Dual brake master for Volvo upgrade

[S Allen]

Alexi,

Sounds good. We will see what else happens.

Steve

[Minh]

I would want a limited slip because the initials...Seriously, I didn't know that Posi was a trademarked version of a limited...With the luck I have had with American made cars, I fear putting anything like that in the roadster...I have been wondering (only slightly) what a WRX rear end conversion would entail...Modern independant and limited, etc...

The only Nismo LSD I found was in Japan and was going to total $1500 by the time I saw it...Not in my budjet, either...TR

Regarding the WRX rear axle everything on paper looks great but one factor that beams at me. It is a 5 x 4 lug pattern.

The WRX has a 3.70 ratio, stock LSD, handles 400-500 HP/Torque, 4 piston calipers, and 11.2 inch discs.

However, I am unsure if it has the right length. It is about 28 inches long, so I am not sure how to make it fit on the shock and leaf spring suspension on the Roadster.

[TR]

Uh...Thanks, Guest...TR

[S Allen]

There are no thread nazi's here--just a group of people who share a common interest. Constructive guest posts are always welcome. You could either register and logon or of course continue on as a "Guest". This forum is not even moderated but I do however reserve the right to remove any posts I feel do not serve the group as a whole. With that said --any more interested in the Volvo brake adapter?

Steve
Site Admin

[Mike Abssy]

Has anyone actually installed these adapters and found them to be functional? I had my machinst make up a set from the drawings and after eight hours of messing with them they still leak. Also, the angle cut into the front of the block will not clear a 10x1mm banjo bolt (with a 14mm head, I don't think the smaller but taller bolt will fit behind the spindle) so we had to make the angle more severe to allow the bolt to turn.

The main problem problem I'm having is that the face that the block bolts to on the caliper is not square to the threaded inputs. another interesting issue is that the two calipers I have are slightly different. These were never designed to accept a manifold type block like we are trying to use so slight casting differences on that particular face was never addressed by the OEM. One leaks like a sieve and the other only weeps.

I think some more engineering is in order before anyone steps up to a 20 piece order. Someone needs to go out and buy 10 or 15 calipers and make an adapter that will work on all of them, taking manufacturing variances into account.

I'd be really interested to know if anyone is running these on a working car. Thanks!

-Mike

[TR]

Mike,

Those are all great points-the types of things that are overlooked, but we all know that oil leaks from everything not 100% thought out!

Some quick thoughts...

Maybe a thicker aluminum crush washer than the standard copper washer? It might help absorb the rough/uneven cast surface.

There should be some room to open the diameter of the holes for the banjos (to allow for some OEM slop in the hole spacing) and still get good sealing out of the washers.

You could pull the calipers, thread a piece of aluminum into the caliper holes and face the caliper...

As with anything brake related, make sure it is safe! My advice should be checked by someone who has first hand knowledge of the application.

Good luck with it and thanks for the heads up from those of us considering the swap, TR

[S Allen]

You know what? You bring up a valid point or two. Mark Sedlack has them mounted on the calipers but he does not have his body on so I am pretty sure he has never tried the brakes let alone bleeding them. Humm! This could be a problem. We do not need no stinking leaking. --and I will hold off on making a run until we find a solution to this problem. No sense in making a bunch of exspensive scraps of brass. It is still a great idea but it needs more work i.e. testing. Thanks for pointing that out Mike.

Steve

[millertime]

I have updated webshots with photos I took today. Notice all the metal filings . I believe Mike did use the alum crush washers.
We filed down the calipers where the brass fitting will meet so they would seat better. helped but didnt cure. hmm back to the brainstorming.

http://community.webshots.com/album/100254256wHJaTm


Thx for any more suggestions

Derek

[spl310]

It is tough to tell from the photo, but it looks like it was filed in line with the body of the caliper. It looks like the file did not go all the way to where the crush washers should go. I think having a machinist spot face those mounts again are the key. You need to have all of the crush washer contact area milled flat or it will probably leak.

[Mike Abssy]

Yes, Sid, you're absolutely correct. We did manage to file the mounting boss on the caliper back far enough so the crush washer had full contact but the mounting surface needs to be machined flat before any attempt is made to attach the adapter block. It's an operation that simply cannot be done by hand.

Out of the box, one caliper had a rather large casting separation line between the two threaded inputs and the other had no separation line but a longer "V" between the two inputs.

I think the idea is a good one in principle but just a few steps away from being done. And as an aside, I made up the two lines and "T" deal as outined elsewhere on this site and it works great. Thanks!

-Mike

[S Allen]

I told Mark Sedlack about the problems you were having Mike. Here are his thoughts.

"Steve,

I haven't had a chance to pressure test them yet, but they appeared to bolt up straight and tight. No problems with the hole spacing for the tapped holes on either of my calipers - s'pose we could open up the tolerance on the holes just a hair to account for some variation, like maybe increasing the hole size to 10.2
+.1/-0 .

I can't imagine the factory making the calipers would machine the flats around the holes, then drill and tap in a seperate fixturing - one would think they would machine it all in one fixture. That's the only way the machined flat could be non-colinear/ concentric with the bore of the hole.

I'm thinking that maybe his issue was not using a thick crush washer above AND below the manifold block, as shown in the attached assembly pic. The crush washers are a must to get a good seal.

Also, I had no fit problems using the following part # banjo bolts and crush washers from Summit Racing: Earl's Banjo bolts - part# EAR-997517 Banjo Bolt replacement washers - part# EAR-177100 These are aluminum. If he did use crush washers, they might not have been thick enough to allow the bolts to fully tighten.

I installed the block to the caliper first, then installed the caliper. fit fine, with the exception of having to grind off approx. 5deg. angle on one corner of the face of the head of the banjo bolt to clear the boss on the knuckle arm during installation.

Maybe pass along the images and my questions, and see what he says. In the meantime, I'll squirt some soapy water around the fittings and hit it with 100PSI air and see if mine are bubble....

Mark Sedlack
ZROC
Cuyahoga Falls OH
66 1600 http://www.mildevco.net/chevypowereddatsuns/
77 280Z http://www.mildevco.net/chevypowereddatsuns/"

[Guest]

Thanks for the good input. Here's what we did.

Used the thick aluminum crush washers above and below the adapter block. I used XRP brand 10X1mm banjo bolts with a 14mm head. No clearance issues between the bolt and the steering arm but the heads would not turn against the machined angle on the face of the block and the crush washers rode up on that same edge as well. So we changed that angle until everything fit as it should. Also, the holes on the caliper did line up perfectly with the holes on the adapter block, no problems there.

The thing that killed it for us was the boss on the caliper. First off, the two calipers I got were different. Remember, when these things are installed in a Volvo they use two separate steel lines that hook to two separate rubber lines that eventually go to a junction block on the frame where the four lines are condensed down into two. So there would never be a need to have the threaded inputs on the calipers perfectly sqaure to the face we are attempting to use as a sealing surface nor would there have ever been a need for the face itself to be flat enough to seal correctly. On my calipers, one face slopes in two different directions and the other needs to be faced to elminate a casting separation line.

If I could get Mark's e-mail address I'd be happy to talk directly to him. I think it's a good idea and worth pursuing.

[S Allen]

Mike,

I assume you are the guest. Any how, go to his website listed at the bottom of his thoughts and his contact email address is there.

Steve