Re: P-car brakes on a non-P-car

[DeWitt Harrison <de@aztek.com>]

On Mon, 21 Apr 1997 15:45:42 -0500 (EST), Mann Law wrote:

>If I am reading correctly, Ross had the Porsche brakes on a 5k, 
>and Scott is putting them on an UrQ.  I *would have* bet several 
>Franklins on the fact that such brakes would not fit--at least not 
>without major re-manufacturing work.  Would I have lost the bet?  

The difficulty of fitting big brakes is a function of the constraints
imposed either by the car or the builder or the budget. If there
are no body clearance issues and no objections to large diameter
wheels, then it's basically a matter of machining adapters to
mount the new calipers to the struts. You can fit 16" rotors if
you shove the wheels far enough outboard and peel away the
fenders (wings?).  If the car is race only, you can also throw
out the parking brake and do the same thing in the rear.

But most of us are constrained by considerations of street use,
wheel diameter vs. pot hole damage, fender / running gear
clearance and generally not wanting our cars to look silly.
Then the problem becomes carefully weighing brake size
against these many complications. For example, fender
clearance is particularly tight for the 5k series and made
worse by lowering the car (which increases the track
dimensions). Those 5k builders who opt not to modify their
rear fenders are forced to go big on wheel diameter. Small
wheel offset setups like the ur-quattro need not go as big in
diameter for the same rotor size.

Anyway, the point is: the rules need to be spelled out first.
Then bets can be made on how doable 13" rotors are.

DeWitt Harrison   de@aztek.com
Boulder, CO
88 5kcstq