Hi guys,
I have 200b struts and discs, but i feel the calipers are letting me down. Can Commodore calipers actually fit or not? Also what of the caliper travel - ie commodore calipers were designed to clamp onto a thicker vented disc so perhaps the pads might pop out?
I have been told that only 180 b struts will fit commodore calipers without mods.

I have compiled some messages below on front brake upgrades from the old club for anyone interested also.

Justin

messages in no order!

You have gone to a lot of trouble with your choice of brakes, diff and suspension..... lets see if Ive got this right - shortened 180B struts, Mangna verada disks redrilled for 4 stud, commodore calipers, R30 hubs, and a shortened VL diff (presumably LSD considering the engine setup).

I can get sports pads (Commodore) for 1/3 the price of the R31/32/33 pads.

I had R30 hubs, but changed them in the last few months to 260Z, to allow for a more standard wheel fitment.

I also like to ensure that there's no welding involved for the caliper mounts, and this was a popular conversion before all the skyline stuff started appearing with affordable pricetags.

The Verada calipers mount to the hub on the inside surface. So it's not a 5->4 stud conversion, but the mounting holes in the rotor are in different places.

Also you might be
interested that, the big disc conversions for 1200s have
gotten cheaper with the undrilled Mitsubishi Verada
discs being available on the reproduction market for
AUS$85 (used to be $170) each. It helps if you already
have the stanza lower arms etc.

There are
pictures of this conversion on my website.

Chris.



Davo & Chris-The "S" type DBA rototors are slotted,
as opposed to the "X" type rotors which are drilled
and slotted(and have a tendancy to crack when worked
hard). Chris, what suspension components do you run and
how have you gone about getting the rubber to fit
under the guards?(Flared?) Davo, I believe that the
200B has the same hub? so you could modify the verada
rotor to fit. Your problem will be the caliper. If the
hilux caliper works with 10" rotors, I doubt it would
work with 11" rotors while mouted on the strut in the
same spot. It would probably need to be moved out 1/2"
to accomodate the increased radius.

The comodore calipers will bolt to the 180B struts, but won't fit on the
girlock stanza stuts as the bolt holes on the strut are a
little out. Incidentally the 11" rotor with VS commodore
calipers will just fit (5mm clearance) within the 14"
aloys I have. I don't know if they will fit within all
14" alloy wheels though.

Even bigger nissan struts (200B/Skyline) need
serious work to fit - I've got skyline brakes waiting to
go one when the motor is rebuilt and I've had to
shave bits off to fit under 13" wheels, but the coil
springs need to be swapped with smaller coils, and thus
need to have major mods to fit. You can't just bolt
the stub axles on cos the shafts and bearing sizes
are different. This make it all much harder than on a
1600....

Volvo 4 piston calipers go very close to fitting
without mods (weld up one bolthole and then retap the
bolthole on the strut). Hilux 4 pistons are supposed to go
straight on. Ive heard of plenty of people who've used
commodore calipers (and some used commodore discs).
Apparently old CL/CM Chrysler vented discs can be swapped on
the original struts just by changing bearings.


Try also Mitsubishi scorpions/sigmas...


Scott,

I'm running Verada Discs.. with
Commodore Calipers.. why you may ask.. spare parts
availability is my answer. Commodores provide probably the
cheapest parts in Australia. My 1200 brakes work better
than my 4wheel disc ABS N15 Pulsar.
I'd like to be
running 4 spot calipers for the brag value..but I don't
see that they will make that much difference.

If you get the stanza struts with the Girlock brakes on them you can go
commodore calipers and put 200B discs on which are bigger than stanza ones

I use 180B struts with 1200 springs/cups,
Mitsubishi discs and commodore calipers.
I originally
used modified 200B struts/brakes on the stanza lower
arms.

Chris.

Best Booster to Use comes from a Mitsubishi
Lancer KA KB I think. About 1975-1977.
It's the same
unit as the 180B Booster, but it has the 2 mounting
holes (as opposed to Datsuns 4 holes) to the firewall,
as required by the 1200

Here's some more specs re the brake
setup.

The discs are 10" vents from an '85 Magna and have
been redrilled to bolt onto the 200B strut.

The
calipers on a Hilux are 4 spot, cast iron and weigh a
tonne, but bolt straight up to the 200B strut.
Apparently there are two types of Hilux calipers. The first
with pistons all the smae size, the other with
different diameter pistons. Don't use the
latter.

