SilverSmith

The following instructions are a guide only based on my experience of fitting the Godspeed 335mm brake conversion kit. The installation is not very difficult if you have average mechanical abilities if you are not mechanically minded it is probably best to get them fitted by someone who knows what they are doing. Please use safe working practices at all times

Jack up the car and support on stands, remove the road wheels.


Place a polythene bag under the brake fluid reservoir cap and replace the cap, this will help reduce the amount of fluid lost out of the system. Clamp the front brake hoses (again to reduce the fluid loss), brush any loose dirt from around the hose banjo bolt then remove it. Support the hose or tie back out of the way. Don’t loose the Banjo bolt or any washers if fitted.


Remove the two bolts holding the caliper to the hub and remove the caliper by sliding off the disk, you may have to push the brake pads in slightly to get the caliper off (watch no fluid spurts out of the hose hole if you do this! Careful don’t let any brake fluid spill on the paintwork or it will really spoil your day Safely let any brake fluid drain out of the caliper body then put a plastic plug or similar in the hole to stop any dirt from getting in. Remove the disk; it may need a tap with a soft hammer to unstick it from the hub.




Remove the old pads and fittings. Push the pistons fully back into the caliper; note brake fluid will probably come out of the hose hole when you do this.


Clean the outside of the caliper with a wire brush then undo the four bolts holding the caliper together. Separate the caliper into half; avoid loosing the rubber seal inside the caliper halves. Avoid getting any dirt on the inner faces or inside the fluid channels.




Reassemble the caliper putting the alloy spacer between the caliper halves. The spacer has a rubber O-ring on one side that goes against the caliper half without the seal in it so you have (caliper / seal / spacer / seal / caliper).




You might like to take some time now to paint you caliper. I used smooth Hammerite, which looks good and seems to be standing up to the abuse well. It doesn’t like brake fluid though so be careful. Finish off by painting the SUBARU lettering in a contrasting colour either by using a steady hand or by painting a piece of wood (not too much paint) and using it as a stamp.


Tap a thread in the hub caliper mounting holes using an M14x2mm tap. Be careful to ensure the tap goes in straight and you keep backing off to clear any swarf from the threads, use a cutting fluid or oil to lubricate the work. Take your time! I bought a tap from a local engineering supply shop cost about £12. Taps usually come in three profiles a tapered one for starting off (first), an intermediate one (second) for cutting the thread and a final one for tapping right down to the bottom of blind holes. As the hole is open you can get away with just using the second tap on its own. If you haven’t got or can’t find the right tap drop me an email and I’m sure for a pint you can borrow mine.


Remove the bottom strut to hub bolt; this is needed to give you clearance to fit the bracket bolt. The strut bolt can be rather tight (to use that engineering expression!) so you may need a long lever on your socket or plenty of swearing.


Make sure the hub face and the inside of the alloy bell are really clean - then put the disk over the wheel studs and onto the hub. Secure in place using a couple of wheel bolts for now. The disks are handed so make sure they go on the correct side (they are marked o/s and n/s).


Loosely bolt the bracket to the caliper using the spacers provided then bolt the bracket to the hub. Torque up the bolts and ensure there is no metal-to-metal contact when the disk is rotated.


Fit the pads, you may wish to put a smear of Copperslip on the back of the pad to help prevent squealing. Once the pads are fitted line up the holes and insert the split pins provided, once fully hole open up the end of the split pin to secure.




Reconnect the brake hose and refit the bolt replacing the washers in the same order. I replaced my brake lines (front and rear) with Goodridge stainless braided hoses at this stage.


Remove the polythene from under the brake reservoir cap and the clamps on the hoses (if used), bleed the brakes starting with rear n/s, then rear o/s, then front n/s, then finally front o/s. Always use good quality fluid from an unopened container, never reuse fluid Ensure the pedal is firm, check for leaks. Replace your wheels and remove the stands. Stand back and admire!




Road test your car, use the brakes gently for the first couple of hundred miles to allow them to bed in. Then…. Give them hell !!!

Steve vRS

Just to add, a good blob of copper slip between the hub and the disc makes it easier to get the disk off again in the future. I also copper slipped the bolts. The spring on the back of the caliper may also foul your wheel if you have 17" wheels. I took these off and to date have had no problems!

