Brake Upgrade

Mike.......Did you use the new Wilwood rear set with  parking brake ability ?........Bruce

Very cool, Mike!  Are you using DOT 3 or DOT 4 brake fluid?

PS- dropping 6 lbs a corner is A LOT!

Bruce, I stayed with drums as my body is a CMC and there is a lot of work entailed to get the clearance I need to stay with my tire choice. I looked into narrowing the trailing arms and shorter axles but decided at this time the fronts would get the result I needed. A few years back I had brake fade in the mountains on the Dragon and upgraded the front rotors to drilled rotors and this solved the problem. With the new calipers I can now feel the point of lockup on the fronts.

Al, I'm using Dot 4 silicone and I usually flush before Hooning in the fall.

"...before Hooning in the fall."

I'm sure you mean "responsible driving and adult camaraderie."

@MikelB posted:

I finished my brake upgrade and changed out my Varga discs for a set of Wildwood and not cheap but better than trying to do the rears.

Mike, I was looking at those calipers as they are direct mount to the disc brake spindle.

Is this photo before or after using the wilwoods?

I notice that your rotor has shiny surface swept depth (red arrow).   There appears to be a band about 12mm of unused rotor near the ID of rotor face Green arrow.   So my question about the wilwoods is that red swept depth from the Varga pads or the Wilwoods?    I'm asking because you will generally get better braking and less hot spotting from pads that cover the entire swept depth of the rotor face (blue arrow)  which it sort of looks like the wilwood pads may cover more of the rotor face.

  @MikelB- Very good, Sir!  A question couple of questions- isn't DOT4 the same glycol base as DOT3?  It's my understanding that you don't have to worry about contamination (like you do if you go to DOT5, which is silicone based) when you switch from 3 to 4.  You obviously want to completely flush out the old to take advantage of the higher boiling point of the new.                                                                                             

And @Wrenn Smith's observations lead to another question- I was under the impression the  Wilwood caliper used the same sized pad as the Varga- did you notice if the Wilwood pads were the same, different shape but same area or larger?

Also, you had me drooling (I had another expression in mind but decided to keep the post family friendly) when you mentioned "much lighter by about 6lbs per wheel" but I looked at your pics again and realized that's a typo- it's just short of 3½ lbs per side (6lbs 1oz minus 2lbs 11oz equals 3lbs 6oz).  Still very (and I do mean VERY!) impressive!  Any time you're trying to lighten a part you can expect 20- 25% weight reduction if you're fairly diligent.  If the pieces are small enough you're not even measuring in ounces, you're working with grams (28.2 grams= 1 ounce- it all adds up- did you see Dave's key in the Saturday Morning In the Garage thread?).  I can't tell you how many pieces you'd have to re-work or exactly how long it takes to remove THAT much weight- 3lbs 6oz- by drilling/grinding, but (trust me) you'll be at it for more than an afternoon or 2...

Is that a spacer on top of the hub?  How long is the exposed part of the studs?

I would add to only use Dot 4 or Dot 5.1 glycol base brake fluid in your car.

The experience I had with silicon based fluid was at high altitude, I had no brakes.!! I didn't know it at the time but my car was being built and the guy used silicon brake fluid because it wouldn't eat the paint if it was somehow spilled on painted parts. This is very true !! However, I learned that the brakes will not work when you are at high altitudes. I was going over Donner Summit in California in my 32 roadster on my first cross country drive when I discovered I had no brakes coming down the grade toward Reno, NV. I used my transmission to slow me down as the pedal went right to the floor. I got to a level area and stopped using the emergency brake. One of the guys who was traveling along with me pulled over to see what was the matter. I told him I had no brakes coming down the grade. He suspected I had silicon brake fluid in my system. We pulled the carpet and got to the brake fluid reservoir. He removed the cap and put his finger in and then took a taste of the fluid and said, Yup silicon !! He said you will get a pedal as you get to a lower altitude, just keep checking your brakes. I drove to Reno and found a place that would bleed my brakes. I used alcohol to clean the system and added a fresh batch of Dot4 glycol brake fluid. Never had another problem but learned a lesson about silicon fluid and high altitude.

@ALB posted:

  …exactly how long it takes to remove THAT much weight- 3lbs 6oz…

According to my calculations it’s 1 salad w/vinagrette dressing vs a burger and fries w/a milkshake twice a week for a month.

@Wrenn Smith posted:

Mike, I was looking at those calipers as they are direct mount to the disc brake spindle.

Is this photo before or after using the wilwoods?

I notice that your rotor has shiny surface swept depth (red arrow).   There appears to be a band about 12mm of unused rotor near the ID of rotor face Green arrow.   So my question about the wilwoods is that red swept depth from the Varga pads or the Wilwoods?    I'm asking because you will generally get better braking and less hot spotting from pads that cover the entire swept depth of the rotor face (blue arrow)  which it sort of looks like the wilwood pads may cover more of the rotor face.

Unless my eyes are deceiving me, the area with the green arrows is an indentation.  

@dlearl476 posted:

According to my calculations it’s 1 salad w/vinagrette dressing vs a burger and fries w/a milkshake twice a week for a month.

Wren, the area in green had surface rust so I just hit it with some sand paper but it is pretty much level across the entire surface as these rotors probably have about 3k on them. The Wildwoods cover more area but not all and I didn't dye them to find out but it will show up when the untouched area rusts a little.

Al, your correct about the weight as the 8 that I saw was a six. The spacers were used for the rears as the spindle heads were contacting the Fuchs center caps and pushing them out. I just did the fronts as well to try and keep the trac balanced. I have plenty of thread to engage my lug nuts.