Mild Oval brake setup

[MacBughead]

Hi all. I am new to this forum but am very impressed with all the knowledge and I'm hoping to learn a lot. I have some questions about the brakes I will put on my 1953 ragtop Oval. The engine will probably be a 1641 or 1835 Type 1, not as beefy as all the beast I saw here but my oval has her age speaking for her. I am pretty sure about the front, I'll go for a disk setup ( I still have a King and Link pin setup and do not want to change that ( I might go back to original some day :) ) For the back I read somewhere that type 3 drums would give me better stopping power than the original drums. What I am curious about is...
1) is this true?
2) if so, wich T3 drums do I need?
3) when obtained, how do i fit them, any specific instructions needed?

any help appreciated. Thnx

[Michael Ghia]

Hi and welcome to the German Look forums. Please post some pics of your '53.. I have one also and they're getting rare these days :)

You used to be able to get dropped spindles from CB Performance which went onto a Link Pin front end but then took Ghia disks... not sure if they still do them.
T3 drums... yes they are bigger than stock T1 stuff and certainly a lot bigger than stock 1953 brakes but after having fitted them and experienced the braking... I wasn't that impressed with the results. If I was to do it again, I would use disks at the back also.

You can find out more about improving your brakes at the PG website

http://www.performanceghia.com

Just for your info.. I don't know what the equivalent calipers are to the Talbot Horizon in the US. Someone here may be able to help... you'll know what I mean when you look at the site :)

Oh... one last piece of info... you could bolt on Porsche 356C front disk brakes... they'll bolt on and give you the Porsche 5 stud (130mm) wheel PCD. The rears will aslo bolt on but there are complications with the shocker mount.


Mike Ghia

[MacBughead]

Thanks for your reply Mike. Ill post some pic's as soon as I have scanned them. I looked at the performanceghia site and found a lot of useful info. But almost everything seemed to be for later model beetles. Will it be possible to make a porsche 944 brake conversiom with the original king?link pin setup? and for the back, I dont have the IRS wich seems to be needed? Since I have limited time and also limited technical knowledge, I prefer something that resembles a "bolt-on sollution" So may be the T3 drums in the back should be the way to go... or am I wrong?:confused:

[Michael Ghia]

You don't need IRS for 944 rear brakes... they also bolt onto Swing axle suspension.
The difficulty up front is with the bearing adaptors and caliper adaptor plates... if you can find a local machine shop who will do the work.. then it'll fit.

Are you looking at 5 stud T3 brakes or 4 stud T3 brakes? 5 stud stuff I haven't done but I recon it should bolt on. 4 stud stuff I have done but you'll need to cut off 15mm or so from the snout of the hub as the splined section of the rear axle is shorter on your car than on a late T3.

MG