Squeaky brakes

1.  Chamfer the leading edge of the pads at 45 degrees to about 1/4 their depth.

2.  Apply "Anti-Squeal" brake pad gel (available at NAPA or your local FLAPS) to the back side of the pad, let it cure for an hour or so and re-assemble.

That should cure it.

Nice picts  

What Gordon and Ray said. 

If there are no grooves that catch finger nail when you run finger nail across rotor and it isn't blue rotors should still be good.  Rotors can be cleaned like new on a machine lath. In VA Beach do they get a light rust just sitting a day or 2?  Light rust will cause a squeal too. New rotors will need bearing races installed so, yeah, new bearings.  Big choice of rotors for 914's from cross drilled, slotted, frozen, coated.  Is it possible your new BMW pads run on unused previously surface of rotor (since they are larger)?  

There are some grooves on the rotor.  They are not blue and they do not rust after sitting.  New pads do run on unused surface of rotor.  

What is the leading surface of the pad?  The upper portion of pad?

See photo where either end is chamfered..  The grooves will cause pad to squeak but if not too bad the anti-squeal compound on back should reduced (I use orange stuff).  The rotors can be trued up on a lath - cost is $15-20 each.  You can scuff up rotors with emery paper which might help too.

Thanks Wolfgang

Phil- Are the BMW calipers heavier than the 914?

Yes. They are bigger. 

Just a few more pics of my Charlottesville getaway, my riding partners and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Well that right seater is braving the elements with you Phil  

My right seater is Too Cold..  

Phil:  I still think your IM is one of the nicest looking I have seen.

Glad the trip worked out well.

Phil IM356D posted:

Yes. They are bigger. 

Are they heavier? Are they made of cast iron or aluminum?

Al. They are big iron calipers. 914 calipers are also iron. Even the M calipers for the late 60s 911s that will fit my car are iron. The only aluminum calipers that will fit my car (with some slight modification) were a very limited edition M caliper made by Brembo way back in the day. I've got steel wheels and big iron calipers. Still work pretty nice. 

The BMW 320i calipers give 40% more pad brake surface area (same as a 911) - for just a few ounces.  Go with drilled rotors and its probably an even weight swap.  Paint calipers red and it looks cool too.

From the Pelican article on this 914 conversion - perhaps another chamfer needed.

There is one downside to this conversion-the material on the pads is a wee bit too large (near the pins), and will wear "around" the outer edge of the rotor. One solution is to cut a taper into the edge of the pad using a rough file. If there's a pad that fits the caliper and rotor more exactly I'd like to hear about it. 

http://www.pelicanparts.com/te...914_BMW_calipers.htm

Drilled rotors I believe make more noise ... I opted for non Drilled on my car. 

Phil IM356D posted:

Al. They are big iron calipers.... Still work pretty nice. 

I thought they were, Phil, but just asking to make sure. I'm sure they're a great improvement! Al

Drilled rotors do make more noise, buy only when you step on the slow pedal. Not a squeak, kind of a whoosh noise. All 4 of mine are drilled.

I would take the rotors off, have them machined on a brake lathe, repack the existing bearings, belt sand the pads, put orange goo on the back, and try again.

I recently did a brake upgrade on the BMW for track use, and I spoke to the folks at Turner Motorsport (BMW aftermarket) about rotors.  They said that drilled robots are mostly hype and have a tendency to crack.  Grooved rotors are actually beneficial for hot gas removal, but only for heavy track use.  Regular vented roots are more than enough for street and occasional track use.  They could have gotten more of my money but didn't advise me to spend needlessly, so I believe what they say.  Some of my more experienced track day friends echoed the same thing.

Wife's '13 MB 250C Sport came new with drilled front rotors. She'd complain if they squeaked for sure - no squeaks or issues so far.  (Argh, it also has stagger wheel size so tire rotation is out). Only reason I mention for Phil was that he likes to drive the twisty, winding, mountainous Skyline Trail near VA's Interstate 81.  A gorgeous drive when the colors change.  Brakes are important as many miles of the road have no guard rails and a significant drop off.  For some reason the twists are at higher elevation - then there is a long down hill to a small town.  Without ventilated brakes (914/VW are solid) the rotors can heat up, glow red and boil the brake fluid.  So justification for the Madness of cross drilled rotors.

Brake rotor holes or slots help air ventilation and expel heat. Rotors will run cooler and cool off faster - Stock rotor will over heat sooner and stay hot. Slots increase brake pads bite - Stock rotors do not.

Once again thanks for all the great advice. As you can see my pads are larger than rotors in front and back but particularly toward the pins. Rotors nice and smooth. Champhered  the heck out of the pads particularly where they overhang the rotors. Put the lubricant on the backs and guess what. No squeaks. And it didn't cost me a cent. I think I'll probably have to do this every once in a while as pads wear down and pads start to overhang rotors. 

Btw when I took off the wheels there was a bit of sticky stuff on the left wheel hub. Does not look like caliper is leaking. Brake fluid looks good. Maybe some axle grease?

You can see where pad is overlapping the rotor near the pins - the Pelican article said to chamfer that side.  You can see where it has cleaned rust off rotor on outer edge of rotor. Is this the side with grease?  It looks like the hub cap is not pushed it squarely on left side (but might be camera angle) -

That's the side with the grease.  I agree.  Looks like the cap is a little off.  Guess I'll pull the wheel and take a look.  I probably would have done this before if I knew what chamfer meant.