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Has anyone fitted rear disc brakes?


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Has anyone had any experience in fitting rear disc brakes to their TR6 (presumably with front upgrade too)?

This Goodparts kit seems interesting: https://www.goodparts.com/product/rear-disc-brake-conversion-kit-tr4a-irs-tr6/

Wilwood stuff is widely available in UK and I've used some of their stuff so it seems attractive to me.

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4 hours ago, Richard Pope said:

Has anyone had any experience in fitting rear disc brakes to their TR6 (presumably with front upgrade too)?

This Goodparts kit seems interesting: https://www.goodparts.com/product/rear-disc-brake-conversion-kit-tr4a-irs-tr6/

Wilwood stuff is widely available in UK and I've used some of their stuff so it seems attractive to me.

Richard,

There was a recent thread on this topic in the General Technical section - see link, also started by a Richard. I fitted them to my race TR6 several years ago and contributed to this thread. Have a read and if you have any more queries send me a PM.

David McD

 

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Thanks Dave. Not sure why I missed the other posts, however I did and thanks.

I too have been in contact with Richard at Goodparts but on a higher level. Basically their standard kit plus shipping plus import duty costs a lot so I asked if he would sell / ship just the non-Willwood stuff and source Willwood from UK. Yes is the answer but does not save a lot, it seems, as he modifies a few things. End result is it's all pretty expensive for 'just the looks' as for front and rear upgrades one is at £1,750 plus some pads and no doubt other bits. I'd save a few hundred not having to restore the old / existing brakes.

I'm still pondering it. Shame someone else has not sussed out her in the UK a similar kit.

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Have you had a look to see if AP offer anything here in the UK? Will I suspect be equally or more expensive!

Unless you are wanting them to look nice behind wire wheels then to be honest unless you are going on a track on a regular basis I'd suggest simply fitting better pads/discs and shoe material which will improve you brakes and resist fade a bit better and spend your money elsewhere.

Andy 

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I would ask whether rear disc brakes are necessary on a TR6?

The original brakes were very effective by the standards of the seventies. By modern standards, of course the TR lacks ABS but within that limitation it can still stop promptly, at least if well maintained.

So to answer my own question, unless the car has been modified to produce a lot more power and is driven on the track, there's shouldn't be a need for rear discs. For track use, fitting vented discs at the front might be a better way of significantly upgrading the braking system.

Tin hat at the ready!

Nigel

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1 hour ago, Richard Pope said:

Thanks Dave. Not sure why I missed the other posts, however I did and thanks.

I too have been in contact with Richard at Goodparts but on a higher level. Basically their standard kit plus shipping plus import duty costs a lot so I asked if he would sell / ship just the non-Willwood stuff and source Willwood from UK. Yes is the answer but does not save a lot, it seems, as he modifies a few things. End result is it's all pretty expensive for 'just the looks' as for front and rear upgrades one is at £1,750 plus some pads and no doubt other bits. I'd save a few hundred not having to restore the old / existing brakes.

I'm still pondering it. Shame someone else has not sussed out her in the UK a similar kit.

Richard,

The only really clever bit that Goodparts supply is the hub adaptor plate to carry the calipers. The calipers and pads are standard Wilwood available from Rally Design in the UK. The rotors are from a road car I believe but can't remember which. To be fair, having put the engineering time into designing and manufacturing the adaptor plate, I can understand why Richard Good is protective of his business opportunities.

I put them on my race car, 240 bhp and 890 kg, because I was changing rear drum linings virtually every race. I have Wilwood 4 pot calipers on the front with pads approx. 2.5 times bigger than the standard TR6 on 12" diameter vented discs and a brake bias bar to enable putting more brake onto the back axle. This was causing the rear drum linings to overheat and the lining surfaces were breaking up and crumbling, rather that wearing out.

Changing to the rear discs hasn't particularly improved the actual brake performance dramatically but a set of pads, which are actually quite small, lasted for over 3 seasons and allowed me to stop worrying that the rear brakes might fail one day.

So for the peace of mind I'm happy with the change. However, I would question whether they are of much benefit on a road car. I'm restoring my TR5 road car at the moment and will fit a front set of AP 4 pot calipers with vented discs, retain the standard master cylinder/servo and retain the rear drums. From previous experience with the race car when it wasn't developed to it's present level with quite a lot less power, I'm satisfied that will be fine on the road.

Another relatively cheap front brake upgrade if you don't want to spend on AP or Wilwood systems is to fit 3 pot calipers from a V8 Rover P6. They fit direct onto the TR6 caliper mounts, take a pad approx. 40% larger than standard TR6 pad on a disc 11.5" diameter instead of the TR6 10 15/16" diameter, so a significantly bigger swept area. I ran these with standard m/c & servo for several seasons with good results, both performance and costs and with standard rear drums just with a harder lining.

If you're still intent on rear discs see this link to another system using Nissan calipers and rotors and with a detailed drawing of the required adaptor plate. http://www.britishv8.org/Articles/TR6-Rear-Disc-Brakes.htm

Dave McD

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I have Toyota vented four pots at the front, GoodParts discs at the rear, GoodParts dual masters and carbon Kevlar pads all the way around.  Potenza RE-71R tires complete the mix.  The car stops very well. 

