I am looking for a decent brake solution for my 914. Currently the car has an 80's 911 front suspension and I purchased a set of 964 C2 calipers and Carrera rotors. I thought I was doing good until I saw the bolt spacing for the 964 calipers don't match the strut mounts. I found adapters but they require sawing the mounting tabs off the calipers and buying an adapter - to the tune of $1000+. So now I am considering selling the 964 calipers and going with a full set of Boxster units. Question is though, which ones do you go with? The Boxster S or non S? Or should I just scrap the idea of Boxster brakes all together and get 993's or something else? Maybe keep the 964's and redrill the holes? Know anyone who does that sort of work?

Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

930 (big reds), 964 and 993 brakes are 3.5" bolt hole spacing. So, you'd have to weld an adapter on for those anyhow. As for Boxsters... I think they are 3.5" spacing as well, but I'm not 100% sure.

are you sure your struts/spindles are off of an 80s 911? they should be 3.5 spacing, just like the C2 brakes.
or is your problem getting the caliper to center on your rotor? You may have to go to another Porsche rotor. I know when we did a "big black" up grade to a C2 a while back we needed an adaptor to get the big blacks mounted (they mount radially instead of axially like the C2 stock brakes) and we also had to use 928 S4 rotors to work correctly with the calipers.

im working on a non s swap right now...

930s are NOT big reds. They have 3.5" spacing. Bolt right on w/ early (<1980) turbo rotors.
964 have to have the caliper machined + adapters. W/ adapters, you can have any bolt spacing you need. (Note: I've never held one of these, just the information I gather from pelican and the pics)
993/S4 calipers require adapters but no machining. Use early (<1980) turbo rotors. (I've got a set of these on my bench)
Boxster calipers require adapters but no machining. Use carrera(84-89) rotors. Most say this is no real upgrade vs carrera calipers (though you can put boxster calipers on 3" struts becasue of the adapters)
Boxster S are 996 brakes. They also require adapters. No early rotor fits them easily. (I also have a set of these on the bench)

SMD

wrong... no one makes an adapter for 3".... and the ears get in the way of pad's and any adapter block....

I'll have to defer to your experience Aaron. I only have late struts. Are the 3" ears in a different location on an early strut? I've never studied one closely, but it appears they are just closer together. Why wouldn't the same tangential/radial adapter design principle work?

You are right - I have never seen an early 3" adapter 'off the shelf'. I always assumed because of the limited market and the relative ease of swapping to 3.5" struts.

SMD

craig downs and i are working on it.

this pic should show how everything gets in the way
they fit under all 15" rims i own, cookies, fuch's, BBS 15x6, 7 and 8

Call Rich Johnson in Texas. He make adapters. I do not know if he has them for 3" spacing on your struts. He may be able to make you a set.
Van914

Aaron, enjoy the rear adapters. Post some oictures when you are done.

Rich was the first guy i asked before mocking up the 3" setup above.., there is physically no room for an adapter on a 3" strut.... you have to mill off the ears, weld up a little thickness, mill it flat.. and THEN make an adapter.

Van - i sure will!
your wheels shipped this AM.

If you use 16 inch wheels and the adapters for the rear, plus carrera rotors, you can put them on the front. But it won't fit under 15" wheels.

that is the kicker - yep, rear adaptors on the front might get ya there.
gotta use 24mm thick carrera rotors anyway

clay - with 16" wheels, would that put the caliper too far outboard and not use all fo the pad on the rotor? - ie overhang?

I don't know. I discussed this with Wes one time, but we never pursued it. It is too easy to get the struts with the 3.5 inch bolt spacing.

Aaron,
That pic says it all. Tnx. The holes still looks to be in the same relative position to the 3.5" ears. I wonder if all the boxster adapters floating around move the caliper out radially like you mention and let the pads overhang. Not so good...



