Rear drum to disc conversion- Focus Mk1/1.5

This is my How to that I posted on ths FFOC. It is quite specific in some things about the Focus but I am sure it can at least help and give someone on here a slight idea of where to start. If anyone has any questions then please feel free to ask and I will help as best as I can.

I will not be responsible for any damage, loss or accident of any kind from following this procedure. You do so at your own risk.

Following on from my successful attempt I have made this how to so others can see exactly what needs doing. Hope it helps people and feel free to add any ideas that can make parts easier if you wish and I will edit it. This was done on my 2002 Focus Zetec. I wouldn't have thought it would be much different on any other car so please make sure you research you actual car prior to doing this to make sure the main parts are similar. e.g. see the note below as the ST170 rear disc setup is a bit different to a normal one.

Parts used:

Stub axles/hubs from a 1.8 or 2.0 (Mine came from a V reg 2.0 Zetec)
Calipers
Caliper Carriers
Brake discs
Brake pads
Handbrake cable.
Brake fluid for bleeding

I sourced the rear axle from the car in a scrap yard. Cost me £40 for the lot. I bought the discs, pads, handbrake cable and fluid from Euro Car Parts. The cable is one unit, it splits to both sides so you don't order 2.

Note: If you are going for a ST170 setup then you will need the parts from one of those but the method is the same. You will also need 2 x 440mm Brake hoses for them. Your standard one's are good enough for this.

Just to add. I haven't got ABS so didn't need to get any sensors or the like but if you have you might need something like that as well as making sure the hubs are from an ABS model.

First of all I sought to take the parts I needed from the rear I had sourced:



To do this I had to remove the old handbrake cable and hose from the caliper, take off the old ABS sensor, then undo the bolts holding the stub axle/hub.



Till I had this left:



I then set about the car. I had access to a 4 post lift so it was easier access. The handbrake cable was the hardest bit to do as you will find out, lol.

Firstly I slackened off the handbrake cable at the lever. The nut was on the passenger side of the lever as shown in the picture:



Once this was off I went to the back of the car and removed the wheels to get access to the rear drums:



I used my Haynes manual to look at removing the handbrake cable. It says to separate the cable at the point shown in the picture by pushing them together to free them:



This proved easier said than done. As I was on a time limit and had to finish that night, I used other methods after about 10 minutes of trying as I was lacking any WD40 or the like to help. I took a gamble that my calipers were ok and I did this :



Once it is freed, however you do it, undo the little screw to the left of the cable and remove the cable through the gap where it comes from, this needs doing on both sides:



The next thing I did was to remove the rest of the cable. To do this you have to remove the exhaust heatshield from under the car. Just follow the cable back and you will see you have to remove the rear of the center part and the bit near the backbox. IIRC the nut type things shown in the picture were 24mm. They look flimsy and are but a good socket freed them up to remove by hand. I think the was 4 for the center part, then I only removed 2 for the rear bit where the cable goes to the passenger side as I had enough room with that:





Once this is removed you can see where you need to disconnect the handbrake cable and unclip the cable along to the rear drums:



Separate the cable as shown by pushing the 2 arrowed sections together:



Then push the ends of the plastic parts shown together and feed them back through the metal bracket to release them:



The next image you see is under the passenger side just in front of the rear wheel arch. You need to undo the screw at the position shown, then pivot the bracket down and it should remove quite easily. As other parts, this also needs doing on both sides:



Like so:



The next bit was fun i can tell you. I is quite tight and difficult to do so needs some patience. You need to remove this in the direction of the bottom arrow, as believe it or not it will be the easiest as it is the less cable. You can always cut it off but you have still got to put the new one back through in it's place. I found it easier pushing the cable up above the clip shown, then gently forcing it behind the pipework, Sometimes pulling on the pipes just to give it that extra few mm to get through. It was quite a struggle:



Once that is done you need to put the new cable in but I left that till the end so it wasn't in the way at the brakes when fitting. It is up to you. I haven't got any images of the new one but I am sure that it is enough above to work it out, plus you would have done the removal anyway. It goes in the same place.

The next stage was to remove the rear drums and hubs. You will need to remove the outer part of the drum, as though you are changing the shoes to get access to the rivets.

To remove the stub axles/hubs you just need to remove the 4 hub bolts at the rear of the drum as shown in the images below:





To remove these I needed to use a breaker bar as they were very tight. IIRC they were 13mm, not 100% though. Once the seal was broke I could use a normal ratchet to take them off.

