Rear Brake Interference

[cnutting]

OK.... Here is my next opportunity to excel...
Finally got my tires mounted and balanced and went to do a quick clearance check and looks like I have a bit of interference:



I have the 15" Halibrand (not pin drive)
FFR supplied rear axle
FFR supplied rear brake kit

I installed the brakes according to the instructions:



Any thoughts? Is the FFR brake kit compatible with the 15" wheels? Did I screw up somewhere else?

Things have been going really smoothly in the build lately which is the first sign of impending doom in my garage....

Chris

[Erik W. Treves]

looks like you have the big brake rear setup...are those the 11.65 rear rotors? I used the smaller 10.6 for my 15's

[cnutting]

Yes, they are the 11.65. This was the only option that I saw when I ordered my kit, nothing about a smaller option. Shouldn't this have been flagged during order review if there was a compatibility issue?

More importantly, what do I do now?

[Erik W. Treves]

you need to call FFR and get the smaller brake disks and brackets. you are sure you have the right back space? are you running pin drive or normal bolt up? FFR wheels?

[Gumball]

I have the 11.65 brakes on my Mk3.1 with the FFR-supplied 15" Halibrand (non-pin drive) wheels and there is no interference.

I agree - call FFR and talk through it with them.

This is the passenger side brake - the caliper is relocated to the front using the off-set brackets from Forte's. Most likely, the reason for your issue is not using those brackets.

[cnutting]

I will give them a call tomorrow. Thanks for the picture Chris, at least it's been done. A bracket swap is a much easier solution. I did use the brackets they gave me which orient the calipers to the front, they look different than yours though. Maybe a design change? Not off by a whole lot.

Mike is building my engine and he's a short drive away so if need be I can check with him as well.

Back to riveting aluminum, or... Off to the beach instead....

Chris

[CraigS]

The caliper is fitting as tight on the rotor OD as possible, so you can't just change to a different bracket.

[cnutting]

We have resolution. I ended up taking a picture of the rotor part number and it seems I received a second set of front rotors instead of the rear rotors. I was skeptical that this would solve it, so when the new rotors showed up today I switched one over. Apparently there is a big difference in spacing, this was obvious as the new rotor was no longer centered in the caliper. I carefully bolted on one wheel and I now have about 1/4" clearance. I'll put another shim in this weekend to center the caliper and this will give more clearance. I'll post some pics once I get everything settled.

[CraigS]

Cool. Thanks for the followup.

[cnutting]

The picture is a bit deceiving but there is clearance all the way around. Closest point is the banjo bolt to rim. The bleeder screw boss is below the level of the rim.



All happy now....

[Gumball]

Looks great - I'm partial to the 15's on these cars.