Corsa Brakes

[philiphales]

I obtained a set of calipers and discs what I believed were off a Corsa. I fitted one side easy enough and decided to take a break, so went to put the wheel on, SHOCK HORROR! The Nova wheel does not fit - I was told that this brake upgrade was a straight swap - nothing was said about the wheels. Have I got Corsa Calipers? Do I need to obtain a set of front wheels from a Corsa? Will it alter the speedo if I do?

I just wanted the car for a cheap runabout, but if I have to start buying wheels c/w tyres (assuming the Nova tyres do not fit) I might as well just get a caliper set for the original Nova brakes - assuming they are available.

All help greatly appreciated.

[Ben]

They are supposed to fit but dont, you need some 5mm spacer for the front wheels to clear (presume you have 3 spoke standard nova wheels?)

The they fit easily enough.

[philiphales]

Cheers

Can you point me in the right direction for these - internet site or otherwise

[Ben]

easiest place is halfords.

[philiphales]

Well! Have just blown ?13.99 on a set of 5mm spacers from Halfords as this did not fix my predicament.

The radius from the mid point of the wheel to the outside of the caliper is greater than the radius from the mid point of the wheel to the inner part of the wheel. This should go just outside the caliper; it does not!!!

Could this guy have sold me the caliper off a cavalier? If so how can I get over my problem?

Getting mildly desperate!!!!!!!!!!

[Stuart]

measure the diameter of the discs, they should be 236mm

if you have 256mm ones then you have cav/astra ones. and they are too big apparently.

or they could be 28xmm discs off a cav turbo

[nova_rally]

1) what corsa are the brakes supposedly off
2) what size/type of wheel are you trying to fit

if you have 13" standard wheels or 14in 3-spoke alloy wheels you wont be able to fit Corsa GSi brakes on.

Base model corsas have the same brakes as Novas.

[philiphales]

Hi

Thanks for the help so far, will measure the discs when I get home this evening, but on first thoughts the diameter of the discs I have fitted do not (from memory) seem to be much different from the Nova ones. The calipers however are quite bigger.

I do not know what vehicle the calipers/discs came off - I took the guy on trust, he said they were Corsa.

The wheels are bog standard Nova steel wheels.

[Ben]

14in 3-spoke alloy wheels you wont be able to fit Corsa GSi brakes on.

That is incorrect, we have done it.

[Dpnova]

14in 3-spoke alloy wheels you wont be able to fit Corsa GSi brakes on.

That is incorrect, we have done it.

they do fit just need spacers. ben has done it and im currently using it. i will try to dig out a pic of them and upload it

[Dpnova]

I didnt undertake the job myself it was done by ben and will before i bought the car but heres the pic

http://images2.fotopic.net/?iid=y55ftn&outx=600&oq=0

[Ste_Nova]

whats the point! the brakes are loads better than the tyres!

[Dpnova]

whats the point! the brakes are loads better than the tyres!

you on about mine??

[Stuart]

narrow tyres + good brakes = lock up most of the time

unless you fit good sticky tyres, or jsut proxies/F1's etc

[Dpnova]

ok its running 185 at the mo on avon zv3's and there not too bad. quite stable

[nova_rally]

Running mine with 2.0 8v brakes, they "don't fit under 3-spokes" either

5mm spacers and a mates grinder did the trick. 8)

http://www.ychwaral.supanet.com/3spokebrakes.jpg

Now own these wheels so it aint a problem (no spacers and upgrading to 2.0 16v calipers)

http://www.ychwaral.supanet.com/greywheel1.jpg

[Muttly]

I'm a bit lost on this. Whats the reason for the spacer? Is it because the wheel gets pulled in 5mm more or is it because the caliper is bigger/wider? Why I ask is I've the wrong offset on my wheels, et42 and if it pulls the wheels in 5mm I'll be putting on Corsa brakes.

[philiphales]

Lets try again

I checked the diameter of the discs - they are 236mm.

I have standard Nova 13" Steel Wheels.

I assume the calipers the guy supplied came off the same vehicle as the discs.

However, as I said SPACERS make no difference, the distance from the centre of the wheel to the outside radius of the caliper is greater than the distance form the centre of the wheel to the inside of the wheel.

DO I NEED CORSA wheels (are these 13" or 14")?

I am at a loss.

It would look like my only option to get on the road is to obtain a caliper kit - IS THERE SUCH AN ANIMAL? I went for this mod because the offside front brakes were binding.

The weather is starting to go against me and we alter the clocks this weekend.

