Disc brakes for Rosie

Excellent[8D]

bth_IMAG0017.jpg

Summer's Coming
 
Been searching for Super Snipe brakes but not much available[V] But I did find this very interesting forum thread:p

Exert from thread:-

"Wow, did I get lucky today!

I started out this morning, determined to find some brake calipers that could be used with the Super Snipe. I had a list of six self-serve wrecking yards (in three counties), my cardboard brake mounting template, and my tool kit.

As I arrived at the first one, in the upper San Fernando valley, I missed the turn for the entrance. While getting turned around, I found myself in front of U-Pull-It, with a sign advertising exclusively foreign car parts. It wasn't on my list, but what the heck, I'll try it first.

Even by wrecking yard standards, this was the low-rent district. Most of the cars had been pretty well picked over, with some now totally unrecognizable by make or model.

Since the disk rotors on the Super Snipe are 1/2", I could easily ignore any cars with the more-modern ventilated rotors. I had been alerted earlier to Toyota pickup trucks as being good candidates, so that's what I looked at first. Unfortunately, after removing calipers from two likely trucks, they simply did not fit my template.

Discouraged, I kept walking up and down the aisles, looking for 1/2" wide, 11" diameter rotors. Suddenly, there it was: just what I was looking for! A few measurements showed that it was a very close match. Because so much of the car had been removed, it took a bit of detective work to determine that it was (or had been) a Mercedes 240D.

Unfortunately, those German assembly line workers had torqued the bolts far beyond what my puny efforts could dislodge. I would have to bring a BIG breaker bar next time. In the meantime, I would keep looking.

A Mercedes 250 in the same row looked like a good possibility, but had the same problem, plus the calipers were fully equipped for an ABS system and much larger.

Then, there it was: a 1972 Mercedes 300 in what appeared to be excellent (for my purposes) condition. Amazingly, I was able to remove the bolts. I couldn't budge the hose fittings, but that's what a utility knife is for. smile

With bated breath, I held my template up to the calipers. It was a perfect fit!!!

As I was removing the second caliper, a guy who had seen me working on a Toyota wandered by and asked why I was taking parts off a Mercedes now? I explained the whole Super Snipe problem and showed him the template. He exclaimed, "Oh, you're an engineer!" smile

The price was exceptional: $13.74 each, plus tax, $2.00 entry fee, and "environmental charge", for a grand total of $32.63. You can't beat that with a stick.

After taking them home and cleaning them off, I took them out to the Super Snipe. I already knew that the caliper mounting holes were 1/2" and the Super Snipe bolt threads were 7/16", but sleeving a hole would be a minor problem.

To my great joy, the calipers were a perfect fit! The top of the brake pads just kissed the outer edge of the rotor. The rotor fit exactly in the middle of the calipers too. The final test was to see if the wheels would clear these fat calipers, and they did -- just barely.

The only remaining task is to make four thin sleeves to reduce the 1/2" holes to 7/16". Simple, when you own a lathe.

On my way home, I stopped at my friend Richard's house to drop off a book. I told him of my success, and he suggested that we check his stock of parts. Sure enough, he had a 4" long piece of steel tubing with an 1/2" OD, and just slightly under 7/16" ID! That, and a 7/16" reamer would solve the problem -- and he loaned me one!

All I will need to buy is some grade 8 bolts and new brake hoses. I'll probably also replace all the steel brake tubing since it has been open to the elements for the last 20 years. Rust city! The master cylinder will also need attention, but that will be an easy job compared to this. Oh, there's still the rear brakes, but that is probably just a slave cylinder rebuild.

I am confident that the front brakes will be sufficient to stop the Super Snipe. It weighs 3500 pounds, and the Mercedes is 4200. Considering German over-engineering, I think they will work well. Oh, and the pads are in almost-new condition! smile

I have had so much good luck today that I'm afraid of what Mr. Murphy has in store for me now. smile

Edit: Further research shows that the mounting hole diameter is 12mm, and that the mounting bolts for late-production TR6 calipers are exactly what I need: 12mm shank with 7/16" threads! Now the decision: spend $9.85 each for the bolts, or spend an hour or so making the sleeves?"

Full Story Here


bth_IMAG0017.jpg

Summer's Coming
 
What happened to the guy on here in Aus/NZ? who was making up disc brakes for his Commer?

