UPDATED: 9/2021 - Brake Caliper & Rotor Conversion - 1972 N600 to 1983 Civic

Back in October, and after driving on the highway, booster-less, I found myself wondering if there was something I could do to help modernize the brake performance and ultimately get myself safer behind the wheel of this N600.  Also, the tv shows on the "Velocity" channel didn't prevent my mind from wondering either...  So, after studying the wheel hub of the n600 the gears in my head started spinning:

I decided to head out to my local pick 'n pull to see what other steering hubs looked like and to see if any could be adapted on the n600.  Well, after considering a later 80's civic, their wishbone lower suspension made it impossible, well, with my capabilities, anyway.  So, I found an '83 5 door, and got to work.  I removed both brake calipers, rotors, and knuckles and even got the axels, which were not my intension, but I couldn't separate them.  The other bonus with this civic was that it had the complete set of wheels.  So, I had to!  Also, I decided to focus my attention on the front brakes first because of the fact that it had the most complications, and I figured that if I was to have success with the front, then the rear would be more simplistic.

So, I got to work on removing the '72's steering knuckle, and brakes.  I found out that the driveshaft is actually pressed in, so removing the cv joint was actually easier to get it out:

 

Once out, I did a test fit with the new steering hub.  After cleaning up the knuckles of the '83, I found that I could get them to fit if I reversed the sides, (L on the right and R on the left) to make clearance for the knuckles' tie rod mounting location (I later sliced it off to avoid any contact with the sway bar):

Also, I took this time to clean up the suspension and replace worn and damaged rubbers.  Thanks Bill Colford and Ray Cave for the replacements!  

Now at this point I was super excited because everything was fitting, and I kept asking myself, how come no one else had done this?  Then, I tried adapting the cv joint from the '72 to the '83 --- :( Nope, wouldn't fit, different diameter and teeth on the axle shaft.  So, I thought, how can I get this to work?  My first thought was to just find the right cv joint roll & cage and ball bearings that would match the two makes, but then thought, right, that would be like finding a needle in a haystack, or like finding a t360 in the states... haha! 

So, I had ran into my first set back.  I talked to a few people, quite embarrassed at what I was asking, they probably though I was crazy, but then I contacted Bill at Driveshafts by Frank Wallace, here in San Francisco.  I took him all the stuff that I was working with and he helped direct me to the next option:  split the axles, graph the inner '72 with the outer '83, weld a sleeve over 'em, rebuild the cv joints and mount them back up.  So, that what we decided to do!

A few days later, after some truly awesome craftsmanship, I had the hybrid axles:

Next was to get them clamped and in place!

With them in place and functioning, I then went on to rebuild the brake calipers, install and bleed them and move on to the wheels.  

Now the thing that I always knew from the beginning of this project that when I went from the N600 hub to the civic hub would be that I would be leaving the land of 110mm PCD and would be arriving at the more common 100mm PCD for the rims.  After watching Mark P. Hatten's video of an N600 on 13" wheels, I knew that I'd have to find a set of the 175 50 R13 tires that, again, I knew would be difficult to acquire.  So, back in December, I started putting feelers out to see if I could find a set, and after being directed to a VW forum, I found a set of 4 here in the Bay Area.  So, I picked them up and had my Sumitomo tires ready to go.  This specific tire size means that they are about an inch larger in diameter than the original stock 10 inch wheels.  Also, they are thicker, and beefier than the original stock wheels, too.  Thanks again Mark! and Simon!

I decided to stick with the stock '83 rims because I thought they had a throwback appeal to the original N360 look.  See my first post.  Once I mounted them in the front, however, I ran into my second snafu.  The tires rubbed ever so slightly on strut's tie rod mount.  With regards to mounting the rims on the rear axle, I had already made the decision of installing 20mm wide wheel adaptors that would convert the 4x110mm lug pattern to the 4x100mm pattern of the civic rim. I found the pair from: Adaptit 

Since I needed to provide a little bit of space in the front, I just decided to add 10mm wide wheel spacers to the front.  I found some great quality ones on ebay from ebayseller: Tuneshop

So today, with the wheels in non-rubbing order, I decided to go for a test drive.  Things went smoothly but I need to work on the alignment a little more.  But other than that, braking is much better now with the larger brake calipers and I like the 'alternative' look of the sedan:  see for yourself.

Update 9/2021:

Since doing this upgrade, I've had a few issues that I've been working to resolve, and finally, I am able to update the blog.

For this update, I want to specifically focus on a step that I missed during the original mod regarding the seating of the strut into the knuckle.  As you can see from the pictures of the original posting, I didn't notch the knuckle with clearance for the "teeth" of the strut to slip into and to lock.  The result was very unstable suspension, especially noticeable when going over speed bumps.  I would describe it as leering or jutting one way or the other, left or right, whichever wheel caught the bump first.  This is something that I was "living" with as I was just cruising around town.  However, I alway became concerned especially going over uneven pavement or the occasional pothole.  As you can imagine, doing so at higher speeds... we'll let's not go there.  So, with the thought of wanting to take the N600 on a longer ride (down to Santa Cruz on Hwy 1), and having a fellow N600 owner that has followed this blog and has completed his own mod, this situation definitely needed to be taken care of.

This is showing the strut as it sits inserted into the top of the knuckle.  See the gap and how it is resting on the notches / "teeth".  

I marked the locations of where the teeth rested on the top.  I used a paint pen that bled all over so I had to opt for the permanent marker.  I removed the left & right side axels at the engine in order to push the knuckle down to release the strut.  Since I recently replaced the front struts with some NOS struts, they slipped out with just a bit of pushing down with my foot.  Although it was still on car, I was able to start with the dremel and just cut out the section to allow for the teeth to "fit".  

Here's a photo of my "worst" cut.  It fit much better on the opposite side.  If I were more concerned with it, I would have removed the strut and knuckle from the car in order to get the best measurement and to be more accurate.  However, you get the chance to learn from my attempts.   Anyway, this is the passenger side, the driver's side was done after, and it was a better fit too.  

Additionally, I wanted to show a better photo of the mounting of the brake caliper.  As you can see, between the caliper and the mount on the knuckle, I placed a washer I had.  However, it has since been explained that this type of washer could heat up and affect the closing of the brake "clamping" and the mounting bolt could loosen up.  So, I'll be eager to create a spacing plate by outlining the mount surface area on a caliper spacer and trim and file down to be a better fit.

Finally, my last bit of advice on this caliper conversion is to be aware that the knuckle order was switched, but the calipers need to be mounted where the bleeder screw is on the TOP.  I know for some of you reading this, this seems to be a "no brainer" but for me, the novice, I had them mounted upside down and had the hardest time figuring out why I couldn't bleed my brakes.  Well... lesson learned.