As above ,would like to do one on my 1.6 st170 replica.

I know it don't make much difference to the braking ,just doing it for looks.Have been offered an st170 rear brake set up.Is it all a straight forward swap over.?

 

straightforward, if you dont mind extremely rusted, rotten bolts. hahahahahahah. but yeah, straight swop as I recall? you changing the whole beam?

 

Have been offered the whole beam but i think i can just unbolt the hubs and brackets and fit them to my beam.Do i need a st170 handbrake cable?

 

Yes you will need a handbrake cable, possibly new flexi brake lines too, not sure on this one tho...

 

Picked it all up today.


Has everything on,brake pipes,handbrake cable e.c.t.Hopefully a straight forward swap over.

 

should go straight on then! You will need to line it up properly as there is some adjustment in the rear beam fitting. Could be worth getting it booked in for wheel alignment after just to make sure its spot on

 

Not changing the beam.Just swaping the hubs e.c.t.

 

Should be alright then! The focus is a bitch for bolts seizing on the back, so have the wd40 and a big hammer ready

 

that looks mega clean. Normally a pile of rusty dust by now! hahahahahaha. I wouldn't be overly worried about alignment. You can true it all up and then the second you hit your first fag packet in the road it all goes to cock anyway! Those eccentric bolts aren't worth a w*nk! hahahahahahaha

 

you could just swap the hubs over you know and save you time and hassle as everything else is the same as the standard focus apart from the springs and hand brake cable

 

ignore that i just read the rest of the thread lol

 

Just a little update for anyone else doing this conversion.Had a good look at the brakes today and noticed abs sensors and plugs for the rear discs.Turns out the ST170,s and RS,s have ABS all round.



Had a quick look on my 1.6 ghia and noticed this plug near the rear wheels


I don,t know if it's just the ghias that have the same loom but it seams i just plug it in to the abs sensors on my st hubs and away i go.RESULT.

As above i,m not changing the whole beam.Just swapping hubs,flexy pipes and handbrake cable over.

 

Dont all ABS cars have a sensor at every wheel?

 

Rear drums don,t have abs,but mine has the ABS plug on the loom.
Only the front discs are wired to the ABS.
If i didn,t have the ABS plug on my 1.6 ghia ,i don't know what i would do.
Wouldn,t want the rear brakes locking up at speed.
I wonder if every focus has the plug at the back or is it just because mines a ghia?

 

My Zetec had the rear plugs and that was drums.

I doubt the ABS will work on yours without either re-programming the abs module or swapping it from a 2 wheel to a 4 wheel module if there is such a thing.
Your ABS wouldn't be looking for inputs at the rear wheels at the moment.

 

The tdci,s have 4 wheel abs so i,m hoping all modules are the same.
Seing as it has the rear plugs,i think they fit the modules and plugs as standard.

Really need to speak to someone who,s done a rear disc conversion on there focus.
ANYONE??????

 

Had a look at my mates focus 1.6 (53 plate) today.His has got drums on the rear but they have ABS sensors in them.I thought it was only discs that were controlled by ABS.

As someone said above ,don,t think the rear plugs in my loom are live.If they were then the ABS light would be on as the plug is disconnected.

Would it be safe for me to fit my rear discs but only have the ABS controlling the fronts????????????????????????????????????????????

 

were would the connector be on the 1.6 zetec had a look underneath but could not see were an abs plug would fit. Is the connector tooked away somewhere

 

As with lots of functions, just because the loom has redundant plugs doesn't mean that the rest of the hardware is there waiting to go.

Its extremely unlikely that you have any ABS pump/valve block in the engine bay, and no ABS system would be installed for only 2 wheels.

I've done several rear disc conversions on non-ABS equiped Focus with no problems on brake balance. You shouldn't have any problem if your swapping the stub axles/hubs. Its the suspension arm bush bolts that seize solid and have to be cut off if an air gun doesn't shift them.

Have fun

Martin

 

Just about doing a rear beam conversion an my TDCi 100 ghia and I was wondering how they have the plugs there and if the ABS would work after I fit the discs but as they said I don't think it has the abs pump ecc. it has really good breaks tough even with drums so it would be a bit better after I fit the discs. Just why the hell still make drums on cars these days!!!!

 

Lucky we (including Australia) are European.

The Mexican built Focus for the Americans, even with a 2.0l Zetec engine, just has drums at the back. Only SVT has rear discs. Also has a 3.6 FD, same as the diesel uses here.

Martin

 

Im looking to convert the rear brakes on my 1.6 Zetec Focus 2002 from hubs to discs. Next year I want to engine swop for a st170 but want to make sure everything is ready for the convertion first. What do I need for the rear brake convertion. And before anyone says why dont I just buy a ST170, I cant afford the insurance, depsite having a clean licence for the last four years! My 1.6 insurance is high enough.