First thank you all for the help so far, I took some pictures of my 75 before things start to change. So far I have repaired:

- Some electrical problems, mainly related to the defroster heater motor and some interior lights.
- Replace the rear struts with Bilsteins HD.
- Added Hella H4's up front.
- Pressure washed the under carrige (post attached pictures).
- Completely flushed the brake fluid
- Balanced all 4 tires to correct a vibration at 65 mph.
- Purchased a NOS door to replace the drivers door
- Purchased a deck lid to repair the original decklid that was missing the bracket for the J-Bolt
- Changed the turn signal lenses.

On to the questions:

Brakes;
I replaced the fluid, pressure bled the entire system and the brakes operate poorly. There is no pulling or pulsating, and the pedal feels fine there is simply not enough stopping pressure applied to the rotors. It is impossible to lock up the brakes, although the car will eventually stop I have to be extremely careful. What are your thoughts?

Rear Alignment;
I noticed that the rear of the drivers side tire is at an angle the back of the tire is farther out then the front of the tire when compared against the fender and the other side of the car. The difference is so much that it would limit the choice of tire width as it appeared to be a problem for the PO. A previous tire must have rubbed on the fender. Is this something that can be fixed by myself if so how would it be done?

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Hi

QUOTE

I replaced the fluid, pressure bled the entire system and the brakes operate poorly. There is no pulling or pulsating, and the pedal feels fine there is simply not enough stopping pressure applied to the rotors. It is impossible to lock up the brakes, although the car will eventually stop I have to be extremely careful. What are your thoughts?

Have you ever tryed the car before, I don't know if you mean that this problems started after the flush...or....
I suspect that you are suffering from some 914 oem design flaws. The best/easiest way is a 19mm master cyl and steel braded lines. This is a must do on all 914 on the road. After look around at the various swaps out there, look hard at the BMW kit.

QUOTE

I noticed that the rear of the drivers side tire is at an angle the back of the tire is farther out then the front of the tire when compared against the fender and the other side of the car. The difference is so much that it would limit the choice of tire width as it appeared to be a problem for the PO. A previous tire must have rubbed on the fender. Is this something that can be fixed by myself if so how would it be done?

914 starts with a wheel alignment, a member here sells the shims, you can do it in house by following the routines posted in these boards, or have it pro done. I need to know your tire size.
Bonus of owning a 914, you will become very good at fixing your car.
Regards
Joe

I guess I posted when the pics were loading....
Nice wheels, looks well worth the effort.
If you need an interior theres one for sale in the classifieds.
Regards
Joe

Hey Joe,

Answering your questions:

There was no change in the braking before and after the pressure bleeding. I was told from a former owner/AX'er that the 914 brakes stock are very good. Also I restored many VW beetles in the past and these brake are much worse then the beetle with 4 wheel drums. I have a set of SS braided lines for a beetle, do you know if they are the same for the 914?

I currently have 165R15's all around, I will check for the shims.

Thanks,
Dan

QUOTE

There is no pulling or pulsating, and the pedal feels fine there is simply not enough stopping pressure applied to the rotors. It is impossible to lock up the brakes, although the car will eventually stop I have to be extremely careful. What are your thoughts?

Might want to look at the pads and rotors....glazed over pads will cause this

QUOTE

A previous tire must have rubbed on the fender. Is this something that can be fixed by myself if so how would it be done?

The Riviera wheels came with different offsets and will limit tire width...maybe the PO found this out...many 914's seem to have a little less clearance on the drivers side

Dan..you have a PM

Ya
It looks like some basics checks are in order.
Low quality pads that are ran too hard will loose permanently thier stopping ability. I would sugest you check your front calipers, if anything is wrong, now would be the time to look into a BMW conversion, this also takes care of the pads if you don't know what kind/ when the pads were changed, you can upgrade with the calipers.
I will do exacly this when I am finished my curent project.
I have the 19mm and braded lines already.
I have had/driven lots of VW and a stock 914 is close but needs even more foot presure. A stock system that can't lock the wheels is really not unheard of, very good/easy/cheap results with the above stuff. I had read a article in European Car mag (long ago) and the author was trying this swap on a 914, at the end of the article he wrote something like " if I knew about this brake setup before I would never of bought my 5000$ Wildwood setup" but I suspect he was talking in general about the new brake swaps that are out there.
Good post
Regards

Interior: I've got a full interior for sale...cheap too. PM me for details.