Edited by CK's TR6
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IIRC The rear disc conversion that Tony in Australia made up came from a Rover 800

Stuart.

Edited by stuart
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There is a problem where to put the calipers.

I have a nice set from Nissan where the disc bolts directly on the TR.

Unfortunately all my calipers I tried from Ebay move much too far to the inside

because they have a single piston and the handbrake facility inside.

 

On top it will interfear with the inner wing or the bump stop.

More forward it will hit the spring.

Only position is backwards where my car has telescopic dampers.

Underside will work but is ugly.

 

I will not follow the Goodparts solution with a separate handbrake caliper.

I will have a drum brake inside for handbrake and a little two piston caliper

on top. Right now I am looking for a caliper that fits.

 

The advantage is that the pedal travel and feeling of the brake will be better

and simply it is nice to have......

 

Braking must not be better because that would mean brake balance is out of order

and although rear brake might need a little bit more it might end up quickly with a nasty

overtaking of rear.... 

if done too much. So beware!

Edited by TriumphV8
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There is an alternative. Have your rear shoes fitted with a different lining such as VG95.

Certainly good enough for spirited road work, track days and the Nordschleiffe.

Jerry

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Guys guess it a balance between NEED and WANT if we always went with the former no supplier would ever sell an alloy rocker box cover :D

Richard if you WANT a rear brake conversion for your 6 take a look at http://www.wolfitt.com you will need to scroll to bottom of page. No connection to the company or personal experience of their products but I did find Jon's book 'a guide to racing your Triumph Spitfire or GT6' and interesting and informative read.  

Edited by Graham
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My comment wasn't that anyone shouldn't fit rear disc brakes to their TR^ but that the benefit for road use would be pretty much nil.

Unless, like Dave McDonald has pointed out you have a 240bhp race car running on stickly tyres with repeated baking from very high speed the benefit of discs over the existing drums isn't going to be felt in normal use. On a road car finned drums are more bling than a beneficial way of shedding heat and discs at the rear even more so. Thus onvering the car is just likely to be a cause of grief for subsequent owners who may struggle to find parts for the car when the rear pads need replacing or the caliper seizes and the supplier of the kit has long gone and the owner has to work out what the caliper was, the pads and discs were off....

All mods should be a balance between benefit and future problems. For me rear discs fail on the benefit category for the overwhelming majority of cars which get driven slowly.

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Never mind that, someone's nicked his engine!

Regards

Bill 

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For all those posts that say you do not really need them, I totally agree! It really is just the looks one is after and no doubt a talking point.

As for balancing front vs rear, there are several products available and in my other car one uses a balance bar mechanism. Local MOT garage can set the balance for you.

Richard Good is very helpful and says "Making the Wilwood front calipers fit requires some custom machining operations so you would not be able to purchase calipers that fit from Wilwood.  If you were thinking of the our kit that uses Wilwood rotors, the rotors could be sourced elsewhere but we make the mounting hats that are included with the kit. "

Shipping is around $225, by the way.

Thanks all for comments and I may let you know what I do.

Do I need them? Definately not but then ....!

 

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19 minutes ago, Richard Pope said:

For all those posts that say you do not really need them, I totally agree! It really is just the looks one is after and no doubt a talking point.

As for balancing front vs rear, there are several products available and in my other car one uses a balance bar mechanism. Local MOT garage can set the balance for you.

Richard Good is very helpful and says "Making the Wilwood front calipers fit requires some custom machining operations so you would not be able to purchase calipers that fit from Wilwood.  If you were thinking of the our kit that uses Wilwood rotors, the rotors could be sourced elsewhere but we make the mounting hats that are included with the kit. "

Shipping is around $225, by the way.

Thanks all for comments and I may let you know what I do.

Do I need them? Definately not but then ....!

 

Hi Richard,

Richard Good as you say is indeed very helpful, I've been buying parts from him for years & years now. Anyway, I had already bought the front Wilwood caliper kit from TR Shop (not yet fitted) and hankered after Goodparts rear disc kit to compliment the set-up but was put off by price. However by accident I found his rear disc kit being sold by SC Parts late last year at a more reasonable price without import duties etc, so I had to have it.

I contacted Goodparts and Richard advised that as my Wilwood front calipers utilised 1.38" pistons and the rear kit I bought also has 1.38" pistons then this would work well.

Oh, and before you ask why I went down this road...…...99% sucker for bling, 1% improved braking!

Regards,

Richard.

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Bling yes, driving style and your local roads also. Around where I live, there are lots of 6% plus grades with traffic going 70 mph plus, and lots of turns. You enter a steep downhill going 75 plus, good brakes going into the pretty tight corner are comforting.  And when some yahoo pulls out into your lane going 55, right in front of you, good non fading brakes are useful.

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Do they do it? Yes. Which is why 20 years ago I put Toyota vented four pots on the front.  That cured the fade issue.  I live in AZ, there is a lot of elevation change in short distances. And a lot of the state highways are separated dual carriage ways. But not controlled like limited access freeways. And the stated limit is 55 or 65 but people routinely drive at least 10 over. The limited access freeways are  posted 75 outside of town. So it wouldn’t be unusual to see people trucking along at 85-90.

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