No adapter Big Brakes

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Thanks for looking into the earlier stuff. I'm curious on the difference in the offset.

I mocked this up tonight trying both the 2005 and 2012 Focus calipers with a 2005 Focus rotor. I didn't measure it exactly, but the 2005 bracket needs about .500" spacing to get it centered over the rotor vs. .200" for the 2012 bracket. (5 washers vs. 2) I'm thinking that with the Contour SVT rotor no spacer is needed with the 2012 caliper/bracket. Given that, I think I'll just bore the mounting holes out to 14mm and use the 2012+ stuff.

My plan on the plumbing is to use the 2012+ Focus flexible line as well as a chunk of the hard line and even the 90-degree mounting bracket for the line, cut off some junkyard Focus donors. Basically, it'll look like a 2012+ Focus as far as the eye can see when you look in the wheel well.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

If your OCD kicks in, a 35/64" drill bit will drill a (just barely) large enough hole for a 14mm bolt, removing as little material as possible from the XR or Scorpio spindle caliper mounting ears.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Some more details with pics.

Parts:
Scorpio front hub assembly (should have identical offset as XR)
2005 Focus Rotor
2012 Focus Caliper
Qty 4 1/2" galvanized washers from Home Depot. That's just a miniscule bit too much, so if making a spacer, call it .160" instead of the .180" as shown by stacking two washers. This dim' doesn't need to be ultra precise - maybe look for some slightly thinner washers.

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Note that the Scorpio hub will need to be re-drilled for the 4x108 bolt pattern which I plan to stick with (too many 4x108 wheels around here). I've already bored out the mounting holes to 14mm to use the 2012 Focus bolts. They almost work fine but for the flange on the bolt head being just a bit too big - it reaches out past the machined flat on the knuckle casting (if you look close you can see that in the back-side pic above, just on the right mounting ear). I'll find a bolt with a smaller flanged head, or just one without any flange at all. I suppose the better approach would be to surface cut the mounting surface just a little wider.

The pad does really track out to the very edge of the rotor. In an ideal world the rotor would be maybe 2mm wider, but this will be fine. The upside is that you won't have any issues pulling the caliper off a worn rotor with a ridge around the rim.

And yes, if using the Scorpio knuckle assembly you also need to figure out the strut situation. That topic has been covered in here a couple different ways - I'll be using Mk4 VW Jetta struts.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

I was incorrect about the XR and Scorpio spindles having identical offsets. There is a ~3mm difference between the two, and so a XR spindle would need about .120" (~1/8") of additional spacing to what I've indicated above when using the Scorpio spindle. Thanks to Tim Spencer for this insight.

[timxr8]

I was incorrect about the XR and Scorpio spindles having identical offsets. There is a ~3mm difference between the two, and so a XR spindle would need about .120" (~1/8") of additional spacing to what I've indicated above when using the Scorpio spindle. Thanks to Tim Spencer for this insight.

If you use the Rotors from the 2012+ Focus, the offset is the same as the Scorpio, so no spacers required. That's a happy accident.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

I'm bumping this thread as it's recently come to my attention that Tim may have SS flex lines for the 2012+ Focus Caliper when mounted up to a Merkur.

Twelve+ years ago I started this thread and it's morphed a bit over the years as slightly different Focus calipers have become available. After all, the 2012+ Focus didn't yet exist in 2010!

But the basic idea has remained the same; an inexpensive brake upgrade using widely available parts that mount up without an adapter.

[reddy2300]

Sharing these from Tim's thread, as they are pertinent here as well.

The pad pic shows the surface area difference between the old XR pads and the new Focus pads.

The hose in the second pic is one of the pair that I purchased from Tim Spencer.

The third pic is the completed job.

I have about $300 total, in this swap. $200 of that is "better quality" pads and rotors. I think Tim's kit WITH hoses was $105. Not sure what he charges now.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

I think I've covered this in another thread but I don't see it mentioned here so I'll add it. For those of you running 5x112 Scorpio hubs (either on a Scorpio or converted XR), you can easily use 2012+ Ford Focus 11" rotors which have a 5x108 bolt pattern. All you need to do is bore the 5 lug holes out to about 11/16". At 63.4mm, the center hub is exactly the same as our cars, so that's what centers the rotor, not the 5 lugs. It's no issue at all having the lug holes a little larger.