What caliper, brake pad, and rotor setup do you have? Original ATE, Textars, solid rotors? Later year calipers, vented rotors, drilled rotors, stainless steel pistons, another brand of brake pad, or ???

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From: Graem Elliott;  Up front I have 911S aluminum calipers with Axxis Metal Master brake pads. In the rear there I am using the original set up. All this is attached to a 911SC front suspension with Konis front & rear. I also have stainless braided brake hoses and a 19mm dual brake master cylinder. This set up is completely original all Porsche parts and I recogmend every one do it because it makes a great car that much safer

From: ASUJerry;  would like any and all info for 68 912 replacing calipers and rotors. currently stock with solid rotors. what years are compatible? what years will bolt up and that would be most common to find? anybody out there that has had luck rebuilding calipers? thanks in advance ASUJerry@aol.com

From: Patrick Van Asbroeck;  Rick, Made a ride some months ago when I noticed she was slowing down in neutral when coasting downhill and not touching the brake pedal! Drove home and off went the wheels. Original ATE. On the front side the pads were worn very unevenly+ each side had one cylinder locked solid! Removed the pads and made a piece which went in between the cylinders so that one cylinder was kept in place while the other one could be pressed out. Used the brake pedal to generate the pressure needed to pop them out. Worked well but needed to buy some more brake fluid then expected. Anyway the system is well flushed now. The dust seals were all well detoriated . Removed some surface rust and dirt from the cylinder and cleaned everything out with a rubbing sponge my wife uses to wash the dishes. Pads at the back were worn evenly. Cleaned and dust seals replaced. Finding repair kits was not easy. In the end found a shop who could deliver them from FAG. Kit for the front :RKS4801 (48mm cylinder), backside: RKS35100 (35 mm). Each kit comes with a pair of dust seals with push-on ring and oil seals. If you buy them don't forget to ask for a tube of special assembly grease and read the repair instructions! The step in the cylinder at the side which pushes against the brake pad needs to be fitted under a certain angle relative to the rotation of the discs.  When torquing both halves of the brake back together (don't forget the small oil seal) one of the screws broke! For safety I replaced all the screws with high tensile Allen ones (12.6 imprinted on them) The originals came with 10.   Patrick

From: Robert Burn;  With respect to the QOM, I am still running the opriginal ATE equipment.

From: Richard Frey;  Rick, I have not upgraded my brakes, but have recently rebuilt them. About two months ago I noticed a slight initial pull to the left when braking, but was easily corrected with just a twitch of the steering wheel. So I think to myself "I need to look at the brakes soon, since it had been about a year since I had changed the fluid". Then about two weeks later I had to rapidly decelerate on the highway, then continue on my way. Within about ten minutes I noticed a nice cloud of white smoke trailing my lovely 912. Quickly exiting and stopping, the right rear wheel was engulfed in smoke. So how hot does it have to be to smoke? Touching the wheel with one finger, I learn it is hot enough to burn.
So what was the problem? The flexible brake line had swelled shut and was not letting any fluid into the caliper, hence the pull to the left. One good hard application of the brakes forced fluid into the caliper, but the hose would not let it back out. Total cost? One warped rotor, one caliper with charcoal for seals, one set cracked brake pads, one flexible hose. Done one side, so got to do the other, right? And the fronts too.
I suggest anyone with old rubber hoses replace them. They are much cheaper than rotors and calipers.
Richard Frey,  Hawaii

From: brian reynolds;  Dear Rick,think i have original brake set up. pads are still in good shape. just had new struts and shoxs put on. keep up the great work this is by far the best web site on porsches. brian

