Guido the B-Movie Bus

[junglefacejake]

I wonder what the difference is that makes only later items fit? The brakes on the beam I had off you have what appears to be a 71 calliper on one side and 73> on the other. I will look out for one or the other so it has a matching pair

 

[davesmith84]

The beam you had from me has late bay brakes on both sides.

71/72 brakes are a different bolt size, the calipers them selves are smaller as are the discs and pads.

I put earlier in this thread that I had difficulty getting the late bay brakes to fit without fouling on the discs with the new Brazil king and link spindles. That's why they have some material around the bolt holes machined off.

I'm now doubting that what I've bought will all successfully fit together. I'm wondering if 71/72 front hubs are a different size to late hubs!?

 

[junglefacejake]

Mmmmmm? I definitely have two different callipers. One has the brake pipe exiting from the top and the other from the back (in towards the steering pin)
I will read back about your initial brake troubles. Let's hope you manage to sort your new brakes out.
I'm sure Graham L will be able to give you any advice needed as he is UK distributor for VA and fits late bay brake set ups to their stuff

 

[davesmith84]

Yeah I seem to remember they had different brake line inlets. They're both definitely late calipers mate as I bought them from Just Kampers as part of their 71/72 conversions kit. The kit has late bay calipers and these 'top hat' style bushes that that allow you to still use your M12 caliper bolts with the late bay M14 caliper holes (late bay calipers on 71/72 spindles). Come to think of it, with that kit, you still use the 71/72 discs. This would explain why I had trouble getting my calipers to fit with the discs on the Brazil late bay spindles. I think(?). It's all very confusing!

I've just bolted a late bay caliper to the French Slammer (Vintage Autohaus) spindle and it looks like it'll work although there's not much room for the disc in there. As long as 71/72 front wheel hubs are the same spec as late bays then I should be OK.

Graham... have you ever fitted these spindles to a 71/72 with late bay brakes?

 

[Graham L]

Hi Dave

Sorry not sure what the issue is you are having?

The top hat kit that converts a 71/72 to late brakes also changes how the caliper sits as the offset on the late bay discs is different to 71/72 ones.

We have fitted late bay brakes to a 72 with dropped spindles and it's still sat in my unit at the moment, it's running stock wheels, it's tight but dies fit. Is it a clearance issue you are having?

 

[davesmith84]

Sorry Graham, that's all probably very confusing for you!

You've answered my question in your last paragraph. I'll be running a stock 71/72 beam with adjusters, French slammer spindles and late bay calipers/discs. I've just bolted a caliper to one of the spindles and the gap for the disc looks very tight but it does look like it'll fit. The disk face just looks like it'll sit very close the face of the spindle. No way the backing plates are going back on! That's for sure!!!

Thanks mate.

 

[Graham L]

Hi Dave

You can't run the backing plate for the discs with the dropped spindles due to the casting and drop.

You either have to go all one way so if you fit late bay calipers, you need late bay discs to go with it, you can't use the 71/72 discs at all as the offset is wrong.

VA do make a welded 71/72 dropped spindle and it order to get clearance the calipers sit on the front of the upright rather than the back ( you flip the calipers from one side to another) but we've fitted a couple of sets of these and they work just as well.

You may also have to fit a slim nut on the bottom ball joint to make sure it clears the rim.

 

[davesmith84]

Yes I have late bay calipers and discs this time around.

That'll work with these new VA one piece dropped spindles, won't they?

 

[Graham L]

Yes that's what I've fitted to the 72 in the unit and I'm also fitting that set up to my 69 panel van to give it discs up front.

 

[davesmith84]

Awesome. Happy Dave.

Thanks dude.

 

[junglefacejake]

Phew! Got there in the end

 

[davesmith84]

Haha yup! Thanks lads.

Jake, if you have any issues with the beam and/or brakes give me a shout. I know it's all there and works well as I ran it for about 2/3 years. Lemme know if you hit any probs though.

 

[junglefacejake]

Nah, don't worry Dave. It's all on and working fine. I just noted the different callipers when I had to make new hard lines after notching and moving the flexi hose bracket

 

[davesmith84]

Ahhh I see. Great stuff.

Just fitted up one side to check everything and it all fits great. I'm really impressed with the quality of these dropped spindles.

 

[davesmith84]

Wow, 2014 was my last update! Definitely time for another!

We bought a new house which I renovated over 2-3 years and so Guido basically became a builders van for the duration!

However, now the renovation is basically done, it's time to clear out space in my garage and get him in there...

Ah, problem. So, merely 4 years after I raise back up onto a ball joint beam, I'm going to have to go back to a link pin beam to get him in the garage.

This isn't strictly true, I got him in there after I took the racks off. Also, I'm planning on changing the garage doors so they hinge out to the side giving maximum height clearance.

All this didn't stop me having a play with just how low can you go on a stock beam with adjusters and dropped spindles. This was the result:

Obviously I changed my tyres down to 165/55/R14 which is pretty much the diameter of the 165/50R15s that I ran on the Fuch when I had the KnL beam.

After a bit of playing (i.e. a whole weekend removing the beam to free up my adjusters!!!!) I finally ended up with this stance...

I also put the Horseshoes and Spax gas adjustable shocks back on the rear so get the back to a tad more. I didn't get a photo but I'm really happy with the finished stance. For now.

There's surprisingly still a good amount of movement in the ball joints but the main issue is how low the bottom of the beam is to the floor. I have Gabriel hijackers on the front so that will help when driving.

I will be returning to a KnL beam but I'm waiting on Transporterhaus's new splitty KnL forged dropped spindles that have late brake mounting holes. The only other is Brazilian flipped spindles but they're £1,000 a set now!

I've also had my long block rebuilt by Stef at Aircooled Engineering and I'm super happy with the results. Kid knows his stuff, that Nova is insane. I've banged on a pair of twin Dell 36s too cos Dellortos.

And, in other news, my mate Kirms managed to source some NOS Italian only side indicators for a super awesome price. So happy as I've been looking for a (sensible priced!) set of these for years.

 

[Grazy]

Good work there Dave

 

[davesmith84]

Cheers dude.

How's you panel these days?

 

[junglefacejake]

Looking good Dave. You have it considerably lower than when I last saw it on that beam

 

[davesmith84]

Ha sure is Jake! How's old Teafal doing? You built that house yet?

 

[junglefacejake]

Tefal or Herman as he is affectionately now known is patiently waiting for me to get the scaffold down so he can receive a clutch transplant