Using a rear brake as a front brake

I've just got a new Dolan and needing to sort out a brake for the front. I've got a spare Miche back brake from a previous project and was wondering if I could use it as a front brake if I got hold of a longer nut for the back of the brake. My LBS (Edwardes) say they've got these bolts but was wondering if there was any other reasons not to do this and just buy a new front brake instead? Ta very much.

No problem at all, I do this on 2 of my bikes.

You can do this but you need to make sure that the new nut is long enough to get a proper grip on the bolt and that the fork crown won;t get in the way. You want the nut and bolt to screw together fully to avoid death. I can imagine fork crowns/nuts/bolts that would prevent this from working.

An alternative is to buy a new bolt as well (sjsc sell them) or as you suggest, a new brake.

Thanks for the advice. I'll measure up my fork and take the brake in to get the correct length bolt.

Those Miche calipers are like £20 a set. Just get new ones I reckon.

^True, but a long nut is pennies and means you don't end up with yet another redundant rear brake in the parts bin.

If it helps, I needed a 32mm on my Dolan and a 25mm on my steel Goff to ensure that plenty of thread engaged with the bolt, as @a'dan said, too little grip guarantees a trip to the dentist/hospital/morgue....

If I got another set, I'd have 2 spare back brakes kicking around and I'd rather spend less money getting a new nut

Simplest way to do this is mount the rear brake in the usual place and swap the wheels around.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get your nuts from? LBS had one that doesn't look long enough and cannae find em on the Internet

Is this SJSC nut long enough?

actually there are longer and cheaper ones if you scroll further down.

Yes, found them last night on SJSC, thanks a lot for all your help.