Can you fit disc brakes to the rear of an S3?

[liamp_99]

Does any body know if it is possible to fit rear discs to an S3, surely all the brake parts are ford and some of the sierra and granada's had discs on the back?
Has anyone managed to do this? If so, is it a simple parts swap or does machining need to take place?

Any ideas?

[GreenV8S]

I believe Lee Bee has done this conversion and it involves new rear hubs. Worth giving him a call if you're serious, it sounds as if he has done the hard work of working out what is required and sourcing all the bits.

[mycroft]

The chap with the red and gold car at SCH3 had just had disc's put on the back of his car. All standard ford parts but involved a bit of fettling.I don`t have any contact numbers and I don`t think he posts on here but he does go to the Northants meets sometimes so you could ask him about it Pete.

[woody]

Wasn't there a guy who advertised kits for this in the back of sprint (can't think of the name at the mo..)??

I thought at one point Pies contacted him for details etc - could be wrong though....

Chris

[Stamp]

Don't take this the wrong way, but why would you want to. There is no weight on the back end, so breaking power isn't needed, shorly?

[foxy600]

Thought about doing this myself. Unless you race yours, is it really worth it??

[bobs4c]

My S4 had discs on the rear, as it had the same track/chassis as the v8s - Steve Heath's Bible might give you the details you need.

[ceejay73]

I looked into this a little. On the Sierra the caliper is mounted onto the hub/wheel bearing carrier which is in turn bolted to the trailing arm. I haven't got around to looking at the componants on the S yet but in theory if you get the disc, caliper and wheel bearing carrier from a donor disc braked Sierra and possibly the outer cv joint and stub axel (not sure if that bit is essential or not) it should all just bolt straight on as a direct replacement for the drum set-up. There could be an issue with the hand brake cable but I am sure it wouldnt be too difficult to get round.
I must admit that having thought about it, for normal road use I am not convinced there is any real benefit and also took into consideration that the handbrake usually seems to be more effective on drum braked cars than those with disc brakes.
So the question is, is it worth the time and effort to you? If the answer is yes, pop down ya local scrappy, pick up a few bits from a Sierra and give it a go .
Oh and don't forget to let us know how you get on .

Carl.

[liamp_99]

Thanks guys for all the info, I will add it to my list of things to do over the winter, I will definately let everyone know what happens.

[Shnozz]

Stamp said:

Don't take this the wrong way, but why would you want to. There is no weight on the back end, so breaking power isn't needed, shorly?

my view exactly. Upgrade the fronts...

[Psychobert]

Upgraded the fronts on my old S3C and never felt the need to do anything to the back. Spoke to Joolz before I did the work and his opinion was that for me, reasonably paced road use only and as a daily driver, no need to worry about the back.

Griff 500 fronts with braided hoses and decent fluid made a world of difference to the car. Was happy with that..