Im w/ Clay here;)

Just to be clear, everyone here is talking about non S calipers correct? What would the difference be with using S calipers? Do you need 28mm rotors? Will 24 mm work? Do they mount the same? Since I have 17" wheels I know mine will fit.

Yes, we're talking non-S.

The S/996 calipers take a goofy rotor (318x28). AFAIK, Nothing from porsche is going to fit. A 951 rotor MIGHT do it (299x28) if you are carefull to align the caliper just right to avoid overhang. I heard the OD of the hub can be turned down to fit a 951 rotors (but thats just what I hear). If you make custom hats, I suspect an aftermarket rotor could be found (but its a lot of freakin work;) Look up 996 calipers on here or pelican - Bill verburg and I had a discussion w/ lots of dimensions and pics. Someone here made 996tt calipers fit, but they machined down an aftermarket rotor.

FWIW, a 930 or 993 brake setup (both are 304x32) will yield more heatsinking than a 996 and far easier to fit.

SMD

I have boge 3.5" spacing struts, with carrera rotors, non-s boxster calipers, and spacers all fits under a 15"wheel.

yep... that looks like the TRE kit. thats the bolt on approach...

With that pic even with the 3.5" spindle and the adapters the calipers are still not all the way in . Looks like they have a overhang to

Any Idea when your s adapters will be ready and the cost?

i dont think craig or his sandrail shop friend will make em for sale, due to liability.....

after they are done, im sure we could share what they did.

Since the Boxster S calipers appear to be a dead end due to the lack of compatible rotors I'll focus instead on the regular boxster brakes. How do they compare in size to the 964 Calipers? How about to the calipers that will bolt onto the 3.5" struts (carrera, etc) Non turbo of course since they are priced like gold. I imagine the Boxster calipers are lighter but will they stop any better?

you dont gain a whole lot with boxster or 951 calipers, because you are limited in rotor size... carerra rotors are 4mm thicker than stock. not gaining a ton of heat retention/dispersion which affect brake fade on track cars....

if you went to a bigger rotor (hats and coleman/VCI/wilwood rotors) you can disperse tons more heat.... and run a mo bigga caliper

After we get done with these and test them to make sure everything is ok I'm sure
my friend would be interested in doing more. I could come up with a figure after
I get these 1st ones done.

I would be interested... If nothing else just to purchase the adaptor with guidance of what rotors to make them work or with rotors if that is how you decide to sell it... I figure I can go to the bone yard for the boxster S Calipers.

Is there a reason why no one considers running Wilwood calipers that bolt right up? Are they just too easy? Too much pad?

You can even get them with dust seals know too.....

I wasn't aware that there was a Willwood solution. Do you have a link? I guess the other question is how much? Most of the aftermarket products tend to be really expensive. We teeners are cheap bastards after all.....

As for cost, Wilwoods' are not expensive depending on which ones. You can buy brand new 4 pot Wilowoods' for $100-$120 all day long last I checked. They are also very light weight.

As to fit, someone that's adapted as set would best chime in.

Andys

as mentioned...

alot of wilwoods bolt up to 3.5"spacing...

I posted pictures of my setup. A search should find them. Pad area wise, they are as big as anything else out there. Calipers run around 125 bucks, there are over 20 pad compound choices. A full rebuild is not problem - you can get pistons for $8 each. Takes some work on the back, but I can get the brakcets to weld onto your trailing arms. Much better than the Boxster or 930 brakes.

You mean something like this:

I dont have any brake pad over hang on my boxster setup.
Just looks like it.

Not dead but few have used them. "Timo" has done the 996 and "Chris Julian" has done the 996TT. Both will share their info or you can do a search. Timo posted his drawing on Pelican BBS. "InstantG" sells them but makes them at his leisure and is very protective of his work. I have 996/Box S but need to have adapters machined and the correct rotors purchased. All three used different rotors. "InstantG" machines the hubs, see their website or do a search here. I may sell my 996 and use standard Boxster calipers with Rich Johnson adapters.