Brake Bracket Bingo

As I mentioned in the last post, I need to make a bracket to attach the rear brake caliper to the spindle.  Here's a picture of the problem - the hole in the blue piece doesn't line up with the hole in the gold piece.

I don't have one of those CAD programs that would help design the part (and I don't have time to program my computer to do it) so I got to use some drafting tools I've been saving since ninth grade.

I need to move the new mounting holes out 11.4 mm from the center of the wheel and rotate the position slightly to allow bolts fit in the old mounting holes.  The trial and error approach didn't work well (other than turning my template into swiss cheese).  I had a hard time holding the parts accurately in place while marking the paper.

I started over again and used a more scientific approach (I won't bother with the details).  Anyway, I got the brake almost in position, but found that the parts were hitting each other so I couldn't get everything fully into the proper orientation.  The biggest problem is that a chunk of metal is sticking out of the brake and getting in the way.  After pondering why this thing might have been cast into the brake housing, I couldn't come up with a reason so I decided to grind it off.  Worse case is that I ruin the brake.  Here's a before and after comparison.

The one one the right shows the square thing sticking up just to the right of the hole.  The one on the left has been ground off.  Luckily, it looks like the brake is still okay.

Now I could get the brake closer to the right position, but then it started to hit somewhere else.  Since I still had the grinder out, it was obvious that that was the way to fix the problem.  I had to grind part of the spindle.

I shaped the area to the left of the hole.  Here is a picture of the other spindle before it was ground.  You can see that it was square rather than round.  Again, I don't know why it was cast that way, but I'm pretty sure it isn't structural.

Okay, is it going to fit now?  Yes, everything seems to have moved into the right position.  I created a new template for the bracket and everything looks good.

In the picture above, you can see the two new holes where the brake will mount.  I will need to trace the paper template onto 1/4 inch steel and cut it out (somehow).

This is approximately what it will look like.  I'll have to make some spacers to keep the brake sitting properly on the bracket.

I'm going to double-check everything tomorrow and maybe cut one out of 1/4 inch wood to see how it fits.  I also will have to find nuts and bolts of the right size made of hardened steel.  I'm sure it will be another adventure in discovery.