924Board.org

[Manouchehr]

Hi all,

My brakeshoes at the rear and the rotors at the front need replacement in the near future. I'd like to improve braking while I'm at it. What is the most cost-effective way to upgrade?
Changing to all-wheel disc brakes (the well known 4 to 5 lug) is a bit too much for me. Are there any brake pads and / or rotors and brakeshoes out there which will improve my brakes?
I also remember reading somewhere that it is not a good idea to just change the frontpads and / or rotors to better ones because it would upset the brakebalance. Is this true? If so what can I do to also upgrade the rears? (short of the disc conversion)?

Any respons is much appreciated.

Also, does anyone have experience with fabricating a cool air intake? Upsides/downsides?

Thanx!

Manouchehr 1984 924

[kevrl]

Hi Manouchehr,

I can only answer part of your question, as I already have the 4 wheel disk brakes (931). But recently I changed the front and rear pads from standard Porsche stuff to Mintex high performance pads (1144 I think ?), the differance in braking was not noticeable at first, but once the brakes warm up Wow!!!!, they have suddenly become massively powerful.

Check out the explanation on :-
http://www.acsmotorsport.co.uk/m1144.htm

It might work for you also, I do know that Mintex do High perfromance drum brakes too, although I'm not sure if they are available for the 924.

Hope this helps

Kevin

[Vince Ponz]

Being that you have the Euro front bumper if I were using the car for the track I would find a set of used front fog lights and remove all the inards. Then drill out a 2 in circle where the light would have been plugged in and find a plastic fitting with a male and female end. Connect them to the fog light and epoxy them on. Be careful not to glue them before you see if it will clear the body. Then go out and buy some hose to fit and tie wrap them to the car and to the brakes. Cheap. Cost? 10 US for the hose, epoxy 5 US? and the used fog lights maybe 25 or free. Questions ask.

Vince

[924RACR]

If the conversion is not possible for you, I'd recommend rebuilding the calipers, using a better lining up front (such as PBR Metal Masters for the street, or a proper race lining for the track), and stainless brake hoses... full system flush and use ATE Super Blue or similar racing fluid.

_________________
Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype

[swicks]

I've raced my 924 (drums/discs) and found that the brakes faded a lot.
I managed to improve my brakes without spending any money by simply removing the backing plates then I bought some dot4 brake fluid and servoced master cylinder, calipers and wheel cylinders which also made things better. You can make up air ducts by simply running some 3" flexible hose toward the disc. It can be fixed to the wishbone with tie-straps and bent through 90 degrees to mount onto the swaybar drop mounting.

[Manouchehr]

Thanks guys!

I'll change to PBR pads. The mintex pads are probably not the best choice for safe street driving because they need to warm up. (Or do they perform like the regular pads when cold and act as super pads when warm?)
Any advice on rotors? Do I need to change both at the same time?

Does upgrading the frontbrakes upset the brakebalance?

Thanks again!

Manouchehr 1984 924

[924RACR]

Changing the lining material up front shouldn't be a problem, with stock rear linings and the Metal Masters up front. I've run this configuration before on the street without issue. Well, the first stop in the AM when it's cold is a little less than desired, but after that you're fine. I always made a point of warming my brakes up first thing when heading out of the "pits" (driveway).

I'd recommend a new pair of rotors, or have them both turned - better to do in pairs when they're this old. Then you can bed-in the new pads and rotors together.

_________________
Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype