Just finished a full rebuild of the braking system on my 1982 308gtsi. Here's a few details you might find interesting. Front Brakes. The calipers are the same Ate calipers as on a porsche 911 with the 20mm vented rotors (1974 up to 1983). 1984 onwards uses a 24mm vented rotor - the Ate/porsche 911 rebuild kit still works (through 1989) however the caliper for the 1984+ 911s has a 4mm wider spacer. So, if your 308 needs new front calipers buy them for about $250 new through the major porsche parts houses and skip the $1,400/per f-car raping. Rear Brakes. The calipers are essentially the same as porsche 914/6 and are interchangeable. There are a couple of places that do nice rebuilds of these calipers for reasonable prices (about $350/pair) so, again, skip the $1,400/per f-car raping. http://www.pmbperformance.com/catalog/item/4741552/4786404.htm http://www.goldlinebrakes.com Master Cylinder. Superformance in the UK (www.superformance.co.uk) sells a basic rebuild kit for the master cylinder which is around $40.00. My calipers and master cylinder were actually all in good shape with no pitting or scoring on either the bores or the pistons, but nevertheless it was time for a rebuild. Superformance also sells rebuild/seal kits for both the front and rear calipers for a reasonable price. They also sell rebuild/seal kits for the internal handbrake mechanism for a reasonable price (about $20/each side). If your bores and cylinders aren't pitted then you can clean and replace seals in all four cornes and the master for about $150.00. Add pads to that (again 911/914 pads, no need for f-car parts pricing) and there's another $70 bucks for front and rears for a total of about $220.00. I basically did the same drill as shown here at Birdman's site (except I painted the calipers with silver caliper paint): http://www.birdmanferrari.com/service/caliperrebuild/index.html I also added Goodrich stainless DOT brake lines which were about $120 at TireRack. The existing brake lines weren't swollen or seeping but I wanted to replace with stainless as doing so made the pedal much firmer/positive. Overall, the car brakes much better - less pedal effort, much more positive/firm pedal, no pulling to the right or left. The handbrake works well too. Be sure the rear calipers are squared up on the rotor with the spacers you'll find between the calipers and hubs. Clean and lubricate the handbrake cable system. Set the clearance on the pads using the adjustment mechanism on either side of the caliper (4mm hex key IIRC). It took me a good 20-25 hours to do this job, but it was a comprehensive clean and rebuild of the whole system. Total parts and supplies costs was about $250.00. This beats the $3,000+ price tag that most independent shops would quote for a comprehensive brake system rebuild. Good luck! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Job well done! I'm gonna get to this on mine and do the a arm bushings as well. Did you have any trouble getting the goodridge ss lines to seal? I have heard some guys using these had to use the copper rings in the joint, but mine have been on the shelf for awhile and didn't come with any.
Hi Dave, Thanks. It's an enjoyable and satisfying job. Especially when you step on the pedal and it's a nice firm pedal that doesn't pull left or right... No problems with the Goodrich lines. I did replace the short hard lines between the calipers and the Goodrich lines with new. It's a tapered compression fitting, so, I don't see how copper seals/rings could improve things in any way to be honest. I'd recommend considering replacing the short hard lines at the same time you're doing the Goodrich lines as the taper on the compression fitting will deform over time eventually. Good luck and enjoy!
Hi Geno, sorry to hear that you might have had a bend over session already..... I don't know of a good counselor for that, however, going to a place like www.autohausaz.com and finding the same bosch part number (for example) for 1/10th the cost of the one in the yellow box with a horsey is pretty good therapy. Fuel injectors are a good example: $20 at autohaus, $150 through the dealer. Hang in there! The 308 cross reference thread is a good one to check first for any f-car part you have to buy.....
Hi Mike, I assume you mean the short hard brake line from between the outboard end of the flexible Goodrich line to the caliper? Nope, they're different - the p-car line is slightly longer but it's easy to gently bend the line into the right shape (that's what I did at least).
It is kind of funny, a local tuner place I visit for dyno work, one of the guys looked in the rear wheels and said, hey those are 914/6 calipers. Doug
I believe calipers are same. One thing I got caught on is the flex brake lines are different lengths. I'm think it was the rear ones that a change was made. T. Rutland (800 638 1444) did a great job helping me sort this and getting the correct parts. Superformance in the UK is also a terrific organization who knows these cars very well.
Nice work. Keep an eye on the brake lines. I put in Goodridge lines last summer and had one leak about a month after. The crimped part near the caliper dripped fluid when the system was pressurized.
nice work. I did the same thing a couple years back. bleeding the brakes so ALL the air was out took FOREVER. Seriously, it was like 10 times going around the car bleeding all the brakes until a stiff pedal feel was back.
Nurburgringer - thank you, will check and keep an eye on the crimp fittings. John, that'll keep you busy! Yup, for whatever reason those 308 lines and calipers aren't easy to get full. I do have both a pressure and vacuum bleeder - having and using both tends to help in this regard. Thanks.
I used the pressure bleeder for a while, but I found I *had* to have someone pumping the pedal to get the niggling pockets of air out. Nothing can substitute the pressure from a good foot in the cabin
I'm rebuilding my front calipers now. The left front was dragging and it turns out the piston is pitted near the top. What a bugger trying to pop it out! Anyway, has anybody ordered a new piston from a Porsche suppier? Have a name & number? My local shops are pushing me to go with a rebuilt caliper for about $80 (I'm assuming from above it would be a 1984 911 non-turbo) because "Nobody rebuilds calipers anymore". They'll try & hunt down a piston for about $40 for me. So somebody chime in with a place they actually bought one? thanks in advance, Clyde M.
I did this trip a few years ago, The rears were interesting to rebuild to say the least, getting that spring back in IEEEEEE! the rear guts are the same as 914-6 but the e brake is not exactly the same. The fronts are really basic to rebuld, I actually got all the parts at NAPA & were in ATE boxes, including the pistons. The kits were under 10 bucks & I believe the piston was 14 or so . This was in 2007
A bit more information here. My master cylinder had some very minor pitting on the bottom of the bores - just one or two small pits that you could barely even see/feel, however, any pitting at all will quickly destroy the piston seals. So, I had my master cylinder cleaned up and re-sleeved in brass by Goldline Brakes in Seattle (www.goldlinebrakes.com). They did a super nice job of the sleeving - the fit and finish of the machine work is first rate - and they did a great job of cleaning up and re-finishing the body. The owner (John) is a pleasure to work with and the cost was reasonable - about 1/3 the cost of a new replacement and you still have a MC which will pit over time. It was fun getting the MC out and back in with the booster still in the car! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Excellent job Cliff and thanks for the plug. You are so correct on the calipers and the raping going on here guys. These are standard ATE A-Calipers and Wide A-Calipers (with the 24mm rotors). Dime a dozen in 911 world and we restore them for about $249.00 a pair. New zinc and all. The rears are a bit more rare. The only real difference is the bleeder position and the spacers (which are the exact same spacers in a 911 rear m-caliper from ATE). One thing I will say, you will very rarely ever have pitting of the pistons and bores on these steel calipers. The 908/S-Calipers had a nickle plating to avoid the dissimilar metal fusion of the AL caliper and the steel piston... those flaked. Curious to know... has anyone put an S-Caliper on their Ferrari? Seems like this would be an awesome mod for you guys. It would save you almost 10lbs. of un/semi-sprung weight. Same pads (only thicker for endurance racing) and same piston size. This would be a very cool "Bolt-On" mod. These are the decendents of the famous 908 caliper. Made from the same casting. One of my favorites. Enjoy: Early models (69-72) Later Models (73-77ish) (Gino... are you a guitar player?)
