Newbie here whose 1974 914 2.0 is in shop and they are telling me front and rear brakes are bad. What is a good estimate for front and rear calipers installed? Assume rotors and pads also need replaced. I almost fainted when he gave me the quote......and I need to validate their cost please. Thanks.

Please do yourself a huge favor and call Eric at PMB Performance in Utah. He is the one-stop shopping, brake expert for our cars. Don't let a shop talk you into other rebuilt units that just won't be done to Eric's quality & standards. http://www.pmbperformance.com/914-brakes.html

Here are the early 911S aluminum front calipers for my Six:
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Here are the Six GT rear calipers:

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Truth be told, Eric's brakes are the reason I had to have my entire car restored. I took one look at his brakes and could not bring myself to install them on my original, unrestored, dirty, rusty, Six. So really, I blame Eric It is indeed a very slippery slope.

If you need brakes for your 914, PMB Performance is the only place I'd get parts from.

What did the shop say was the problem with the brakes?

Brakes are also really not a difficult job to do on your own. Do them the first time with a friend who knows what he's doing, and after that it's no problem. You'll wonder why you ever paid a shop to touch your car.

I agree - contact Eric & he can tell you the cost for any parts needed, whether the shop sounds like they know what they're doing, & whether their install price is reasonable.

Brake rotors may be able to be turned if within tolerances, or replaced if not, calipers may need rebuilt & don't waste your time with Cardone or any other crappy rebuilts, ditto for the Master Cylinder if bad (ATE still available new), & soft lines (rubber)

PM or email Erc Shea PMB -
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showuser=1110

http://www.pmbperformance.com/teener.html

Good Luck!
Tom
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Yes PMB is the place to go. I am a newbie and I totaly rebuilt the front and rear brakes myself with a good result. From my experience Eric is a good guy and is glad to help.
PMB have some good videos showing the rear brake rebuild step by step, check it out

Thanks just called and having shop order from PMB. You guys are great. Peace

Good Move on your part ! My Dad has been rebuilding calipers and cylinders since the late 60's and even he sent my rears to Eric for his rebuild service. He trust Eric with my life. Think about it....

CJ

Many of us here have Eric's brakes and we swear by them!

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PMB!

Good move going with PMB. Their work is completely awesome....I mean VERY awesome!

You can watch his videos and do it yourself for pads. A 10 minute change over per wheel, if that's all it needs. It's really easy. After the wheel is off, needle nose pliers, pull the clips (looks like 1/2 paperclip), slide out the pins (1/4" thick, about 3" long) under the brass looking '+' spring, and gently pull out the old pads. Install is reverse. (see the pictures of the -6 brass looking calipers in the above post)

Naturally this is a simplified version, and the PMB video shows you how.

I have rebuilt many calipers using PMB's DIY instructions.

Fronts are so simple, anyone can do it.
Rears are slightly more complicated but still not bad.

I even learned how to make rigid brake lines last night.
Installed rebuilt front calipers on the rear.

For those that say "leave it to a pro, brakes are too important" - If you can rebuild an engine, then you can do brakes in your sleep.

Other than forgetting to actually put the seals in, I dont see where you can screw up.
They either work, or they dont.
I have a hard time seeing where you can have a "latent defect" that could manifest itself later.

I would say that driving on 30+ year old brakes that are of unknown condition is FAR more dangerous than driving on calipers that you rebuilt yourself, even if your wrenching skills are questionable.