Steve

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Brilliant instructions

Are you running 1144's? Have you had any squeal at low wheel speed/light braking pressure? I have this and no end of copper grease will address it. I have the 308 kit without shims, I suppose the next step is to get some..

Justin

AndrewC

Great instructions!

Rather that removing the bottom strut bolt, if you cut off the last 3 thread-turns from the cap head bolts they will clear the strut bolt and still come flush with the outside face of the mounting lug on the hub.

If that makes sense.

I have also heard that the pads can be a bit tight in the calipers due to excess paint (although mine were OK), so it is worth checking them before fitting the disks and calipers to the car.

Andrew...

Dyney

SilverSmith,
Exellent thread!!

You may wish to note when it comes to pad replacement, the pads are from a Jag XJS although you have to file 2/3mm off to elongate the holes. (Same pads are used in the DB7 I believe).
This is done for you by Godspeed or you can do it yourself and save some cash!!

AndrewC

Justin,

I have had no squeal whatsoever from the 1144s in the front, but I recently upgraded the rears to regain some brake balance and found that they squeal like bu99ery. However, they do help the car to 'sink' under heavy braking rather than nosedive

Before these were fitted the combination of heavy braking and a bump in the road caused me to ground the left front lashing eye one night, the resultant stream of sparks down the side of the car causing some consternation from my passenger and following cars

Andrew...

SilverSmith

The pads Ian sent me had not had the holes elongated by mistake but it was a simple matter of running a drill through the caliper holes to elongate then, or I suppose you could use a small round file.

I am running 1144's I did not put any copperslip on the backs of the pads when I first put them in so I could see what the effect was, I do get the occasional squeal when using the brakes lightly after thy have been running hot. It is not too bad at the moment. I do get rather a lot of brake dust though which needs cleaning off at least weekly

jim litten

Then a bit of smoke a week or two later hey Andrew



Jim

AndrewC

Shhh, that was our secret

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

That was actually better than a Haynes manual!
In the first picture to show the new disc in place with the caliper there seems an awful lot of disc not swept by the pads? Seems a shame not to take full advantage of the complete area offered by the bigger disc. Does the alternative caliper offered by Godspeed correct this?
JohnD

SilverSmith

JohnD, it is actually not as extreme as it looks in that photo, the pads are offset to the outer edge slightly and do overhang the outer edge of the disk by a few mm, I queried this with Ian (Godspeed) and he tells me this is normal with this kit.
This picture shows the pads installed, you can see the pads pretty much fill the gap between the caliper and inner (usable) edge of the disk.


This photo shows the pads overhanging the outer edge of the disk slightly.


They do work well

crusher

Hi,
I've recently fitted a set of 28mm thick discs which also need caliper spacers but there were no new bolts supplied for the calipers....are the discs in the 335 kit 28mm...with spacers being about 3.6mm....or are they different?

SilverSmith

Just been outside to measure, as far as I can tell in the dark the disks are 32mm thick and the spacers 6mm both approx. New bolts were supplied with the kit

crusher

Thats reasuring...as I wouldn't fancy the calipers coming apart!!...I guess the standard ones are long enough in my kit...thanks for the swift response!!!

SilverSmith

That sounds about right, I'm sure Ian will correct you if not

Flat_Steve

I have Godspeed's 325mm 4-pot kit fitted to my car and the Mintex M1144 pads squeal a lot on mine. Just seems to be a common thing with this pad! If you've got squeal the only way to reliably fix it is to switch to a different type of pad!

crusher

I fitted ds2500 pads to the kit I've got...very impressed with them...no squeals...but you stop!!!

chiark

Brilliant, just brilliant! Well done on the instructions mate

wrxrob

with ref to the squeeling if you rempve the pads clean with brake cleaner then get a flat file and shamfur off the sharpe edges and re copper slip this should cure your squeeling oh and is this the same set up with the bells as the 308 kit but bigger

tizard99

Quality Thread, I'll giv it a try as soon as my kit turns up, Thanks in adavnce to all concerned.

325mm Kit on its way asap.

T.