Brakes, Brakes, Brakes, Experiences with 320i upgrade Options

[solex]

Hello All,

I have recently replaced all of the flexible brake lines, pads and rotors. The MC seems to be realtively new and the calipers all function. After all of this work, I am still unimpressed with the brakes on this car.

I have read the pelican article regarding the front caliper 320i upgrade. The article also suggest that the brakes in the 914-4 are not that good. No matter how hard I try I cannot lock up the fronts.

Anyone who has done this upgrade care to comment? Does it make a significant difference?

Thanks,
Dan

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

solex, this is gonna suck but maybe you should swap out the master cylinder. Also, compress each caliper and have an assistant press the brake pedal so you can WATCH the pistons move. What I would do is measure the thickness of the brake pad (but not the backing plate), compress the pistons all the way (at least flush with the caliper pad landing), then have the assistant s-l-o-w-l-y press the brake and continue to do so until the pistons moves the distance you measured on the pad. Move to the next caliper. You want to make SURE that the calipers are functioning correctly.

Watching each caliper work is more time consuming and it would seem that you're not getting pressure so I would try the master cylinder swap first. Could be a bad internal seal allowing fluid to squeeze past. BTW, when you go out and test the brakes, do you check the brake fluid resevoir afterwards? Is the fluid level the same? If it drops then you have a leak (obviously), possibly a ruptured line w/in the body. I know this is a failure point for the air-cooled VW cars...after years of no brake fluid cleaning the water rusts the brake lines from the inside out and one day a stomp on the brakes pops a line... (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sad.gif)