Brakes Brakes Brakes

[scampbel98]

I've looked at the kits from Vicks and Bayless and the like...
I get that the mounts are custom made - and wish I had a shop to measure and fab those up...

Is there no other sort of retrofit of modern components that makes this doable? Like from a Miata or other small car?
I see various size rotors 257/280mm and variations of single vs vented vs slotted - are these common or stock rotors also used for other cars?

Just curious and looking to avoid $500-$1000 to do brakes...
and.. if you're reading this and have done one of the aftermarket swaps - what did you do and was it worth it?

My example is conversions that can be done to convert early model Mustangs (66-70) to disc brakes using spindles and setups from Granadas.....

Thanks in advance

[djape1977]

why bother? just buy NOS fiat 124 parts and enjoy driving

[Tobi]

why bother? just buy NOS fiat 124 parts and enjoy driving

Try going 100 mph and than stop for a red light with NOS brakes!

[So Cal Mark]

my kit uses the new 500 front brakes

[djape1977]

why bother? just buy NOS fiat 124 parts and enjoy driving

Try going 100 mph and than stop for a red light with NOS brakes!

i did and had no problems. lucas discs all round and soft compound pads, coupled to 205/60/13 falkens

when everything works properly, 124 has excellent brakes. from my experience, people mostly drive fiats with dodgy 40 years old brakes and then want to upgrade to "something better". just fix the brakes properly, they're overpowered for a car of less than a ton as they are from factory.

[So Cal Mark]

while the stock brakes are adequate if they are in good condition, they ARE NOT adequate for continuos performance use. So, do you want to stop just once, or multiple times?

[Tobi]

I got brand new calipers, rotors, master and pads and they where fading when I stepped on them once. I will try the Greenstuff next spring, see if that helps.
Almost forgot, the brakes are coupled to 215/50 13 Sumis

[Tobi]

I've looked at the kits from Vicks and Bayless and the like...
I get that the mounts are custom made - and wish I had a shop to measure and fab those up...

Is there no other sort of retrofit of modern components that makes this doable? Like from a Miata or other small car?
I see various size rotors 257/280mm and variations of single vs vented vs slotted - are these common or stock rotors also used for other cars?

Just curious and looking to avoid $500-$1000 to do brakes...
and.. if you're reading this and have done one of the aftermarket swaps - what did you do and was it worth it?

My example is conversions that can be done to convert early model Mustangs (66-70) to disc brakes using spindles and setups from Granadas.....

Thanks in advance

There is another option but it is hard to come by. You could use vented Fiat Uno Turbo brakes but like I said you would have to get them from Europe.

[djape1977]

just get yourself a set of soft compound graphyte brake pads. it makes a world of diference.
most pads on the market are what we here call "made out of old bathroom tiles" , only good for taxi drivers
don't buy "racing pads" because they need to be very hot before they actually start "biting".

discs i'm running are made by lucas, back in the 90's, and are quite soft. last set was down to 9.5mm after 3 sets of pads but wear was perfectly even. i also use (when i can find them) lucas pads (again old stuff from the 90's) and i found the braking power to be far superior to anything else i have used so far. also, they cope quite well with repeated high speed braking.
downside is that they usually last me around 10k miles, and 5-6k on my fiat 132 which is quite heavier.

you might also want to try and change the brake balance a bit. rear brake compensator is set up for much narrower tyres. you can bend the rod that conects it to a rear axle so that more braking force is used in the back because your sumimoto's are capable of transfering far more stopping force to tarmac than original 165-185tyres the compensator is set for.
be very carefull with this though, because if you overdo it, rears will always lock up under heavy braking. bend a couple degrees and test drive it first.

also, you can get yourself a master cylinder from fiat 132/argenta which has a bit bigger inner diameter which will give you more pressure on the cylinders. it's bolt on to a 124 and can be bought on ebay pretty much always. pedal feel will be much nicer than originally, but it will be abit more dificult to brake slowly in the begining, you'll find yourself stuck to a windshield first couple times you press the pedal

uno turbo brakes are VERY popular upgrade for all fiats with 257mm discs in europe so they're hard to find and quite expensive. i couldn't be bothered to fit them to any of my cars so i can't tell you how it feels to drive with those.

all in all, get yourself a set of new pads, try them, and than report back

[divace73]

Just a note on Lucas pads, I have them on my car and they are very good, real happy with them, I'd go as far as saying they are just as good as some racing pads I've had in.....oh and I do track my car, check out my you tube channel below for proof..

[djape1977]

uno turbo brakes are VERY popular upgrade for all fiats with 257mm discs :

my mistake, i meant 227mm

[Daniel]

A few people on here race 124s in classes that require the cars to be more or less stock in it's configuration some
mods are allowed but the main components must be used. I would ask them what they did to the Fiat brakes see
if they can shed some light on this topic.

[SpecialTool]

why bother? just buy NOS fiat 124 parts and enjoy driving

Try going 100 mph and than stop for a red light with NOS brakes!

Your spider goes 100?

[Tobi]

Of course it goes up to 100 and it gets there pretty quick
I did not have the guts yet to see how fast it actually goes, there is to much police around here.

[djape1977]

if your's doesn't, there's something seriously wrong with it.

i haven't driven a spider over 180kp/h (around 112mph), and that was 2 litre with 10/43 diff. rpm's were very high, over 6k, so i guess it couldn't do much more than that.
to be honest, it ain't very pleasant, feels like wind is about to rip your head off.

i have driven a 124BC (coupe) up to 200kph (124mph) and that's a pretty much the same car. it had 1.8 engine and 10/39 final drive from 131.