Cheap brake upgrade

[sports racer]

Where do I find the thread on fitting Magna disks and Commodore calipers to a MK1?

Edit - No need, found it.

Cheers

Paul

[GRN_VAGN]

Still cant beat a GTi vented rotors and calipers up front, MK3/SEAT cordoba rear drums, and a Cordoba booster with Pulsar N13 Reservoir setup

[Jarred]

Still cant beat a GTi vented rotors and calipers up front, MK3/SEAT cordoba rear drums, and a Cordoba booster with Pulsar N13 Reservoir setup

I have to agree whole heartedly.

Can still keep it OEM, all under 13" steel wheels, and have enough stopping power to scorch most tyres and put passengers heads onto the dash board.

I don't know that the drums upgrades are nessecary, (never found the need to personally). Make sure you get the mk3/seat booster and master cylinder though!

[GRN_VAGN]

I have to agree whole heartedly.

Can still keep it OEM, all under 13" steel wheels, and have enough stopping power to scorch most tyres and put passengers heads onto the dash board.

I don't know that the drums upgrades are nessecary, (never found the need to personally). Make sure you get the mk3/seat booster and master cylinder though!

Forgot about the master cylinder,
And i think the drums was the best upgrade of the lot. Handbrake is amazing, and the whole thing just feels great.
I got a AUDI master cylinder on mine, same size as the 16V Mk2 i believe, 22mm??

[dubmc]

yeah i did the mk3 rear drums on the back with gti front setup/vented discs and bias valve to assist with the brake bias...but i think MK1's are so light in the back if you overhaul the stock rear drums they would be suffice..essentially you could use the extra couple of hundred bucks you will spend on the rears to get some wilwoods ha! or something of the like on the front, with a 16v rocco mc

[GRN_VAGN]

yeah i did the mk3 rear drums on the back with gti front setup/vented discs and bias valve to assist with the brake bias...but i think MK1's are so light in the back if you overhaul the stock rear drums they would be suffice..essentially you could use the extra couple of hundred bucks you will spend on the rears to get some wilwoods ha! or something of the like on the front, with a 16v rocco mc

I got my rear drums complete off a cordoba that had 120k on clock for $60 at the wreckers... its cheap,

[gldgti]

yeah i did the mk3 rear drums on the back with gti front setup/vented discs and bias valve to assist with the brake bias...but i think MK1's are so light in the back if you overhaul the stock rear drums they would be suffice..essentially you could use the extra couple of hundred bucks you will spend on the rears to get some wilwoods ha! or something of the like on the front, with a 16v rocco mc

the main advantage of the bigger drums is the awesome handbrakies you can do

[dubmc]

the main advantage of the bigger drums is the awesome handbrakies you can do

that too ahah

[sports racer]

I'm already running GTI disks on the front but my stopping power is woefull. The booster is still standard (and pretty rusty looking) so that's on the hit list. Anyone know if the booster and master cylinder from my 97 Polo will go straight on?

[Peter Jones]

97 Polo would be much the same as the Ibiza one. Should be adaptable.

Take a look at this.

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/f20/how-mod-late-booster-mk1-11689.html

[sports racer]

Yep, read that a few times in preparation. Great article.

One thing I can't work out is my Polo has really good brakes yet they aren't any bigger than the Golf's. The Golf by comparison has crappy brakes even with the GTI disks and calipers up front. I'm hoping it's the brake booster that makes the brakes so good.

[Jarred]

brake booster adds alot of feel back into the system.
Especially considering the mk 1 stuff, is about 4 centuries old by now, and most probably still original stuff.

Should have a bigger MC too, which will help give greater stopping force

[Campaign]

One thing I can't work out is my Polo has really good brakes yet they aren't any bigger than the Golf's. The Golf by comparison has crappy brakes even with the GTI disks and calipers up front. I'm hoping it's the brake booster that makes the brakes so good.

I think there are two issues of difference between the Polo brakes and Mk1 Golfs. Most significantly is the pull rod and bell cranks that transfer the action of the brake pedal across the car to the booster and master cylinder. A lot of feel or control is lost here. I reckon I can feel the rod bowing when I push the brake pedal hard - there is a sponginess when braking hard.
The second issue I suspect is crappy brake pads - cheap or non-performance pads that have too low a coefficient of friction - that require more shove on the brake pedal which then makes the pull-rod and bell cranks even more of an issue.

A cheap brake upgrade would be to put some really good pads on - eg Ferodo DB2500

[sports racer]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'll do the brake booster and pads first then build and fit a solid bar to replace the pull rod and cranks.