BRAKES: What is a fair price on this set?

[thefaculty]

Hi everyone,

Not buying or selling. This is a question about fair pricing, hence my reason for posting here rather than in the parts forum.

I am upgrading my standard SC brakes to the larger 3.2 Carrera's. My mechanic has a set of 3.2's and the Reds but has yet to give me a price. Would anyone mind giving me a rough cash price ballpark on the sets shown in the picture so that I can gauge if what he comes back to me with is fair?

Thanks so much in advance!!

dK

[911 Rod]

None of those look like Carrera brakes, but what do I know .....

[thefaculty]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

None of those look like Carrera brakes, but what do I know .....

lol - kinda also why I am asking - I'm very new to this. My suspension rebuild went very well but was far more than ever anticipated. All work justified but I have no gauge to know if I am being charged fairly. Im sure I am but wanted to check on this next item.

[Cook&Dunning]

You can buy new Porsche Classic Carrera calipers for $US200-250 each. The only thing is they are silver color, not yellow cadmium, if it is a concours car. You can buy used calipers and have them rebuilt by someone like PMB - who are great - it will be in the same ballpark price. Shipping across the border is pricey. Just a couple of options / ideas

[thefaculty]

Originally Posted by Cook&Dunning

You can buy new Porsche Classic Carrera calipers for $US200-250 each. The only thing is they are silver color, not yellow cadmium, if it is a concours car. You can buy used calipers and have them rebuilt by someone like PMB - who are great - it will be in the same ballpark price. Shipping across the border is pricey. Just a couple of options / ideas

Thanks Vince - yes I was checking out PMB - looks to be a great option! Thanks!!

[thefaculty]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

None of those look like Carrera brakes, but what do I know .....

Would you take a guess at what these brakes (pictured above in original post) are so that I can research my prices by any chance?

[911 Rod]

Originally Posted by thefaculty

Would you take a guess at what these brakes (pictured above in original post) are so that I can research my prices by any chance?

The black ones might be 930 calipers. If so bend over.

Why do you need new calipers? The SC ones are fine for the street and entry level DE.
Now you need new rotors and master cylinder. I can see you dropping 5 grand.

[911 Rod]

I just read your build thread.
Spend on!! lol

[thefaculty]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

I just read your build thread.
Spend on!! lol

lol - well this is my issue Rod. My mechanic is awesome, extremely knowledgable and has a great reputation (I can PM you his name if interested) all the work he justifies very well. The story with brakes is that we rebuilt suspension and new rotors etc. He added larger rotors and said he machined the original calipers to fit them to the new rotors. Now that I have such uneven wear (see attached pic) from the older SC calipers he is advising that I step up to the 3.2 Carrera calipers because he already put on rotors that will fit them.

**Disclaimer: This is my first 911, I don't have any previous mechanical experience and I am learning a lot as I go - this is part of that learning.

What confuses me is 1st why (or how) he put larger rotors on and 2nd why I now need these expensive brakes. I am street driving this year (Canadian winter is coming) and would like to do some DE and days next year building up to some track days as and when I can. He is advising that these larger brakes will be good for those track days. FYI Bilstein HDs all round for a street setup based on his advise which I actually appreciate as the ride has been transformed and is bliss right now compared to how I received the car form the PO.

I trust my mechanic - he's a really great guy and his work is fantastic, I am just looking for reassurance that situations for upgrades are not being created. I'm not too sure what I am looking at here, if it is necessary, or if the expense is worth it. I am guessing he's gonna say this is a few grand and I see PMB rebuilt calipers available for $300-400 each.

Any and all advice is so greatly apreciated!! Thank you!

[911 Rod]

I have met Jay and he is a likable guy. He is knowlegable and respected in the local Porsche community.

PM sent

[gtc]

It would help to know exactly how he modified your SC calipers, and what kind of rotors he installed.
It sounds to me like he is wasting your money.

If you're looking for cost effective brakes for the track, the best thing to do (IMO) would be to have your SC calipers rebuilt by PMB or some other competent party, and invest in a brake cooling setup.
There are more brake threads on here than you can count... read a few threads with Bill Verburg or KTLs brake comments and you should have a better idea of what works and what the worthwhile upgrades are.

[thefaculty]

Originally Posted by gtc

It would help to know exactly how he modified your SC calipers, and what kind of rotors he installed.

Thanks GTC - yes Bill has been a great help in helping me to understand this. We have resolved it all and I understand now why we made the decisions that were made. A quick update to this is that last week we installed new 3.2 Carrera callipers front and rear to fit the 24mm rotors. My learning curve is that unfortunately my original SC callipers are now shot and not even good candidates as cores for a rebuild. However, got some nice new callipers on there now and I am very happy with them. I learnt from Bill that if I do track the car (which will now be next year due to the onset of Canadian winter) I'll need to add a p/v to balance the rear brakes but I am happy wit hate solve. It didn't cost a fortune and it has completed the suspension overhaul very nicely.

Thanks to everyone who helped me navigate all this!!!

[SalParadise]

The best thing you can do for brake performance is change the fluid regularly - something people like to skimp on bigtime.