Hey guy's fitted my cossie 283mm brake setup tonight and I'm well impressed! Thought I'd do a little "How to", this guide assumes you know sort of what you're doing, and that you have prepped all the parts beforehand, but it's almost this easy, here goes.
Front Brakes
You will need:-
• Escort/Sierra Cossie 4x4 calipers & carriers- Ebay £80
• Escort/Sierra Cossie 4x4 Pads - Ferodo DS Performance - Burton Power £45
• Sierra 2wd Cossie 283mm Disks - Delphi - Local Motor Factors £70
• Braided brake hoses - Goodridge - Burton Power £40
• 4x 1mm thick washers to fit over caliper bolts - B&Q - 10p
• Brake fluid - Dot 4 or 5.1 - Local Motor Factors - £6
Procedure:-
01) Remove wheel
02) Remove old caliper and disk
03) Remove old flexi hose
04) Put new disk into place tighly bolt it on with 2 wheel nuts
05) Push the new caliper's piston home
06) Insert the new pads
07) Bolt new braided hose into the caliper
08) Bolt new caliper into place, using the 1mm washers between the hub and the carrier
09) Bolt the braided hose into the hose clamp and join it to the solid hose
10) Bleed brake fluid through as per usual
11) Replace the wheel ensuring the disk is perfectly fitted and all bolts are tight
12) Repeat on the other side
Some pics of mine:-
OLD:
NEW:
It took me 1 hour and a quarter on the one side, but once I'd done it, the other side was easily 30 mins. So I'd say it'll take you 2 hours to do all in, and with the parts I bought will cost you around £240 - £250.
Rear Brakes
You will need:-
• Sierra Cossie 2wd/XR4x4 calipers & carriers- Ebay £60
• Sierra Cossie 2wd/XR4x4 - Ferodo DS Performance - Burton Power £65
• Sierra 2wd Cossie 273mm solid rear Disks - Local Motor Factors £40
• Braided brake hoses - Goodridge rear disk conversion - Burton Power £35
• Handbrake cable (First Line Parts FKB1340, Ford Escort 92>95 with rear disks excl. 4x4) - £19.99
• Half moon from the MK4 handbrake cable
• Escort MK4 rear disk conversion backing plates - Auto Specialists - £20
• 4x 9mm thick spacers to fit over caliper bolts - Made by a relative
• Brake fluid - Dot 4 or 5.1 - Local Motor Factors - £6
Note:
The banjo bolts supplied in the Goodridge rear braided hose sets are too long for XR4x4 callipers. They will need shortening by around 2mm.
Procedure:-
01) Remove wheel
02) Remove old drum
03) Remove centre nut
04) Remove Hub
05) Remove the brake shoes by turning the retaining washers 90 degrees
06) Remove the handbrake cable by removing the spring washer
07) Unbolt the brake hose from the backing plate
08) Remove the 4 backing plate retaining bolts and discard the backing plate
09) Bolt on the new caliper retaining backing plate torquing the bolts correctly
10) You will need to grind corners off the original bolts for the hub to fit back on correctly (see picture). Alternatively you can countersync the backing plates and use countersunk cap head bolts.
11) Replace the hub and centre nut
12) Remove the flexi and solid brake hoses from either side of the strut
13) Put the disc in place secured by some wheel bolts
14) Bolt new carriers into place, using the 9mm spacers between the backing plate and the carrier
15) Place the pads in the carrier
16) Screw the hose into the Caliper. I found with the goodridge "RST rear disk conversion" pipes I got from Burton Power that the banjo bolt was too long. This meant that fluid leaked from the joint as the bolt was bottoming out. I shortened it by about 2mm which did the job
17) Bolt the caliper to the carrier
18) Locate the hose in a suitable place and connect it to the solid pipes.
19) Replace the wheel ensuring the disk is perfectly fitted and all bolts are tight
20) Place the car on the floor and settle the suspension (RS Turbo's with ABS must!!!)
21) Bleed brake fluid through as per usual
22) Repeat on the other side
23) Remove the half moon from the new handbrake cable and replace it with the one from your MK4 cable.
24) Fit the handbrake cable to the calipers and then slacken it off to connect the half moon to the ramaining handbrake cable.
25) Tighten the cable with the plastic adjusters.
Now you're all thinking "Handbrake cable". The one I've found that fits is the First Line Parts FKB1340 which is for Ford Escort's made between '92 and '95 with rear disks excluding 4x4's. Don't forget to retain the half moon from the RST cable as the one on the new cable is too wide for the tunnel.
It took me 3 and a half days on the one side (gathering the right parts from the off will help!!!), but once I'd done it, the other side was easily under 2 Hours. So I'd say it'll take a competent DIY mechanic 4 hours odd to do all in correct parts permitting, and with the parts I bought will cost you around £200 - £250.
Also it seems you dont need to use solid disks and 2wd calipers. Sexr3i has used 4x4 Cosworth calipers and disks for his conversion.
Comments welcome as usual!
Lee