BazRockscropped.jpg

I am not a person, I am a number, 395 actually......Be seeing you!
If I told you I was a pathological liar, would you believe me?
 
quote:
Originally posted by martin maltas

Interesting reading in the full article, although nothing definite. Could do with finding a set of new discs :)








I read the original thread of this car last night, he bought it to compete in Le'mon a 24 hour race for cars bought and built on a budget of a few hundred dollars - and the car completed the race with the Merc brakes:) There is a bit more info on this thread but not much, he just says he didn't bother with a servo and bought a slightly larger bore master cylinder at his local car place.


bth_IMAG0017.jpg

Summer's Coming
 
For future reference for anyone looking to do the Hawk/Snipe disc brake swap, I found some rotor specs in the Super Snipe workshop manual.

txt_zps6553a410-1.jpg


fig2_zps9091d710-1.jpg


I work that out to be a minimum rotor thickness of 11.78 mm. Looks like one of my rotors don't quite make the grade, bugger.
 
Ive made a disc setup with the super snipe unrights. Is uses Commodore calipers made by PBR in australia. They are a floating mount type. It uses Vectra discs that need the holes reamed to fit the Snipe hubs. I cannot remember if the disc hole or the hub needs to be turned to fit. i think it did but it was only a small amount.
The mounting pads on the upright needs machining flat so the bolt holes can be redrilled to suit the commodore calipers.
I was a CNC technician when i macde the setup so i had access to a good workshop. The machine work would be very easy to get done at any machine shop anywhere.
It also need a 5mm spacer to comfortably fit the standard steel wheel.
Ill put some pictures up, ive never driven the car but it should stop good.






Thanks
Brad
 
Last edited:
H
Ive made a disc setup with the super snipe unrights. Is uses Commodore calipers made by PBR in australia. They are a floating mount type. It uses Vectra discs that need the holes reamed to fit the Snipe hubs. I cannot remember if the disc hole or the hub needs to be turned to fit. i think it did but it was only a small amount.
The mounting pads on the upright needs machining flat so the bolt holes can be redrilled to suit the commodore calipers.
I was a CNC technician when i macde the setup so i had access to a good workshop. The machine work would be very easy to get done at any machine shop anywhere.
It also need a 5mm spacer to comfortably fit the standard steel wheel.
Ill put some pictures up, ive never driven the car but it should stop good.






Thanks
Brad
Hi Brad, are the discs Vauxhall Vctra? I wonder if that is the same model we have over here.
 
Interesting reading this as discs brakes are something I would like to do at some point. If merc ones do fit they gotta be pretty easy to get hold of.
 
You still need the Snipe uprights and discs to fit them though, that's the hard bit :(
 
I will start this summer with the disc set up ,mine are from a 1969 chevy Camaro ,vented discs and as far as I can tell they will work
with using the chevy hubs on the commer spindles ,but i'm not sure if I will use the calipers from the chevy ,because they are old and stuck ....and replacement /aftermarket sets are quite cheap in the US
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-1969-77-GM-Midsize-Caliper,1967.html

or I might even end up buying these ...so I can make a "stoppie" with both rears coming loose when I brake hard ..hahhaaaaa
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Wilwo...Caliper-Kit-2-In-Piston-104-Rotor,101359.html

the advantage of the wildwood is that they are light and perfom 4 x better than the org. ones
I have been using wildwood on most of my previous hot rod builds ,and I couldn't been more satisfied ;)
 
Been searching for Super Snipe brakes but not much available[V] But I did find this very interesting forum thread:p

Exert from thread:-

"Wow, did I get lucky today!

I started out this morning, determined to find some brake calipers that could be used with the Super Snipe. I had a list of six self-serve wrecking yards (in three counties), my cardboard brake mounting template, and my tool kit.

As I arrived at the first one, in the upper San Fernando valley, I missed the turn for the entrance. While getting turned around, I found myself in front of U-Pull-It, with a sign advertising exclusively foreign car parts. It wasn't on my list, but what the heck, I'll try it first.

Even by wrecking yard standards, this was the low-rent district. Most of the cars had been pretty well picked over, with some now totally unrecognizable by make or model.

