1.6 Gti Drum To Disc Conversion

[GTIAndy 0]

Hi I am going to be fitting a 1.9 disc braked rear beam to my 1.6 that currently has drum brakes. I was thinking this would be a good opportunity to upgrade the rears to discs rather than swap the drums over. I guess it's a no brainer really but is the all disc set up considerably better and can anybody foresee any problems in doing this, i.e master cylinder size or some thing else that I may have overlooked?

 

Thanks

[jord294 89]

stick with the drum brakes!

 

much more efficient when working correctly

[Cameron 16]

Drums have a better handbrake, but that's it. Discs are more efficient as they lose heat quicker, plus you have a much wider choice of pad upgrades.

[andyjstone 6]

No, there aren't any real issues.

 

Lot of people on here say don't bother, but personally I prefer the rear disc brakes - I've had no problems with them not working properly or with the handbrake and they are easier to maintain.

[RossD 44]

This is exactly why I'm changing from drums to discs - Whatever I do I cannot get the damned drums to work properly, so I'm swapping to discs!

You'll need the 1.9 stub axles, new handbrake cables, caliper brackets, calipers etc, along with 1.9 rear hubs. It does soon all add up.

[Cameron 16]

Not to mention the nightmare of trying to remove drums that have a lip on them! AAAARGHHHH!!

[Ryan 99]

It's pretty much a straight swap. The 1.6 master cylinder is the same size so that's fine, and the 1.6 rear compensator is also fine for rear discs.

 

All you really need to do is make up some new hard brake lines to go along the rear arms.

Edited June 20, 2010 by Ryan

[GTIAndy 0]

Thanks for the advice discs it will be

[Baz 421]

As said in decent order drums are very good, certainly in my experience on GTi's, and much less so for discs! And handbrakes actually work with drums!

 

Rear brakes don't do an awful lot anyway, so not really a massive need for uprated shoes/pads other than decent OE ones.

 

Lipped drums from a lack of maintenance, the same way you'll get issues with other things from a lack of maintenance...

 

 

It really depends what you use the car for to a degree IMO. The only downside to drums is the slightly less easiness of servicing, otherwise i love them!

[andyjstone 6]

As said in decent order drums are very good, certainly in my experience on GTi's, and much less so for discs! And handbrakes actually work with drums!

 

Rear brakes don't do an awful lot anyway, so not really a massive need for uprated shoes/pads other than decent OE ones.

 

Lipped drums from a lack of maintenance, the same way you'll get issues with other things from a lack of maintenance...

 

 

It really depends what you use the car for to a degree IMO. The only downside to drums is the slightly less easiness of servicing, otherwise i love them!

 

Agreed, but you also missed out that disc brakes dissipate heat better (so are generally better for track use, although as you point out the rear brakes don't do that much anyway, but better they do it well) and work better in the wet.

[Baz 421]

I missed both out because i don't see the point in worth mentioning either.

 

Wet worries are from yesteryear when cars were completely drum braked and weren't as good or as well contained as they are these days, friction is friction, wet or dry, despite the fact that it'd be pretty difficult to dampen the friction material/shoes anyway, even in the case of driving through a ford etc, you'd have to immerse the whole drum in water for a prolonged period for it to fill up... etc etc, you get the jist!

 

Heat point is negligible IMO as there's so little at the rear anyway.

 

Another Pro is the fact that there's ALOT more friction surface area of drum shoes than disc pads, hence more brake effort and efficiency.

 

And a Con to discs, certainly on 205's anyway, is that they have a habit of losing their retaining pins and spitting pad(s) out...

 

I've certainly never had any issues with drums across many different and harsh uses, and it's probably safe to say i'm fairly hard on them!

Edited June 20, 2010 by Baz

[GTIAndy 0]

Hi basically I have arranged to buy a complete 1.9 rear beam from MrG http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?s...378&hl=beam

and thought it maybe easiest just to do a complete swap. I can then overhaul my original beam and revert back to drums (for originality) if I want.

[P_Monty 2]

Just to add to what Baz said, I have no end of problems with my rear disks. I'm a relatively low mileage user and every year one or other of the rear calipers needs stripping to get it through the MoT.

[MrG 3]

Andy, it certainly makes sense. Its all there and should be an relatively easy install.