CB Performance Wide 5 Disc Brake Kits

by VW Trends Staff

Finally, the best way to stop isn't by hitting something

I am sure most of you know what disc brakes are. Almost every care in the last 15-20 years has disc brakes, at leat on one end of the car, if not both. Their superior stopping power, resistance to fade, self-adjusting nature and water resistance have made them the brake of choice for just about every car manufacturer in business. Even VW put front disc brakes on some later models of Karmann Ghia, Type II, and even Type IIIs. But what about the pre-1968 Type I cars? There weren't a lot of choices for disc brakes for the wide-five (5 x 205mm) wheel bolt pattern.

That has changed.

CB Performance, of Farmersville, Calif, after litereally years of research and development, has just introduced a disc brake kit for the link pin (1965 and earlier) and ball joint (1966-'67) Beetles that retains the 5x205 pattern. Another nice thing about this disc brake kit is that it incorporates a set of the CB Performance lowered spindles as a part of the kit. This way, you can lower your Type I by 2-1/2 inches, keep that nice soft ride and have a set of disc brakes. When you call CB and order a set of their Wide-Five Disc Brakes, it will only cost you $700, which includes the lowered spindles, as well!

This is one well engineered kit. The rotor is made form SAE certified grey iron, and is bolted with grade-eight bolts to a 356 aluminum hub, which has been treated to a T-6 rating.

You can still use your stock shocks with this setup, too. The only possible downside is that, you have to use the new CB spindles supplied with the kit, as they are made to accept the disc brake caliper. So if you have old CB Spindles or any other manufacturer's lowered spindles, they won't work.

Also, as with any lowered spindle, this will slightly increase the track of the front wheels on each side. The new spindles are of the pull-through variety, and have chromoly finish.

The kit consists of new spindles, rotors, the hub, bearings, brake pads, seals, dust caps, spindle nuts and braided stainless brake lines. As well, there is another kit available that includes everything needed to install the required 1967 and later Type I dual-piston master cylinder, and remote-mounted brake fluid reservoir.

CB's very own Rick Tomlinson, Kevin Lewis and Richard Hays performed the operation on a 1957 Beetle.

One other thing to note is that the hubs have press-in wheel studs, so when you order the kit, you must tell them what type of wheels you plan on running so they can supply you with the correct length wheel studs for your application. What works great for an Empi-style 5 spoke wheel that uses shoulder nuts, won't work with the reproduction BRM wheels, which use a cone-seat locating arrangement.

Although you don't normally have to remove the front beam to install the disc brakes, it is easier to show how the operation is done.

CB also has the kit available for you '66-67 cars with the ball-joint front ends as well as the link-pin kit.

This kit is quite well engineered. Everything went together pretty quickly, and, other than the two small holes made for the master cylinder reservoir mounting, no modification was needed. It's taken CB Performance literally years to get this kit into production, because they wanted it right, and they have succeeded admirably. If you have even the tiniest bit of fabrication skills and know how to set the camber on a link pin front end, then you should be able to accomplish the whole conversion in one day and maybe even less.

Special thanks to Rick Tomlinson, Richard Hays and Kevin Lewis of CB Performance. As well, thanks to everyone at CB Performance that had a hand in the design and manufacturing of this kit.