Wolseley 1500 Disk Brakes

Reproduced in part from "The Flying W" - the newsletter of the Wolseley Car Club of Queensland.

As always, this article is for information only - use of this information is entirly the responsibility of the reader. The article should not be substituted for specific professional advice.

The kit I used was supplied by Bill Martin - phone 07 3200 0640. It is a combination of refurbished and new parts.
Kit contents:

Slightly modified hubs.	Adaptor plate fitted with the caliper.
New 9" disk fitted to the hub.	All parts supplied in the conversion kit.
New disk and pads.	Adaptor plate, caliper, hub with disk and pad.
What it should look like from the inside.....	..... and from the outside.

Other parts you might need:
New tapered roller bearings (DON'T retain the old ball bearings), seals and brake line. Check and overhaul the master cylinder as well as checking / overhauling the rear wheel cylinders.

Fitting the kit:
This has to be one of the easiest conversions you will ever do. Remove the front road wheels (you do use body stands don't you?). Remove the hubs, bearings and backing plates. From each side save the 4 bolts and washers used to secure the backing plates and the 2 screws pre side that locate the drum to the hub. That is all the parts to remove. Save everything you have removed as it can be quickly reinstalled to reverse the conversion.

Using the saved bolts, install the adaptor plate with the larger section pointing to the front. Assemble the hubs (fit the bearings and seals) and secure the disk rotors with the saved drum locating screws. Mount the hub assembly on the axel, adjust the bearings and fit new split pins. All that is left to do is mount the caliper, fit the brake lines, bleed the air from the system and refit the road wheels.

Make very sure that everything is working and in particular - no leaks. You can now carefully road test the car. Remember the "feel" will be different so check how the car now behaves. One thing I have noticed is the ability to steer and control the car under full brakes. No more compensating for one locked wheel and the other 3 going along for the ride - they now all work together. The conversion took about 2 hours to complete and is entirly reversable.

1958 Wolseley 1500 Mark 1
Modifications - 9" disk brakes, 1620cc motor with 1800cc ported big valve head, 1 3/4" SU, mechnical advance distrubitor, 24/80 fine spline axels and a fine spline diff centre, Major rims and ridal tyres. Used as daily transport - can run all day at 60+mph and stop when required.