Just new to bellett ownership and slowly sussing out the parts and maintenance side if things.

Apparently the isuzu gemini's front discs fit, but we dont get these cars in scotland. We do however get the early opel kadett and vauxhall chevette which are both gm cars. Anybody know if these would fit or any other cars front brake setup ?

Many thanks, Jeff (scotland)

jeff...
DO NOT believe those that say "oh, isuzu gemini stuff is exactly the same as a bellett..." mate.
almost NOTHING is interchangable. period. full stop
and definitly not discs.....
the wheel stud pattern is very different for starters.
isuzu bascially thru everything to do with the bellett in the bin when they designed the gemini, and completely started again.

most use mitusbishi sigma/galant/lancer discs from the mid 70's. but they still aren't a "bolt on" change either.

as ur new to the bellett world, i'll let u in on what i've found over my more than 20 years around them....
practically nothing fits off other cars without modifying.... and one of the biggest mods is discs.

sorry if this sounds like i'm scaring u off, as thats not the case at all, but alot of us "old guys" have done the hard yards with these cars over the years, and i'd hate to see u fall into the holes we did and save u some heartache!

cheers.

Hi Jeff, Mark here from Sussex, welcome to the forum.
I've got a 64/65 sedan sitting at Southampton Docks waiting for clearance, see thread called "Life of Rolie"
I know nothing about Belletts but these guys do, as you're already beginning to find out, a lot of the mods these guys do use cars that we don't see in the UK or Europe for that matter, which presents a few problems.
The guy who's helping me build Rolie for competition is fairly confident he will suss how to go to discs, so IF we're successful I'll keep you posted.
Good luck with the project.

dear mr pr91,

Many thanks for your wise words. Will have a big think about what to do, but i am not discouraged....in fact it just makes me more determined to work something out...thanks again, Jeff

Mr pombellet,

(mark) ahoy there fellow uk bellett owner! Are we the only 2 people in the uk with belletts or is there more? Tell me about your car(s) Why did you choose a bellett? where did you find it? Gimme details bud. Reg disc conversion, it seems its damn hard using other parts judging by mr pr91s info. So i'm thinking why not bin the whole wishbone caboodle and use complete wishbone caboodle from another car? Triumph? earlyish nissan? who knows, but if you could get the wishbones to match nearly you could get bushes etc made up.......? Its a great challange though!

Er how do i find the thread called life of rolie? - not too hot with this computer stuff.

Many thanks, Jeff

Hi, Jeff, there's definitely very few Belletts in the UK, I know of only one other, also in Sussex, and I'm pretty sure it's a late 65 Auto.
Be careful when hacking at your wishbones, even in the 60's they spent a lot of money on R + D
getting their geometry right, but I'm afraid until we've had a good look at Rolie I can't help.
To the plan for Rolie click on "view active topics" top left of screen, this will give you all the most recent conversations.
Don't forget all the Auzzie boys are tucked up in bed at this time of (UK) day.

my suggestion to u guys on the other side of the planet:

use the original bellett drum brake hubs. this means u dont have hassles with finding wheel bearings that fit.
find a "top hat" style rotor that fits over the wheel studs with the correct offset to the upright.
make a caliper mounting bracket that uses ALL 4 mounting holes in the upright.
and bingo.... disc brake conversion.

just remember tho.... most cars these days use bigger wheels, so a change in wheel size might be needed too.

i know of an aussie built mitsubishi that has a suitable rotor, but it wont be found in the UK.
if a rotor with the bellett's wheel stud pattern can't be found (is 4 X 114.3. same as datsun and toyota), find a rotor that has the correct offset and re-drill the stud holes.
a search thru the wrecking yards with a tape measure will do the trick. thats how we worked this stuff out!

here's a link to the thread about my race car.
it has 4 wheel discs with huge 4 spot front calipers.
have a read...
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=709

cheers.

ohh and i totally agree with pom....
dont rip the whole front end out for a brake conversion.
that's 10 times the work needed! a brake conversion is much simplier.

cheers.

Thanks for the advice guys. Er, with the risk of sounding like a chump when u say use the existing drum brake hubs so no hassles finding bearings that fit........not sure what you mean there......would surely have to ditch existing drums and find bearings to suit both the existing spindle (stub axle) and the new rotor. Reckon i can get bearings ok here, plenty of shops/motor factors that could help.

mr pr 91.....that is one mega machine!!! Go on !!!! Its great to hear that the so called underling can whip some ass off the big boys!!!!!


Jeff.

What pr91 is trying to say is strip the drum brake assy it will leave you with the hub and four wheel studs. From here you need to go to a car yard that scraps cars and find a rotor that is designed to be sandwiched between the hub and the rim with the same stud pattern as the bellett. So you have bellett hub and ? rotor being retained by the rim. When you work this out you will need a callipers,brake flex hoses and the fittings on the end of the steel brake line of the donor car as the bellett will be differant. The bellett hub has four bolts behind the stub axle you need to design a plate to retain the caliper.
This info is only a guide you need to check with your local road authority for approval of such mods.

Thanks gt orphanage. Got it. Will keep you posted. jeff