Brakes: I had the EXACT same problem, so I attacked the entire system. It's honestly NOT that expensive to replace the pads, lines and the master cylender. I think you'll have about $250 into a master, pads, hard lines, and new flexable lines. I was also told to replace the prop-valve in the rear with a "T". Get a tube bender and go for it. Took me about 4hrs to replace everything.

Also take your roters to any independent shop. Have them put them on the lathe, and grind them down. You'll spend $8-$10 per roter and KNOW that they are true.

Now I'm about 3 weeks away from actually DRIVING my car, so I can't tell you if it worked well or not, but FWIW, If it still isn't stoping, I don't know WHAT I'll do!

I took the front pads out and inspected them, they look shiny and have some grooves as do the rotors, what is the tell tale that the pads are glazed? Pics to follow

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rotors look rough. hard to tell if you will get one more turning out of them. the runout is an issue after a certain point. bearings while you're at it? easy to do while everything is apart. re: dirk wright disease.

k

Just checked a front rotor. It is at 8mm, 2mm below the minimum spec. I guess new rotors are in order. I will get them from paragon since they seem to be the cheapest any negatives/positives regarding paragon?

Paragon Brake Rotor

Is there any harm in using the original pads since they have a bit of life in them or should i just get another set?

Dan

Replace the rotors. Replace your pads. Replace the brake lines with OEM lines, NOT braided. OEM will swell before failure, and at least give some kind of warning of failure. Braided lines fail all at once. No notice, just instant no brakes. Porsche built their cars after much engineering. Why mess with success? Fix your brake to stock specs, getting them to work at their optimum. If you significantly upgrade your power, then think about upgrading your brake system. Fix it right the first time, then move on to something else. With these cars, there's always something else. Just don't scrimp on your brakes, they're one of the few things on your car that can kill you if they fail. Your life is worth too much to cut corners, or get caught up in the bling.

Yesterday I put the entire car on jackstands and checked all of the rotors, the are all 8 mm thick all under the minimum spec. so I ordered 4 rotors from Paragon along with new pads all around. Hopefully I will have new brakes/rotors on the car by the weekend!

Dan

Haven't done an update in a while but a lot has happened which I did not realized it until I typed the list into this post (also very glad the old post is back):

Back dated the entire exhaust
All air guides have been powder coated
Added sport mounts to the transmission
Replaced all shifter bushings
Fixed odometer
Replaced and fixed all interior lighting
Added a NOS drivers side door
Repaired drivers side window regulator
Replaced air box with a better screen
Reversed park on wind shield wipers (and lubed wiper shafts)
Cleaned fuel tank
replaced steering rack boot
Added Dash cover and repaired all loose material on dash
Added Camp914 seat adjusters (reattaching vinyl on the seats)
Added speaker pods and Boston Acoustic speakers
Added new sneakers (205/50 Falkens with Factory Sport Rim, biggest improvement in handling to date!)
Rebuilt Distributor and added new vacuum canister
Added New/Rebuilt wiring harness from Jeff
Rebuilt Throttle Body (still looking for some one to add brass bushings)
Added New TPS
Tune Up
Added new ignition switch
Added used visors
Added passenger side mirror
Repaired trunk latch
Added Eric's rebuilt rear calipers

Speaker Pod 1

Speaker Pod 2

Seat Handles

New Drivers Door

Solex, how did the new brake rotors affect your braking?

Zack,
I replaced a lot of parts, rotors, flexible lines, rear calipers and brake fluid, all have made braking where it should be, good pedal and stops very well.
Dan

Dan,
The teener is looking very good. Did you paint the door or did you have it painted? Looks very good from the angle you showed. Keep up the good work.

Mike

I had the door painted locally, they did an OK job but the price was a bit too high for the work performed.

Thank you,
Dan