Topic

Haha.

I successfully made up the brackets for the spot handbrake calliper. Fitted them and attached the callipers.

Next job was to have a look at the handbrake cable routing and see how to get them to the front of the disc rather than the rear.I found that the cables come around the engine on the nearside and are fixed to the rear firewall with small bolts before exiting at the rear of the hubs.

I undid the fixings and it was a relatively easy job to reroute the cables to meet up with the spot callipers. The L-shaped fixing brackets from the original setup can be attached to the spot callipers with a little adaption.

So I fixed the cables and adjusted them at the other end. Tested them and I have a handbrake again.

So just refit the rear wheels and the job's complete...
EXCEPT...
that the levers on the spot callipers foul on the inner surface of the wheel!

I did a real Victor Meldrew!

Levers are now with a local engineering firm to reduce by 10mm. Doh!

All of the mechanism protruding beyond the spot calliper body catches on the 16" wheel inner surface. I presume this will be the same on all 16" wheel varieties.

Well. Finally the mechanism on the spot callipers has been reduced until the wheel will fit over this setup.

Superb David-Well Done!

Having a VVC with 15" wheels I have been looking at this system, designed to fit under MX-5 13" wheels.
Flyin Miate Big Brakes
I printed out their online templates and it looks good for my 15" square spokes. I'm not sure if their 11" rotors will
work with the MGF hub or if it would be necessary to use the MGF Mania rotors. Other than that is should just be a matter
of fabricating mounting brackets.
If I decide to go down this route it will be a couple of years from now but it does seem workable.

This:-

I think you might have the same issue I did, Rich.

The handbrake mechanism protrudes quite a way.






Good luck with it though!

Using their template it does look like there is enough clearance with the 15" wheels I am amazed that they are made to fit under the MX5 13" wheels though. The clearance at the rear looks better than the front where a 5mm spacer may be needed, but it does look promising.
The problem we have here in Canada at the moment is our dollar is in the toilet. It used to be worth $1.10 to the US dollar and is currently worth $.75. With the pound it used to be $1.65 to the pound and is now $2.01 Of course you have to add shipping and customs duties to this so importing parts is very expensive right now. This has put most big projects on hold for the indefinate future. (Other than the alloy hardtop that is currently in transit from the UK! )

Ok.
Time for an update on this project.

The rear AP brakes have remained attached to the hubs and are incredibly efficient. I've adjusted the bias valve to give around 20% less pressure to the rears. This has proved to give a beautifully balanced set up. i.e. The car has not leapt into a ditch, and overall the braking feels superb!

The supplementary handbrake callipers, although very troublesome to fit, have proved to be effective. Probably better than the original handbrake! (Even when the originals were in perfect working order).

A further update.

I have adjusted the rear pressure to 70% to give safe braking in wet conditions.
In the dry, more was possible, but tending to lock the rears in the rain. Having said that, so much speed had been braked off before rear lock up started that it was manageable.

The handbrake callipers have taken a little time to fine tune, and will require manual adjustment as the pads wear.
The bracket for the calliper is constructed of stainless angle iron and is fixed to the hub at the same place as the anti rollbar bracket , with appropriately longer bolts.

Apart from that I am totally happy with the set up now. It is a huge improvement on the original 240mm setup and on the 304mm front only set up.

Obviously, this is not something to be attempted unless you are very confident of your abilities. All the usual warnings apply and insurance addressed.

Why not simply fit 280mm rears, using the existing calipers? http://mgfmania.com/the-history-of-mgf-mania/

Would it be possible to get a photo of the bracket and the modification to the handbrake lever (the latter to show the machine shop what needs to be done).
Thanks

I will see what I can do next time I have a rear wheel off.

Fits on here.