Once these are off you will see that it is still hanging on and not fallen. That is because there is 2 rivets holding it on still. Drill these out. I couldn't find a drill so I use a chisel and hammer to take the edge of them off, not a problem:



As you take the last rivet off, hold the drum otherwise it will fall. I then loosened the brake hose at the back of it and rotated the drum to unscrew it from the hose. Have you caliper ready then as soon as the drum is off you can fit the caliper the same way, by rotating it and not the hose. Once done it should look something like this:



Next is to fit the splash shields and hubs on. To do this it can be fiddly to get the first bolt in. You have 2 choices. You can rivet the splash shields on, then bolt the hub on, or do what I did. I put 1 bolt through from the back then sat the shield on it. I then offered the hub up to the bolt and gently turned the bolt by hand until it gripped the thread in the hub. I then did the same with the opposite bolt and pushed it all back flush.

When you put these on, take note that each shield will only go on one side. Obviously you get the correct hub so that the caliper is to the top rear. Then if you look at the shield and back on the hub you will see the 4 bolt holes arn't in a perfect square. You can see what I mean on the picture above and the one below of the shield:



It should be sitting like this picture shows once fitted tightly. This is the passenger side:



Now you can fit the caliper and carrier onto the hub to make sure it is all a good fit:



To connect the handbrake cable to the caliper you need to make sure it is all loose. I had it connected at the front below the handbrake but not clipped in yet. I also had someone help me with this as they pulled back to give me as much slack as possible. It was quite fiddly. The cable goes through the hole shown on the picture below and hooks on to the caliper, also shown:



When you have it all on, screw the brackets on just in front of the rear arches as you removed earlier. Then clip it all back into place. Once this is done you can replace the heatshields.

I was starting to run out of time here so haven't got many more pictures i'm afraid. Once the above it done though it is a simple case of putting the discs and pads on and then bleeding the brake system. Don't forget to adjust your handbrake cable by tightening it up a bit. Then obviously test it all before you go anywhere. Fingers crossed you don't have any problems.

It took me a total of about 5 and a 1/2 hours to do this. !!!REMEMBER TO TORQUE UP ANY BOLTS TO THE CORRECT SETTINGS TO PREVENT ANYTHING FALLING OFF!!!

I think that is it. If I remember anything else I will post it. If anyone has anything to add please let me know and I will edit it accordingly.

My brakes have been fine since. I have covered over 700miles and not had a problem. Just need to tighten my handbrake cable up a bit more as I never did it enough.

Here you can see my finished conversion through my wheel:



Hope this helps or as I said at the top, at least gives you somewhere to start looking.

Good stuff mike, this is the kind of thing were after
I wish i had acces to a 4post you lucky git top work mate!

Ha ha, cheers. You want to see some of the cars there. Loads of mini's and VW's. It is at HMS Collingwood. They have a car club so it is pretty good. Never knew about it till a few month ago, lol.

Thats it... rub it in joking aside, it sounds good what do you just arrange for when you need the lift, or was it a one off??

Nice one Mike,it all looks so familiar as i did Stefs one Saturday morning,it really was a very simple conversion to do,

All the best Scuderia

martyboi wrote:Thats it... rub it in joking aside, it sounds good what do you just arrange for when you need the lift, or was it a one off??

I have access to it all the time, well, evenings. If you are a member we just book it, normally you can just turn up though and put it on.

Scuderia wrote:Nice one Mike,it all looks so familiar as i did Stefs one Saturday morning,it really was a very simple conversion to do,

All the best Scuderia

Cheers mate.

I didn't know Stef had it done. When did you do that?

Mike11 wrote:

martyboi wrote:Thats it... rub it in joking aside, it sounds good what do you just arrange for when you need the lift, or was it a one off??

I have access to it all the time, well, evenings. If you are a member we just book it, normally you can just turn up though and put it on.

Scuderia wrote:Nice one Mike,it all looks so familiar as i did Stefs one Saturday morning,it really was a very simple conversion to do,

All the best Scuderia

Cheers mate.

I didn't know Stef had it done. When did you do that?

Yeah we both done it,i wish there was more like it lol as most are not as simple,

It was one Saturday Monring in late Nov last year,i think i did a post on how its done on Renault Forums although iam not sure there was any pics taken,

Cheers Scuderia

Mike11 wrote:

I have access to it all the time, well, evenings. If you are a member we just book it, normally you can just turn up though and put it on.



I didn't know Stef had it done. When did you do that?

Thats a good idea that mike alltho with the amount of time it takes me to do anything, i would need it for a week at a time

Scuderia wrote:
Yeah we both done it,i wish there was more like it lol as most are not as simple,

It was one Saturday Monring in late Nov last year,i think i did a post on how its done on Renault Forums although iam not sure there was any pics taken,

Cheers Scuderia

yea there wasnt any pics, i think him and don were too busy drinking beer or somthing

lol, I was surprised at how simple such a big mod was. The handbrake cable was the worst bit getting it past the fuel pipes

I hate doing handbrake cables mike I think if you ge the right information, and have a bit of common sense you can do most things on a car

martyboi wrote:I hate doing handbrake cables mike I think if you ge the right information, and have a bit of common sense you can do most things on a car

I agree.