Help! Standard Brakes + £1000 = ?

[waveydavey]

I’ve also got the annoying “achtung!” auto-check thing flashing at me on start up, so I’m thinking the bomb is going to need doing sometime too.
Cheers.

I had this with my avant when I got it last year. Changing my hydraulic fluid has stopped the flashing and I haven't had any more problems. It may not solve your problem but for under a tenner it's worth giving it a go before you start splashing out big bucks for a new bomb or servo that you might not need.

My local garage said you never change the hydraulic fluid but mine was filthy black with lots of crap in it. Very probably original with 130,000 miles behind it. The new Goo2000 is a lovely green colour.

The procedure is covered on the www.20v.org site. It's not difficult and should only take fifteen to twenty minutes so it's worth a try. The only 'special' tool you need is a turkey baster, just don't put it back in the kitchen after using it.

[4WheelDrifter]

Don't drive it with a bulge in the pipe. If you do an emergency stop it will burst!!!!!
The pins are on the inside of the caliper and will catch on the disc if you don't fettle them.
400mm hardline is the stiff brake pipe from the caliper to the mounting lug on the hub where it joins the rubber covered flexi brake pipe.
Just don't drive it with that pipe in that condition.

Ta for the explanation.
Don't worry, I'm not driving it. No MOT. I should've hung on to my cq20v longer!

[Lee]

There are a number of very cost effective options for improved braking on an S2. They don’t all have to be crazy like my personal setup and it does depend on your budget and expectations / driving style.

Get the hydraulics checked out first as a bad system will not be cured by upgrading other components to compensate. With all brake upgrades, pads, disks and fluids can be as important as the choice of caliper. The setup which used Porsche calipers, RS2 brackets and A8 rotors as mentioned earlier is a fine solution for most peoples needs and could very well come under your budget. Don’t forget to leave £150 or so for Ferodo DS2500 pads and decent fluids (I have a few brands that I would recommend and they are available through most UK auto factors for little money).

Alternatively, if you find a decent caliper at a breakers yard many custom solutions are possible. The price of custom brackets is around the same as that of new RS2 ones so if you find another caliper there may be other very good options too. The A8 disks are good as they are so cheap and available from places like GSF for a stupidly low price. I have to pay £500+ for new disks for my setup. Disk attrition is reduced if you run larger brakes though.

[4WheelDrifter]

Thanks Lee. I think your set up is probably a little too extreme for me. I’m not sure of the knock on effects of all that braking force! It would be a bit beyond my budget too, having to get wheels bigger than 17” It’s a shame my other coupe had 4 studs, I had 18”s. I do like the look of the RS2 wheels though, even if mine are fake!
A larger disc wearing slower is a plus side I hadn’t thought about. Bonus!

Well, for an MOT pass I’m going to need new discs, pads and hoses, so this seems like the time to do an upgrade.
So I’m on the look out for a pair of second hand 996 callipers. I guess none of these should be too old, so pistons and seals shouldn’t have had too much grief. If anyone knows of anywhere I can get some, feel free to let me know.
What brackets will I need to use these with the A8 discs? Off the shelf, or custom? Has anyone got a P/N for the discs?
I’m also looking at changing all the fluids too. Once I’ve checked that the hydraulics are ok. It seems a good idea. How much Goo2000 and DOT4 am I likely to need?
Does anyone know where to get stainless steel brake hoses? I need a full set, front and rear. The guy at Goodridge hasn’t got back to me yet. I’m not sure of fitting types or threads needed for this set up.
So many questions! But I’d like to get everything sorted, as workshop time can be limited. So I’m hoping to get everything ready before I set to it. Or is this a bit ambitious?!
I’m sure it would be easier to buy an upgrade in kit form, but normally at a price.

Thanks to all of you, for your help so far.

[Lee]

Get down to Halfords and buy 2 litres of Castrol Super Response DOT4. I used this for 2 years on my monster setup with no ill effects after blue disks (700C+!!). My disks are permanently quite blue but I use my car hard. The fluid I have mentioned here is £10 per litre from the high street. Use 1 litre to flush our the old fluid and the other litre for a proper fill. It sounds wasteful but it ensures that all the old fluid is removed and you have only fresh stuff in there. Do the fluid change when you are fitting new calipers. The PITA with bleeding brakes is getting to the clutch cylinder which runs off the same system. It is worth bleeding this at the same time but access is difficult and expect some bloody knuckles! No tricks like energising the ABS are required on the S2 when bleeding. I am more than happy to help if you require cutom brackets but you would have to seek guidance from other members for which brackets to use for a completely off the shelf solution. I can work out bracket dimensions for a given disk/caliper setup if I have the dimensions from the hardware (either supplied or I can measure from real hardware).

If you tell me what threads are on the calipers I can give you a price for braided lines. I have a few asking so if there is commonality I can pass on any cost savings! Are they normal M10 hydraulic threads like the AP calipers? I have the dimensions for the rear setup already. My set was really cheap but it depends if you want plated or stainless fittings. Stainless fittings are more expensive. I went for plated to test their durability. And although now pretty corroded after much use and harsh conditions they are still as integral as they were when new.

Lee

[4WheelDrifter]

Cheers Lee.

I'm not looking forward to that clutch bleeding job. Thanks for the warning. Nor am I looking forward to getting the old hoses off. I'll see how it goes, but by the look of them, it'll be a hacksaw, MAP gas and a ring spanner job.