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Date:         Thu, 27 Mar 1997 00:23:04 +0000
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         vwbus@netbiz.net
Subject:      Upgraded Brakes Bus/Vanagon?

An article this month in Euro Car got my mind wondering a little bit, no one is going to argue I'm sure that late Bus and Vanagon brakes could not use a little upgrading, well the article details a cheap upgrade to Porsche 914 brakes instead. The 914 uses an ATE caliper very much similar to the Vanagon, the primary difference with the Bus being the inlet of the hydraulic pipe. Now the upgrade is the fact that early BMW 3 series calipers are a direct bolt on replacement for earlier 914's and fit with slight machining for offset on late 914's. The interesting thing is that even though the caliper is much larger physically with a larger piston for greater hydraulic advantage and larger pads, the mounting holes line up, so why not maybe the same mounting on Buses and Vanagons I wonder. Anyway the '85 needs new calipers anyway, the 914 and 3 series used 14"? or 15"? wheels so the disc size may have been similar as may be the mounting pattern and offset, as the 914 seemed to use the hub integral in disc system like a bus, hence again maybe offset OK as well and slight machining or spacers not much of a problem anyway. Anyone with a 914 want to help or conjecture? I think I'm going to go looking for a junkyard 3 series caliper to find out anyway. A little more clamping force and fade resistance would be real nice for a Van particularly, now the Bus install would require a bit of piping changes. Anyway may not even be worth it, I'm going to look tomorrow at the size of the pistons in the Bus/Van calipers as the "upgrade" size was listed in the article but slips my mind here.

John vwbus@netbiz.net


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