What Brake Pads for Manual Brake Cars?

[David Borden]

Guys, Im looking for brake pad recommendations for early cars with manual brakes. I was just inquiring about a carrera brake upgrade and from what our resident expert Bill Verburg pointed out in another thread, is the carrera brakes will give me a thermal advantage... so not sure thats my solution.

I suspect many may have the same question, although I didnt find anything with a search.

My 74S with manual brakes has what I would call very poor brake performance. I understand manual brakes wont have the same response and intial bite of power brakes, but they should certainly be better than my current brakes. The car had been sitting for some time before my purchase so suspect it needs some help.

I know my brakes in stock form should be pretty good(its a Porsche after all), but as with anything, brake pad materials have come a long way and suspect there are some better alternatives in pad choices for manual brakes on a street car today.

I plan to either turn, or replace the rotors, replace the fluid and the pads. The car is strictly a weekend, back country roads car and at this time I am not planning on doing an DE with it. Although I may autocross it once or twice.

What I am looking for, is a pad with low dusting, good intial bite with reasonable pedal pressure.

What pads have others had good success with when used on a manual brake street car? I would be interested in hearing opinion on intial bite, dusting, require pedal pressure, etc.

David

[tonythetarga]

Hi David,
I think starting fresh with new rotors, pads and fluid is good but not good enough. I'd also replace the rubber OEM brake lines with new factory lines, rebuild the calipers and replace the master cylinder. Use good fluid and flush it every year. As far as pads go, I found the guys at Zeckhausen to be very helpful when I was looking for the best pad for my set up. You can find them here: http://store.zeckhausen.com/catalog/

Give them a call for their recommendation on a low dusting pad that still gives the braking you are looking for. My guess is that the pad is not the core problem but the m/c, lines and calipers. Turning the rotors gives you less mass in the rotor to dissipate the generated heat. New rotors are reasonable and the factory rotors work great.

Good luck.

[911pcars]

"My 74S with manual brakes has what I would call very poor brake performance."

Before purchasing a new brake system, please define very poor brake performance.

Sherwood

[masraum]

I really liked Axxis Metal Masters on my '88, but then it had power brakes. If you aren't going to be tracking, then start with a good set of regular organics.

A 74S with brakes in good condition should have great brakes. Porsche is known for brakes that set the bar that other cars are measured against. Even a '74 should have great brakes.

The non-power aspect is likely to bother some folks, but that doesn't mean the brakes aren't good.

Like Tony said, freshen the brake system before you spend a lot of money upgrading it. Replace all 4 rubber lines, the fluid, and possibly rebuild the calipers. Make sure you do a really good bleed of the system.

[David Borden]

Originally Posted by 911pcars

"My 74S with manual brakes has what I would call very poor brake performance."

Before purchasing a new brake system, please define very poor brake performance.

Sherwood

Guys, appologize for the delay. My auto notification doesnt appear to be working.

Tony, thanks for the tips, appreciate it!

Sherwood, I literally have to stand on the brakes to get the car to slow. Firm pedal, but there is just no bite. Its as though the cof of friction between the pads and rotors is very low. One of my other cars is manual brakes the they are quite effective.

Manual brake cars are the most sentive to pad material, so I wanted to get an idea on what pads people are running with manual brakes and what they think.

Would folks be willing to post what pads they are running with manual brakes and whether or not they are happy with them? OEM Porsche, aftermarket? Again, primary use is street.

David

[Steve@Rennsport]

David,

May I inquire as to what pads you currently have?

This is a HUGE factor with these non-boosted cars,...

[David Borden]

Steve, have no idea! I bought the car recently and there are no records of what the current pads are.

What is your experience on what works well on a manual brake street car?

David

[dagriff]

My '77 has no brake servo either.
I changed the fronts to Performance Friction carbon metallic.
They have worked out well, with no fade even at autoX.
One still has to push hard on the pedal though.
I would like servo brakes, only because I am not getting any younger & it wears your leg out!
Unless I get big sticky tires there seems little point changing anything else, as
I can lock all four now.
Griff.

[Steve@Rennsport]

Originally Posted by David Borden

Steve, have no idea! I bought the car recently and there are no records of what the current pads are.

What is your experience on what works well on a manual brake street car?

David

I would kindly suggest that you pull one out and look at the backing plate to see what they are. I think its important for you to know what doesn't work. I'd bet they are Textars,...

We have good luck with Ferodo and Mintex.

[tonythetarga]

Originally Posted by David Borden

I literally have to stand on the brakes to get the car to slow. Firm pedal, but there is just no bite. Its as though the cof of friction between the pads and rotors is very low. One of my other cars is manual brakes the they are quite effective.
David

Starting to sound like a siezed caliper(s).

[911pcars]

Sounds like glazed pads and/or rotors. If there were mechanical issues, the car might exhibit directional stability issues of some sort during braking.

Got a pic?

Sherwood

[Eric_Shea]

I agree with Tony. It sounds almost as if 1/2 of the pistons are not working. Sherwoods right... pictures would be helpful. Does it exhibit any directional stability issues? Meaning; does it pull to one side when you brake?

There's a bunch of good organic pads out there and there's a bunch of good opinions as to which is the best. Metallic pads won't sqeak but they won't stop your car either. So... ATE, Jurid, Pagids, all should be fine but, it sounds like more than just pads at this point.

My car is running S-brakes (w/Freodos) and it will throw you through the windshield... well, you get the point.