Please someone give me a clear suggestion of how to get through this problem.

It is starting to bug me rotten.

[novahead]

go down the scrappy and get some nova brakes for your car, put the brakes u got from this man on ebay, job done!





kev

[philiphales]

OK - but how do I describe them; it would appear that they may or may not be Corsa brakes. I am not just going to unload my problem on someone else.

There must be an equitable way to solve this predicament. Like I said I wanted a cheap runabout. I do not want to keep pouring money into it as it will not guarantee a return.

There must be someone who has fitted Corsa? brakes onto a Nova without a problem.

Let him speak up.

[Ben]

The reason the corsa brakes were put on Denny's GTE as Wills old Nova brakes were shocking and wanted to upgrade, easiest option the corsa GSi setup and will had 4x new tyres put on at the same time, the brakes were amazing.

The car was purely standanrd hence keeping the 3 spokes on board.

Back to this thread, your corsa brakes are better than nova ones, fit these and either stick some 14" steels on there or grind the rim off the caliper.

[nova_rally]

There could be 1 of 2 things wrong here:

1.) The calipers you have bought are NOT the ones that match the discs (seems most likely). Corsa Calipersa are IDENTICAL to Nova Mk2 calipers, there is no difference, same part numbers.

2.) The wheels you are running are on a very strange offset, or are not 13inch. Not very likely really but you never know. Correct Offset is ET49. Spacers DECREASE the offset, pushing the wheel further out.

[philiphales]

At last an answer.

Looks like the guy ripped me off.

There is an reciable difference in size between the original Nova calipers and the ones purported to be off a Corsa.

Any idea what is the best mod is a Nova - I want to retain the original wheels as the tyres are almost new.

Guess I will refit the Nova ones and watch the local scrappy.

Cheers

[Ben]

1.) The calipers you have bought are NOT the ones that match the discs (seems most likely). Corsa Calipersa are IDENTICAL to Nova Mk2 calipers, there is no difference, same part numbers.


Corsa GSi calipers ate ATE Nova ones arent!

[Aragorn]

standard corsa calipers and 1992-on nova calipers are the same

they are ATE style although mine were GM branded not ATE branded like cav/astra 16v

corsa GSi's had 250x20mm disks iirc? same as fitted to a number of astra mk3's, the reason for the narrower disk was to enable easier fitting under the corsa gsi 3spokes

i doubt the gsi stuff would fit under nova 13" steels which this guy has

if they are 236x12mm unvented disks and the calipers to match then they will fit under nova steels

236x20mm vented disks should also fit fine with the correct 1992-on nova gsi/corsa calipers

with the caliper fitted does it fit the disk correctly? do the pads properly line up with the disk surface? or does the caliper overhang?

[nova_rally]

As you're keeping the standard wheels your best bet will be Nova GSi (NOT GTE!) calipers and sics as these are ATE calipers with slightly larger pistons than normal ones and they use vented discs. Coupled with a brake Servo from a GTE or GSi you should have a decent enough braking setup.

Sounds like you have Corsa GSi calipers off this bloke - stick em on ebay, worth quite a bit more than normal calipers.

[Riggy]

yes it does sound like you have got corsa gsi brakes = this is what i have on mine 236x20 and they will NOT fir under 13" steel wheels

i dont think that nova gsi ones will fit under 13" steel wheels neither thats why they had 14" alloys

if you want to keep the steelies then your goin to have to fit lower spec nova or corsa brakes as they are nearly the same but my advise would to be use the corsa gsi ones and get bigger wheels cos the difference is amazing :D

[nova_rally]

even if they don't he's got spacers going spare and they WILL fit with them! :lol:

[Aragorn]

90421739/40 is the part number for late model nove ATE style 236x20mm calipers as fitted to nova GSi's and a large number of higher spec corsas like the 1.4 sports

90421729/30 is the part number for corsa GSi and tigra calipers which are also fitted to 1.8spi astra mk3's and mid spec cav's

the corsa gsi calipers are NOT 236mm they are 256mm like 16v astra stuff except the disks are only 20mm thick instead of 24mm

the reason the corsa gsi stuff is a few mm thinner is to clear the standard 14" corsa alloys and as plenty of nova ppl have noticed worn 16v stuff fits under nova 14" wheels just fine

no 256mm brake setup will fit under 13" steels

it sounds to me like youve got 236mm nova gsi disks and corsa gsi calipers

236mm disks with the correct calipers will fit fine under your 13's but your saying the caliper is past the edge of the wheel which would imply youve got 256mm calipers