What type of front/rear brake upgrade do YOU have?

[Meintii 48]

Im dreaming about what kind of brake upgrade I want to do for my future auto-x car, and was looking at the FAQ's regarding caliper re-building and "big brake" ugrading, and thought.. I wonder what other people have done!?!

So post what type of parts you used (for example; '86 volvo 240 calipers, E21 hubs etc.) for your upgrade (and where you got them)

Please specify front or rear (or both!)

Also PICS of the final product, and your approx cost of everything (NOT including labor .

Thanks for all you do FAQ!

[BarryA 11]

front calipers):

Complete '77 E21 brake system - vented rotors & calipers, late E21 hubs, E21 rear drums, backing plates & brake cylinders, E21 m/c adapted to use the early '02 reservoir, '02 Turbo e-brake cables, new stock rubber brake hoses.

Only significant modifications required were to turn down both the outside diameter of the brake rotor's friction surface and take a few thousandths off the OD of the rotor "hat" for caliper clearance (rotors purchased from Ireland already machined for clearance), clearance the caliper at it's closest point of contact to the rotor (sanded on a belt sander) and fabricate a bracket to clamp to the strut to take the E21 brake hose combination.

System works GREAT - major increase in braking power and fade resistance, and easy to return to original if I ever want to take the car back to 100% stock.

[RIMSPOKE 2]

MY CAR HAS THE STOCK tii FRONT SETUP WITH E-21 REAR BRAKES .

[eurotrash 732 2 Vehicles]

1975 2002

Front: Typical '85 Volvo/ '77 320 All new at just under $400.00

Rear: All VW parts. From 3 different series. Wilwood proportioning valve. $40.00 Junk yard calipers and brackets, new rotors, fab'd adapters for the caliper bracket and shock mount. Prices will vary..

[Paul7002 3]

The usual: '77 E21/Volvo vented fronts with tii mc plus E21 rears

[BLUNT 303]

On my colorado car

Lees Massive kit up front.

VW disc's out back

750 M/C . no bias valve

On my 69

Volvo up front

Stock new stuff out back... Stops awesome

These cars have great brakes in stock form if everything is new and adjusted correctly

[jrkoupe 237]

.just to be clear...it does NOT have to be an 86 volvo.

[ClayW 118 1 Vehicles]

Front:

tii Master Cylinder - Bavarian Autosport, I think

`87 Volvo 240?Vented Disc Calipers - Some place online that sent me one caliper with standard bleeders.....argh.

`77 320i Vented Discs - Local Parts Store

`80-83 E21 Hubs - Terry Sayther

`87 Volvo 240? Brake Pads - Some online dealer

Rear:

`80-83 E21 250mm Drums - Were on the last 02 when I bought it.

`74 2002 Turbo E-Brake Cables - Bavarian Autosport, I think.

Once I replace the seal between the master cylinder and the booster, everything worked out really nicely.

[jrkoupe 237]

Clay...what do you mean by "std bleeders"?

[rover1 34]

tii strut, e28 caliper, 77' 320 rotor and hub, tii brake booster and master.

[4x2 1]

Front

E21 hubs (small bearings)

E21 323i disks (stock stuff)

Volvo 240 turbo Girling calipers

OMP 6375 pads, from an Opel Corsa A

But now back to some cheapo 240 pads (due to the OMP pads being worn and wanting to upgrade anyway)

Rear

E21/E30 rear disks with a small spacer between the 02 hub and disk to center it

VW Rabbit/Golf GTI G60 38mm calipers

Home made adapter plate

Few pics over here.

Cost in parts was some €200-250 ish

Rebuilt rear calipers, new rear disks, spacer ring, 2nd hand front calipers, as good as new front disks, 2nd hand e21 hubs.

No labour costs, just my own time.

I've been thinking about upgrading to 280mm front disks and larger calipers.

It will probably be a Renault Megane ph2 disk combined with an E36 caliper to overcome the lower offset of the Renault disks (45 vs 75mm for the 323i disk)

And also due to the large choice in brake pads and large surface area.

The 323i/volvo upgrade is on/over it's limit if you're going past 100mph.

[KFunk 336]

stock brakes with good super blue fluid and S/S lines, sticky r-tires, and bled and adjusted properly .... brakes are not the weak point on my car, it'll stop rock solid for lap after lap. I'd rather spend my money elsewhere.

[peteinjp 3]

Not sure you'll need anything better than stock brakes for autocross. It's heavy repeated stopping that overheats brakes- even stevek. has used stock brakes till this point as far as I know. K's right- for autocross there are better places to spend the money and also why add the unsprung weight of larger rotors etc? I suggest you give autocrossing a shot with the car as is is then find the weak spots that need to be upgraded.

[yeewiz 141]

On my colorado car

Lees Massive kit up front.

VW disc's out back

750 M/C . no bias valve

Steve, do you like your Massive's? Can you offer an opinion on how it would work with stock 02 rear drums?

But so to keep thread on-topic, I have:

new tii struts

new e21 hubs

new e21 vented rotors

PnP e12 calipers

02 stock cylinders and drums

02 stock MC

Stops great!

[ClayW 118 1 Vehicles]

Clay...what do you mean by "std bleeders"?

Non-metric bleeders.

Yep, my passenger side caliper bleeds with a 1/4" bleeder. I figured it out too late to exchange it and the company that I bought them from had really bad customer service, so I'm living with it.