Got some questions on front brakes. The catalogs list both thru 1972 and post 1972 parts for rotors, pads, calipers and the ball joint. I assume the spindle forging is also different at the 72/73 change. Is this true?

Can later calipers be put on an early car and if so, what needs to be changed?

i have an early car, and found the brake calipers i want to use do not fit, they rub on the rotor. The calipers are from a1974 car.

What can be done with mix and match front brakes?


I also have some adjustable front shocks, can they be installed on my early spindle? (they are currently on a late spindle)

Are the adjustable front shocks a huge advantage over the non-adjustable?


thanks

Struts, Rotors, Calipers... all unique to your car. The offset is different. I don't know if anyone has the answer as to why they changed but, I'm taking a stab at VW parts being made and purchased in bulk. It was probably cheaper for them to retool and change the offset slightly and get a better price on the calipers if they bought a more common off the shelf variety. Both the early and the late calipers have VW cast in them so... that may not be the case. Just a WAG. DaveP probably has that answer.

You'll need to get some early front calipers for that one. The calipers you need will be distinguished by single bleeder and Ribe (star pattern) through bolts with 11mm nuts on the ends. Those are the early calipers.

There may be some type of BMW adaptation for the 70-72's but I'm not an expert on that stuff. I have a set of the 320i calipers that I just finished and I don't quite know what to do with them. I was going to post them on a Beemer board but... to lazy I guess.

The adjustable strut inserts will fit just fine. I'm assuming they're Koni's and they should make a very nice improvement.

This is just my two cents...for what that is worth...probably less than 2 cents...

But...

I ended up replacing the front strut/spindle, rotors . I ended up doing this because the connection between the strut and the ball joint on the earlier cars had a tendancy to oval out over time...The new style strut/spindle has a better locking mechanism for the ball joint...of course they are different ball joints too..

The calipers, oddly enough fit fine from the early car to the later strut tube...I checked it out, they are centered and perform fine...

It was a pain, but I would do it again in a second...the older version is dangerous IMHO.

Rich

QUOTE

The calipers, oddly enough fit fine from the early car to the later strut tube...I checked it out, they are centered and perform fine...

Boy... I REALLY don't want to get into a brazing vs. welding thing again but, that would be very odd indeed.

The offset is clearly different.

The change from 72 to 73 style was to allow thicker pads to be used. This made the calipers wider. For whatever reason they decided on a whole new setup. Then they also added the centering ring on the rotor, so there were three rotor styles. One almost never sees the mid style rotor which is a good thing in one respect since it closely resembles the early style but is not interchangeable with it.

It is far better to use all the components as a set without trying to mix and match. Even the brake lines are different.

These would bolt right on (extremely shameless plug for my classified ad)

Too late

So early calipers and rotors will work on the later struts?


thanks

QUOTE (dmenche914 @ Nov 13 2005, 05:31 PM)

So early calipers and rotors will work on the later struts?

I don't think so, and wouldn't try it, but I could be proven wrong.
The offsets should be all wrong.

I'm with Dave... I don't know but, I know the bearings are the same so... that could be the reason it worked with Rich. I know for a fact that a late rotor will not work with an early caliper.

Maybe someone will chime in here that has put an early rotor and caliper on late struts... (maybe someone already has... Rich?) all my cars have Koni 911 struts on them.

I have a set of late struts if you're looking (still tring to clean out the garage).