Standard Bluebird /Stanza / Commodore / 200B Calipers on
10" solids are also a good combination. Use the
Girling / Girlock type calipers as opposed to the caliper
which looks like the standard 1200. They have a full
alloy casing and much larger swept area on the pads.
The mountings on the strut for the calipers are also
different, so best to buy as a unit. The struts (1600, 180B,
200B, Stanza) come in two sizes. I used Stanza struts
(longer) in my old coupe and had to cut the springs down
quite a lot to get a decent ride height, which was a
big compromise in comfort. Made a huge differnece in
the braking dept. though.

The springs in mine
are Pedders lowered variable rate sitting on top of
the 1200 seats which were welded onto the 200B strut.
Shocks are Koni Reds which have been set to
medium.

The lower control arm is a hybrid 1200/200B as the
ball joints on the 1200 are slightly smaller and don't
mesh up to the 200B strut. Early 1600 control arms do
the job, but are as rare as.

The master
cylinder was originally a 3/4" but after the pedal went
right to the floor and locked up the backs, we opted
for a 15/16" out of a 280ZX. This, along with a fixed
bias valve, has resolved most of the problem. The
brake booster's a 120Y jobbie and the pads are standard
items. The only mods to the rear brakes are 240K wheel
cylinders which have larger piston diameter over
standard.

With a 20mm Pedders swaybar, all bushings are
Nolathane with the exception of the lower inners which are
rubber. The castor is currently set at 0, so some
adjustable rods are next on the hit list. I plan to dial in
3 degrees positive which will make a world of
difference to turn in and stablity. The down side is having
to trim the front guards for clearance and slightly
heavier steering.

Personally, I use 200B discs with GM Holden Commodore
callipers from the V8 model

I have Datsun 200B (610) solid discs on the front
of my 1200.
I use Australian GM Commodore (Opel
Senator in USA?) callipers.

My suggestion would be to us
the 180B struts with stanza spring platforms welded
on. Essentially this creates a "Drop Spindle Effect"
ie the car can be made to sit lower (approx 1")
whilst still retaining the same higher suspension
geometry. This is a good thing as far as handling goes. The
only problem you may have is wheel track. I have not
calculated exactly how far it broadens the track, but would
imagine that it is atleast 40mm. If you can run flares
and don't want road rego, this will present no
problem.

180Bs had two strut types in australia. If you get the
ones with the outer bearing cone marked LM11949 you
can then redrill verada 11" vented disks(1993 On V6
DBA425) to bolt to the back of the 180B hub. (Get a
machinist to do it! cost me $40) Then you can add commodore
PBR calipers. They are the finned calipers form vp
series 2 upto VS commodores. Hope this helps
Good
Luck.
Incidentally I found DPA slotted rotors
DBA425-S were cheaper than 2nd hand ones up here $110 each
new and slotted (Sweeeeet!)

I think you'll find that the -S ones have the ABS
holes in them. And yeah, for some reason they are
cheaper. I run these brakes on my 1200 sedan, they work
great. Although be prepared to get a bigger front brake
fluid reservoir, mine runs low much
faster.



i went for 200b
front struts - some go for stanza struts, some go for
sunny struts i think...it depends - do u want to put
bigger (than datsun) rotors on? i think from 200b
struts, u can then go to commodore rotors, and to hilux
calipers.

I use
200B solid rotors with Commodore calipers.
Yours is
probably better if correctly setup.
Mine stops
beautifully in the wet.

Simon. I am also building my 1200 up. And a
possible circuit racer. I have Stanza struts (1980) which
allow Toyota Hilux 2 spot calipers to bolt up. I am
actually in the process right now on getting these struts
and brakes all setup and ready to go. I am still
stuck on the actual disc tho. I have a few in mind that
*may* be able to sit onto the stanza stub axle. They
are all 10" vented disc's - Nomad, Gazelle and
Vanette.

This setup should be good as it will also
give a bit more negative camber. That is because i
have to use stanza lower control arms.

Paul,
You suggested 11" vented verada disc's. Now you have
my attention! The 180b, 200b and stanza's all have
the same stub axles right? Therefore these disc's may
fit with the required machining???????? 10" would be
good but 11" would be better. But then again, would
the Hilux calipers fit with the 11" disc's?? Any help
on your setup would be excelent.
Cheers

Scott
Davo

Running 200B struts with 1200 spring seats and 10" vents
with Hilux 4 spot calipers up front. Had to run 15's.

end

Try gh sigma calipers they could be a cheaper option they run a 1085 pad wich is the same as a commodore & i think there is 1mm differance from a 200b disc so it could do the job thats just a sugestion