updating brakes-whadayathink?

[speedo]

Am I better off while updating my 73 3ltr front brakes to....buy a set of s-calipers and new struts and use my rotors, or buy a package off a wrecked SC of calipers,rotors and struts and just bolt them up. I realize there is a modest weight savings with the s-calipers but...parts for the SCs are readily available. Am I missing the "something" obvious?

[nick-moss]

What struts do you have 3" or 3 1/2" caliper bolt spacing?

[speedo]

Nick I'll measure tonight.What bearing does this have?

[nick-moss]

If you have 3 1/2" then you can fit S alloy calipers, SC or even Turbo calipers to your existing struts.

[masraum]

One of the most important parts of any brake upgrade is the rotor. If you can increase rotor mass then there is more metal there to absorb heat which is a good thing. I have read (here I think) recently that the S calipers were wider than the regular calipers to allow for thicker pads when in competition. The benefit to this is that you can (again, I read this someplace) run normal thickness pads, and you then have room (just barely I imagine) to run the slightly thicker Carrera rotors.

Personally, I'd like to see this verified.

[Bill Verburg]

You can run S calipers on 24mm Carrera rotors. But you must shave off ~4mm of pad material to do so. There may also be some machining of the throat, its been years since I saw anyone try that setup. The lost pad material provides less of a thermal barrier to prevent boiling fluid.

The other issue is that you don't really make much of a gain by using the aluminum S calipers over the Carrera calipers which are designed for and derive full benefit from the thicker rotors. The pad area is the same in both calipers as is the piston area. The factory stopped using the S caliper when they found that they could save the same or more weight by switching tire brands. There is a benefit to the Carrera caliper over the SC caliper in that the thicker Carrera rotor can be used.

Which is why Nick asked about the mounting ears, all of the S, SC and Carrera front calipers need 3.5" ears.

[dbanazek]

Come down to see me if you decide you need bigger brakes. I am all out of struts right now but should be getting more soon. We are in Denver.

[RPMClassic]

call Dave at TRE. His big brake kits are awesome and the service is great too. He does something with Boxster calipers for the early cars for decent prices. Good luck.