BREMBO

[unplugged]

Going to 7/8" MC was initially a mistake. (Jury is still out when all is said and done) What I know now that I did not know then was how sensitive brake pressure is to MC bore size. The larger the bore the less hydraulic pressure there is. This is compensated for by going to larger caliber pistons. The trick to create a matching combination of these 2 pieces to give you the feel and pressure on the disk to give you the braking that you need. I beleive the MC change overshadowed any possible difference the dual diaphragm made so I can't really comment on if that is a worthwhile change to make. My reasoning for the MC/Booster change intially was mostly cosmetic.

Calculations I made after the fact I reported here:
http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... ng#p143194

Since the car has been made roadworthy again I have driven it in 3 different setups.
7/8 MC with stock calibers. I could almost not stop the car the brakes were so hard. It is possible that there were other issues besides the MC change that contributed to this.

I had been planning on going with a Brake Kit anyway so instead of troubleshooting this setup I ordered the kit and installed the new Wildwood Calipers. The kit used calipers with 1" pistons. The stock pistons are 1.8". The kit was designed for the stock caliper so I still found the braking to be extremely hard. I could stop but I really had to stand on the brakes to do so.

After I ran the number I decided to swap out the calipers for the same model but ones with the next size up larger piston. I also took up some of the play in the pedal. This is how the car is now. Braking is much improved but I still don't think it is where it should be. I will probably try the next size calipers next. I run the risk of running out of pedal travel with this next size. On paper I am OK but we shall see if that gypes with reality. This has been an expensive lesson but I hope to recoup some of the cost by reselling the calipers I eventually decide I don't need.

All of the above only relates to the front brakes. The larger MC also reduced braking pressure on the rear brakes. Prior to this thread I didn't see an option on how to fix this.

[Daniel]

I just watched a shoot out comparison between an Audi A 4 and BMW 335i the big mexican woman oops i mean BMW
had a stopping distance of 131 feet the Audi beat the BMW doing the same distance in 108 but this gave me an
interesting thought about coming back to this post to compare with what the factory Fiat 124 was doing back in the
day .

Motor Trend Comparison below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr3YrHMu ... re=g-all-u

Thanks to redline who posted from some old car & driver magazines tests

60 - 0 mph in about 135- 140 feet, on rock-hard hockey-puck tires

this doesn't look half bad after seeing what the BMW 335i did IMO .

[happybeachgoerm]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i63T0VjIr7k


Well this is a Waaaaaay Heavier vehicle...maybe we should get these brakes???

[Special]

One of the biggest problems is to find the rims what clear the calipers and look good
I tried a lot
Most of them don't clear the calipers or stick out too much
The first set barely cleared the front and it looks too heavy


The second one I like a lot , but they come in +10 offset only and they stick out about an inch


The third ones are the winners so far , maybe I'll paint them gold sometime


I don't have much time , but something is getting done
Just picked up calipers from powder coating


Everything is back together except for the brake hoses


Well , that's it for now








To be continued ......

[Daniel]

Nice The wheels look really good too what are they

[Special]

The wheels are BBS LM replicas 15x7.5

[Daniel]

next question where did you buy them ?

[Special]

next question where did you buy them ?

eBay - http://www.ebay.com/itm/15x7-5-Silver-W ... 12&vxp=mtr

[Special]

Got some goodies today -

[Special]

Finally got the adapters made . They convert from 4х98 to 4х100
And they are hub-centric and wheel-centric as well.
Front - 25мм , Rear - 35мм
Everything fits and works and I am happy with the results.

[fiat218]

Finally got the adapters made . They convert from 4х98 to 4х100
And they are hub-centric and wheel-centric as well.
Front - 25мм , Rear - 35мм
Everything fits and works and I am happy with the results.

Nice

[SLOSpider]

Man that is sweet. How is the braking with the stock master and booster? I did a quick read but was there brake line issues? What size are our hubs I see different number everywhere but so far I think 58.5? And what back spacing are those wheels?

Brian

[rodman]

Man that is sweet. How is the braking with the stock master and booster? I did a quick read but was there brake line issues? What size are our hubs I see different number everywhere but so far I think 58.5? And what back spacing are those wheels?

Brian

15x7.5 Konig Roller wheels with a Silver Finish. The Boltpattern(s) is 4x100. The Offset is 32 and the Hub Bore is 73.1 . But remember he used a set wheel adapters also It brought the wheels out more...

[Special]

At last I married original booster with Subaru WRX 1 1/16 in master cylinder.

It was chosen , because WRX has the same configuration like my car - 4 piston Brembos on the front and 2 piston Brembos on the back. So it should be OK .
I had to modify few things to make it fit.
The body of the master cylinder itself - mounting holes were off.
WRX m/c has a tank on top of it . And I don't have much room for it , so I joined the m/c with the original remote tank.

I made custom nipples and metal holder to hold them in place.


Original plunger was modified too - I made it about 10mm longer.

That is it for now.

[backyardbill]

Man, that is one bad ass looking sedan! Nice piece of work.