvo Caliper Conversion

[nking79]

Do the Volvo front calipers from the tech section bolt right up?

[S Allen]

It is not a direct bolt-up with out following the write-up. The rotors need turned down and you must redrill the mounting holes on the Volvo calipers to 1/2" so the roadster mounting bolts will fit. After that it is pretty much a direct bolt up affair. It is best to use Breck's machined manifold on the calipers for the brake lines.

Steve

[Redtail]

are the manifolds being made again? I heard he quit for a while...

[S Allen]

Best bet is to email him directly or call and ask him. His email address is Breck1969@yahoo.com or you can call him at 971-241-0064.

Steve

[nking79]

What do you mean with rotors being turned down? Not sure that means.

[ppeters914]

From the Tech Info article:

You will need to have a minimum of 1/8" machined from the diameter of the roadster rotor to provide clearance for the new calipers.

Several people have reported this was not enough. Taking more off of the diameter of the rotor will hurt nothing. You do not want the rotor scraping against the caliper.

Some people have ground the clearance out of the caliper. I prefer having the rotor turned down.

Stock rotors are 11.18 inches in diameter. So for all practical purposes you want rotor diameters between 11.0500 and 11.1175". This equals a little under a 11-1/8" diameter.

It means exactly what it says - reduce the diameter of the rotor, i.e. make the circle smaller.

[Ldino21]

If you are looking for a place to turn down your Rotors most motorcycle shops can direct you in the right direction. I found a place here in Fresno called the Chop Shop who cut down my rotors for $10 bucks a rotor.

Lou Smaldino
Fresno, CA
64-1500
65-1500
66-1600
67-1600
67-2000

[dbrick]

Nat, Are your brakes presently working? Even if you need 4 new caliper pistons, I think it's about $200.00, the Volvo costs more by the time you are done. If your calipers are presently working, re assemble and see how it is.
By the way, if you are still cleaning the front end stuff, don't forget to repaint the parts if you cleaned down to bare metal. Russell Chassis Epoxy is good stuff, Rustoleum is way better than nothing.

[nking79]

The brakes work, but they are extremely rusted. The seals are torn and it looks like brake fluid was leaking out. I am debating whether or not to use the brakes I have or to go with a conversion. I don't trust the rusted out brakes and would prefer to have a clean system put it. My rotors are layer rust as well...

I have been taking apart the front end, degreasing, derusting and repainting. Many of the joints had little to no grease left.



I have the upper a-arms and springs still on the car and will be taking those off next. Am also considering cleaning up some of the steering parts.

[spl310]

I recently went through about 6 calipers. Two were shot, but they had been off of a car for a LONG time. Two were ugly, but once honed work fine. The other two were also ugly and once apart looked fantastic inside. Don't let the outside appearance sway your opinion. Take the calipers apart - CAREFULLY - as if you bend the pin in the center, they are shot. A grease gun or air compressor is the way to go (grease gun is a bit safer...) Once apart, clean them judiciously and then hone the cylinders. If they clean up then rebuild kits are cheap (under $40 for both complete calipers) and will keep you going for another 40 years...

[dbrick]

What does the easilly bendable pin actually do?

[spl310]

If you get a chance to see a cut away, you can see how it works. It is part of the brake piston retracting device. Inside the piston there are some springs that grip on the pin when the piston gets pushed out by the fluid. As the fluid pressure subsides (you take your foot off of the pedal), the piston retracts a hair to keep the pad off the rotor. Simple and effective - unless you bend the pin...

[nking79]

I've received the bolt pack, which was excellent, and am now ready to begin reassembling some of this. Do I need to grease anything before putting everything back together or do I just grease everything through the zerks after its all together?

I'll take some more photos as I go.

[dbrick]

Funny, the rest of the world uses the rubber caliper seal to pull the piston back. How unusual for a British auto parts company to add strange and complex parts to do something simple.

[nking79]

I was talking about the a-arms in the photo above... I'm not going to do the conversion yet - just going to get the rebuild kit and see how that goes for a while.