Celica brake mods

This is my attempt to upgrade the front brakes on my 1977 RA23 Celica.  The standard brakes consist of solid rotors and single-piston calipers.  While they are "adequate" for street use, this car will see a bit of action on the track, so better brakes are a must!  I acquired a pair of struts (with brakes attached) from a 1984 MA61 Supra, and this is how I went about fitting them to the Celica.

Click on the thumbnails for a full size picture.

The original plan was to put the complete MA61 struts in the Celica.  They will physically fit, but once you put it all back on the ground you discover the front wheels have a fair bit of positive camber.  It's too much do be dialed out with adjustable strut tops, so this idea was abandoned.

	Here is the MA61 Supra disc rotor fitted to the RA23 Celica strut.  It is a perfect fit, but it will be necessary to modify the caliper mounts to fit the Supra calipers.  The discs are much wider than the Celica discs, so the Celica calipers will not fit.
	This is the complete MA61 strut bolted to the Celica.  You can see the positive camber from this angle.  Longer control arms will cure the camber problem, but then wheel clearance will become an issue.
	As above from the side.

OK new plan:  we'll put the MA61 hubs/rotors on the RA23 strut.  This will eliminate any problems with suspension geometry.  They fit perfectly (the spindle is the same), but the caliper isn't even close so some fabrication work is required.

	Here is the original RA23 caliper mount next to the beginnings of the new mount.
	The new caliper mount bolted to the strut.  Note the top and bottom edges will be folded 90 degrees for strength.
	A rear view of the above.
	As above with the caliper in place.
	The complete Supra caliper assembly mounted on the Celica strut.
	Here the caliper mount is nearly finished; the top and bottom edges have been folded over, and the piece on the left is the spacer.
	The spacer in place, ready to be welded on to the bracket.
	New versus old - the original Celica caliper mount on the left.
	As above.  Note the new bracket is quite a bit smaller than the old one.
	The old (left) and new (right) brackets mounted on the Celica struts.  Almost finished!
	As above from a different angle.  Note that the new bracket is at least as beefy as the old one - strength should not be a problem.
	Here's the finished product!
	As above from the side.
	And here it is from the back.
	Finished!  The completed assembly fitted to the RA23.  Here you can see the slightly increased track (~9mm each side) with the wider Supra hubs.
	And again from the side.  The front tyres are a tight fit in the guards; it remains to be seen if they will rub on anything.