Scimitar rear disc kit!

[Lucke]

Hi!

I'm working on my own Scimitar rear disc kit!
The discs is from Volvo S40 which is sharing the same bolt-pattern as Scimitar. Just had to drill the holes from 12.8mm to 13mm, no other modification required.

The calipers is VW/Audi cause they have inbuilt parkingbrake!

I will make a new bearing retain plate which will also be the mounting bracket for the caliper, seems to be very easy to fit..

I'm not sure if the original 14"-wheels will fit but that makes no sense anyway...

[kev_the_mole]

Respect and admiration!

Cheers,

Ian

[lozz]

Hi there, I'm Laurence, I'm new to the forum . I've owned a scimitar fr about 18 months now, and i'm loving it. I'd love to know more about the disc conversion, with the dimensions of that type of disc and caliper set up, does it mean that the bearing retainer/caliper mount can be made of a flat peice of metal? How is the conversion going now.

I've read about a brake bias valve that can reduce the pressue in a line by as much as 57%, do you think thats enough to mean i can run back discs with standard front brakes, while money is tight. Fronts to follow soon.

Oh and is it easy to get the (not sure whats its name is,) the big thing that the wheel bolts to, off to get to the back plate?

Thanks all, great forum going, very intersting reading.

[Lucke]

Hi there, I'm Laurence, I'm new to the forum . I've owned a scimitar fr about 18 months now, and i'm loving it.

Hi!! Good choice, I love Scimitars too! My first car was a GTE SE5 -69 so I have lots of good memories from this car!

I'd love to know more about the disc conversion, with the dimensions of that type of disc and caliper set up, does it mean that the bearing retainer/caliper mount can be made of a flat peice of metal? How is the conversion going now.

I haven't made the brackets yet, just a drawing. Since one week ago I have disassembled the halfshafts from the rear axle and I will bring one of them to my workplace today and press the hub off, then I will plot the drawing and mount a "paper bracket" just to see that the drawing is OK.
So maybe next week I will start to cut the brackets, either with laser or a saw.

Here is a draft to a bracket-drawing, may be modified after some testing:


I think, but I'm not 100% sure yet that a flat piece of 8mm metal will be OK. I recognixed that I can't test with just one halfshaft installed, the differential is floating so I got a big play with just one halfshaft in place.

I've read about a brake bias valve that can reduce the pressue in a line by as much as 57%, do you think thats enough to mean i can run back discs with standard front brakes, while money is tight. Fronts to follow soon.

Yes I think 57% is more than enough since the size of the S40 discs is nearly the same as the Scimitar front discs.

Oh and is it easy to get the (not sure whats its name is,) the big thing that the wheel bolts to, off to get to the back plate?

The hubs!
Can be tricky to disassemble..
This is how I made it:
Store the entire halfshaft in a cold place, this season is perfect since you can put it outdoors for an hour before placing it in a press, load with 5 tons on the shaft end, heat the hub with acetylene, press a little more.. BANG! Now they should separate!
An alternative to winter outdoor storage is to cool the hub with carbon oxide (fire extinguisher)..

Thanks all, great forum going, very intersting reading.

[lozz]

Many thanks, a very conprehensive reply. I think I need to do some reading on dismantling the axle, I thought taking the hub off was the easiest way of getting to the back plate, how embarressing!

I've got a spare scimitar at home i'll try and take taht apart.

keep us posted on the progress

cheers

[Lucke]

keep us posted on the progress
cheers

Today I pressed the second hub off from the halfshaft. I stored the entire shaft outside at a temperature of -3 degrees celsius for two hours, then I put it in the press and heated the hub quickly with the 1000L acetylene nozzle.
This time I had to press with 20-25 tons before the big bang...

Very safe construction! I believe that accidents caused by lost rear wheels is very rare for Scimitars!!

[lozz]

Right, I've taken my spare axle to bits now to see who its assembled, I understand now why the hub has to come off to get the drum brake back plae off, which means if i'm having someone rebuild my axle i should get the caliper mount made up first and let them have it.

Now then.... who know about LSD's, I'm very temped by a quaiffe, at'll be £700 but will it fit, I understand a jag LSD needs a little machining to fit in the scimitar axle, where does it need machining? and does anyone have experiance of quaiffe, I'd like to know if people think they're worth the extra cash??

Many thanks for the replies so far

[minorv8]

I have a Quaife ATB fitted into my Morris (TR7 rear axle). I like it and it has been very relaible and predictable.

[v8viva]

have replied elsewhere on here,but i have a scimitar axle in my V8 HB Viva.It has a jag powerlok diff fitted and has been 4 linked with panhard rod.
Rear brakes are sierra cosworth.
The man to speak to on these axles is john sharp at john sharp engineering.He has been fitting these to viva's and mk2 escorts for ages and knows them inside out