Paul Allen's BMW conversion calipers

[norustscott]

Does anyone have any experience with Paul Allen in San Antonio, TX and his BMW calipers?

Considering the purchase?

Thanks, Scott

[StratPlayer]

I purchased a set from him about 6 months ago and I must say it was a great buy and I'm very happy with the results.

[bander]

For what its worth, I got my 320i Calipers from http://www.bavengine.com/ for $40 each. They were advertised as used but with a 6 month warranty. They showed up in new silver paint, new rubber dust boot, and new pads. It blew me away. All of my flap's had a core charge of close to $40. For all of the other parts, I went to our pelican.

[bander]

Actually, I think it was these folks.
http://www.bmrparts.com/index.htm

[norustscott]

Looking for a machining short cut...bander, did these come machined for a post 1972 914? doubt it...my local machine shops did not want to deal with it.

[914GT]

Anyone out there like to speculate on how the BMW calipers on 914 stock rotors (I assume that's the case) compare performance-wise to converting to 911 calipers and vented rotors? Are the BMW calipers for fronts only?

Guy

[seventythree]

I have no experience with 911 brakes on a 914, but the BMW calipers on the front of a 914 are a lot more likely to lock up under panic braking. Unless you can remember to pump the brake pedal in a panic, and are very good at it, chances are you will end up with flat spotted front tires in a hurry. I am going back to the stock 914 calipers first chance I get.

[Will98D]

Just how many panic stops do you make?
Maybe removing the porportioning valve and using a T would help with front-rear balance.

Someone here reported in the past that BMW 2002 calipers bolted up without any additional machining. Any further news on how they worked?

[scotty914]

i am runniing the 320 i breaks and i love em but i am also running a 19 mm master and i think it is what makes it work very well because of the larger MC and break cylinder balance each other out

read the tech article on pelican about it is true

i can lock my fronts now if i try but i could not before if i stood on it and pulled against the wheel

i highly recommend it and i did the rebuild and a friend did the machining if you split the calibers it takes 10 mins to do both

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The 911 brakes are better, generally speaking. You shouldn't notice much difference in a single stop (frankly, the tires are likely the dominant factor there), but the 911 ones will hold up to heavy use/abuse much better. They have vented rotors, which will take away a lot of the heat a lot better than solid rotors can.

The extra fluid capacity and pad size will also help absorb more heat before the brakes start to lose their effectiveness.

--DD

[my15window]

I just took mine to rimco to have mine milled down. they had to make a special jig, and charge40.00$

[peter carroll]

I live in Md. and found a good place to get the calipers. (Salvo's) $55 each, loaded(with pins and pads) These are clean rebuilds ready to paint. Machine shop charged me $30 and said it was easy. Core charge was an additional $10 per caliper. $160 total Shop around!
Pete

[bernbomb914]

You can also use Volvo Ft. Calipers. They are duel pot and have much larger brake pads. they dont need machining but you align them with washers. I used the 240 brakes. bought them for $25.00 at the local pick a part. They were in good shape and didn't need rebuilding. Bought 2 tees as they have 2 lines going in. installed a 19mm MC and a tee to replace the porportioning valve They are very well Balanced and stop much better than the stock brakes. total cost less than $100.00

Bernie

[tat2dphreak]

Originally posted by Will98D
Just how many panic stops do you make?
Maybe removing the porportioning valve and using a T would help with front-rear balance.

Someone here reported in the past that BMW 2002 calipers bolted up without any additional machining. Any further news on how they worked?

they work great, but my car is a '72... the 320's wouldn't have needed machining either... they are a more stock look and they don't have pad overhang like the 320's but they do require a little more work IMHO... they have 2 hydrolic input spots, and both must be used, so I used a "VW Tee" fitting for this. that was over a year ago and the brakes are working great, even in emergency stopping!

[dave blackburn]

I did my conversion for about $50. I got some good calipers from the pick and pull for $20. Bought new hard brake lines and rebuild kits and split the calipers. Insted of machining I used a grinder to take off most of the material to be removed. I then used a large file, straight edge and micrometer to get the finnished surface within 0.004" of spec. It worked very well and took about an hour. I also replaced the prop. valve with a "T".
The brakes work very well now!!

[AJS]

Originally posted by bernbomb914
You can also use Volvo Ft. Calipers. They are duel pot and have much larger brake pads. they dont need machining but you align them with washers. I used the 240 brakes. bought them for $25.00 at the local pick a part. They were in good shape and didn't need rebuilding. Bought 2 tees as they have 2 lines going in. installed a 19mm MC and a tee to replace the porportioning valve They are very well Balanced and stop much better than the stock brakes. total cost less than $100.00

Bernie

Are these calipers opposing piston, or anvil type? What tee did you use, as I'm supposing they're metric. Did you try adjusting the proportioning valve, rather than removing it? Do you have any pictures of your installation....Lot's of questions, I know!

Thanks,

Andy

[sleepdoc]

Hi Scott

I bought my bmw fronts from Paul Allen. They were clean
properly machined and the deal went fine.

Best Mark

[bernbomb914]

andy I bought my tees from a914guy in Texas for$45.00 but you could use the vw tee for a lot less$. No I didn't try to adjust tho por. valvue. as I wanted the max pressure on the rear. posted pic on 914club.com some time ago. they had a long thread on the subject.

Bernie