Since the disk rotors on the Super Snipe are 1/2", I could easily ignore any cars with the more-modern ventilated rotors. I had been alerted earlier to Toyota pickup trucks as being good candidates, so that's what I looked at first. Unfortunately, after removing calipers from two likely trucks, they simply did not fit my template.

Discouraged, I kept walking up and down the aisles, looking for 1/2" wide, 11" diameter rotors. Suddenly, there it was: just what I was looking for! A few measurements showed that it was a very close match. Because so much of the car had been removed, it took a bit of detective work to determine that it was (or had been) a Mercedes 240D.

Unfortunately, those German assembly line workers had torqued the bolts far beyond what my puny efforts could dislodge. I would have to bring a BIG breaker bar next time. In the meantime, I would keep looking.

A Mercedes 250 in the same row looked like a good possibility, but had the same problem, plus the calipers were fully equipped for an ABS system and much larger.

Then, there it was: a 1972 Mercedes 300 in what appeared to be excellent (for my purposes) condition. Amazingly, I was able to remove the bolts. I couldn't budge the hose fittings, but that's what a utility knife is for. smile

With bated breath, I held my template up to the calipers. It was a perfect fit!!!

As I was removing the second caliper, a guy who had seen me working on a Toyota wandered by and asked why I was taking parts off a Mercedes now? I explained the whole Super Snipe problem and showed him the template. He exclaimed, "Oh, you're an engineer!" smile

The price was exceptional: $13.74 each, plus tax, $2.00 entry fee, and "environmental charge", for a grand total of $32.63. You can't beat that with a stick.

After taking them home and cleaning them off, I took them out to the Super Snipe. I already knew that the caliper mounting holes were 1/2" and the Super Snipe bolt threads were 7/16", but sleeving a hole would be a minor problem.

To my great joy, the calipers were a perfect fit! The top of the brake pads just kissed the outer edge of the rotor. The rotor fit exactly in the middle of the calipers too. The final test was to see if the wheels would clear these fat calipers, and they did -- just barely.

The only remaining task is to make four thin sleeves to reduce the 1/2" holes to 7/16". Simple, when you own a lathe.

On my way home, I stopped at my friend Richard's house to drop off a book. I told him of my success, and he suggested that we check his stock of parts. Sure enough, he had a 4" long piece of steel tubing with an 1/2" OD, and just slightly under 7/16" ID! That, and a 7/16" reamer would solve the problem -- and he loaned me one!

All I will need to buy is some grade 8 bolts and new brake hoses. I'll probably also replace all the steel brake tubing since it has been open to the elements for the last 20 years. Rust city! The master cylinder will also need attention, but that will be an easy job compared to this. Oh, there's still the rear brakes, but that is probably just a slave cylinder rebuild.

I am confident that the front brakes will be sufficient to stop the Super Snipe. It weighs 3500 pounds, and the Mercedes is 4200. Considering German over-engineering, I think they will work well. Oh, and the pads are in almost-new condition! smile

I have had so much good luck today that I'm afraid of what Mr. Murphy has in store for me now. smile

Edit: Further research shows that the mounting hole diameter is 12mm, and that the mounting bolts for late-production TR6 calipers are exactly what I need: 12mm shank with 7/16" threads! Now the decision: spend $9.85 each for the bolts, or spend an hour or so making the sleeves?"

Full Story Here


bth_IMAG0017.jpg

Summer's Coming
Having sourced some super snipe hubs and uprights, I am on the hunt for callipers, these below are from the 300 merc
 

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Having sourced some super snipe hubs and uprights, I am on the hunt for callipers, these below are from the 300 merc
On my Supersnipe I fitted a pair of Mercedes 230 calipiers from a 1984 model which I had broken up many years ago. I kept most bits in one of my piles labled "will come in handy one day" and they did. Everything lined up perfect but I had to fit collars on the fixing bolts as the holes on the Mercedes ones were sligtly larger.
 
On my Supersnipe I fitted a pair of Mercedes 230 calipiers from a 1984 model which I had broken up many years ago. I kept most bits in one of my piles labled "will come in handy one day" and they did. Everything lined up perfect but I had to fit collars on the fixing bolts as the holes on the Mercedes ones were sligtly larger.
The ones in the picture from eBay fit these merc models
 

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