Re: Upgraded brakes in a 83 Ur-Quattro

["Lawson, Dave" <dlawson@ball.com>]

Hi Paul,
>
As a complete neophyte to the inner workings of a Ur-Q, I have been told
how expensive the Hydraulic system is to maintain.
OK, what makes this system so special?
Can it be upgraded to new brakes, bomb, pump, etc?
In what year were changes made to the brake system to harmonize with
other models (200's, V8's, 90 Series Coupes, etc) ?
Are there any Web sites  with juicy techno tidbits about Ur-Q's?
>

It's not real special, just some expensive parts. It uses ATF for a
fluid, so we get off cheap there. In the US, it was never changed over
to the 200/V8 type system. The ur-q uses the same p/s pump at the 4kq
and coupe gt, I know 1986 swaps over for sure here. The bomb is
available in the $60-70 range and is also used on a bmw app, 6 series I
believe. The hyd brake booster is where we take a hit, $700-900 new,
sportwheels rebuild them for $300, or you can rebuild them yourself for
$5 in o-rings and seals, some searching is needed to find the right
bits. I haven't priced out any replacement hyd lines, so not sure here.
If I need to do these I would fab some aeroquip lines. The master
cylinder can be upgraded to the aluminum 1in piece from the 91 200 with
a  spacer, I haven't done this yet. And as was recently pointed out, the
proportioning valve leaks from the inset torx cup, these run around $100
if I recall, or you can swap in an adjustable bias valve, tilton or
others are out there. Mine is in the toolbox, but not on the car yet.

The stock brakes are single piston front calipers and vented rotors. As
many know, you can bolt on the later 2 piston Girling 60 calipers and
use the later 5ktq/200 rotors which have a smaller diameter but are
thicker.This is a nice upgrade, BTDT on my ur-q. Braided stainless lines
are available. For the rear you can move to the  vented rear setup which
the 91 200/V8/S4/S6 cars have, I'm still assembling pieces for this
swap. If the above isn't good enough and you want to spend $1k-3k, you
can look toward porsche apps and even get into AP Racing 4 piston or
wilwood setups. I haven't yet heard of anyone with an ur-q using these
but am sure there are some BTDTs. There is one ur-q which is running
some sport q brakes, so the migration has begun.

Right now I am battling a nice size leak from my hyd system. I went on
vacation, parked the ur-q, pumped the brakes 40 times to discharge the
bomb and closed the door. I go out a few weeks later and find a 12in
puddle under the car coming from the rear of the engine compartment, I
know it is not leaking out the top of the reservoir. With the service
training manual and the VAG fiche copy (Thanks Jeff!) in hand, I am
going after this one real soon.
-
Dave Lawson
'90 200 TQW
'86 gt, for parts
'83 ur-q