From: William Todd;  It is the same for any Porsche 1969-on until the really big, fat and heavy duty drilled and relieved Turbo-rotors show up later.
If you have any later Porsche books (now, admit it, you do-- you rascal you!) they are indicative of the brake pull setup for the Ebrake. I just added spacers to move the hub/drum outboard on my 912. I know the "banana arms" changed on the '69 & on cars, so maybe there are more differences between the '66 912 arm as compared to the '69 & on arms, I'm not sure. I think my car is a '68 chassis and engine combo. It is not a '66, and it may have been salvaged. I found mud, indicating submersion in places where it could only get in from the top. But the '66 thru '68 were supposedly identical. '69 was the change in wheelbase and suspension/brake components.
Another thought is that the Ebrake drum may have changed too. I'm not sure about the drums on the two differing suspensions, and do not have a Parts Manual or microfische set up handy to verify.
When I did the rear's it was a bit more of a hassle over the "bolt-up" on the fronts. I was not expecting to have to modify the rear at all, since nothing was stated in Cypress, except about a small spacer. (I
call it a "dog-bone spacer" that picks up the rear caliper mount bolt pattern.) When the caliper was mounted, the drum and rotor needs to be centered in the disc area, otherwise the brake tends to apply to one side more than the other, resulting in uneven pad wear, premature wear for one side, and reduced braking effectiveness.
To get the brake shoes for the Ebrake to center, and the disc to center in the calipers, the spacer was necessary, otherwise you have almost exactly 1/2" gap between the hub and drum--read:--bad news- shears bolts really quickly! Doesn't bolt down well! The spacers put everything in relation and are easily done.
I bought the spacers at PP in Van Nuys, and took them to work, where a machinist reduced the OD by about 3/16"-1/4." They just fit inside the rear drum is all that's necessary. I recommend their spacers, but you may have a machinist friend that could lay-out the correct bolt circle and diameter on a piece of 1/2" aluminum plate. I also added a gentle radius on the edges where the plates contacted the drum. I assembled it all with homemade aluminum foil gaskets between the cast iron & steel pieces and the aluminum parts. In case any dissimilar corrosiion starts, it's on a throw-away gasket rather than weakening my wheels.
Clarify or confuse?
Regards, Bill

From: atk133; I run the stock rotors and calipers, but use carbon kevlar pads on my '67.  Have upgraded to a dual master cylinder. Dave A

From: Mark Price; Since I work for Performance Friction Corp (makers of Carbon Metallic brand pads) I use them. I use the PFC Z-Rated pads on my 912E both front and rear on my car and they are a great upgrade. I am also playing with upgrading to a BMW 320i front caliper setup which has a considerably larger piston/pad area than the stock 912E. I won't recommend it to anyone yet until I can get the balance right as it's not stopping much better than the stock setup, but I am playing with it ( the fronts are having a tendency to lock early and I'm trying to determine if it is the fault of this set of calipers which I rebuilt myself). Stay tuned and don't spend your money yet, but if it can be made to work properly it could be a cheap upgrade and I'll let everyone know.
- Mark Price

From: Jeff Trask;  My '66 has stock brake pads(they seem to fade a little under abuse), stainless brake lines, solid discs. Pedal seems to be about right height and very firm(those brake lines). I am very interested in what hard users(autocrossers, road racers and canyon runners) have to say regarding brake pads. Jeff Trask NO911NV@aol.com

From: Rich Lambert;  While setting up the braking system on my '68 912 vintage racer I stayed, for the most part, with stock components. The only non-stock items I used were stainless steel brake lines, Ate Blue brake fluid, and Repco-Metal Master pads. The solid rotors and iron calipers are plenty strong enough for the 912's weight, even in at racing speeds and I doubt vented and/or cross drilled rotors and alloy calipers are vintage legal.
When I did the brakes I used a new dual circuit master cylinder, new reservoir and rubber lines, rebuilt the calipers (do NOT split the calipers, you'll never find the little rubber washers), rebuilt and honed the brake cylinders, removed the backing plates, had the rotors turned, and cleaned everything. In three years I never noticed any brake fade during races.
Rich Lambert

From: Jim Ralston;  I purchased the spacers, bolts, pins, seals and venter rotors from Porsche for a '67 911S and set my brakes up that way. Use Porterfield race pads and Motol fluid, have not added any ducting . The brakes have held up this way even running a 2hr endro last year. Jim Ralston 912 (built dec' 67) '68 model

From: William Todd;  Hey!  I got tired of having brake fade with my solid rotors on my '66 912, so I decided to upgrade. In the Cypress 912 book, page 2, it mentioned converting the brakes to later ventilated style.
Scrounging at local swap meets and wrecking yards got me the calipers. I really wanted aluminum calipers for the front to reduce the unsprung weight of the front suspension, but they are near impossible to find, or they are so prohibitive in cost when you do find them, that cast iron calipers are now installed. I still look at all swap meets for the aluminums though! Never can tell.
I used new rotors from the 1969 911/912 F&R. I scrounged a larger rear caliper set from 1) 911S, and 2) a 914-6. These have larger pistons and the pads are somewhat bigger, gicing you a larger "swept area' for even better braking over the stock set-up.
In the Cypress book, it gave me the Porsche p/n for a small "Intermediate plate" that goes between the caliper and the rear control arm. I fit everything up, but did not have an emergency brake that functioned fully. This was due to the increased width dimension of the rear disc.
I got around that by getting 2 spacers (each 1/4" thick) for each wheel from Performance Products in LA. This spaced the wheel out in total 1/2" giving the car a total wider stance of 1". It worked so well that I did it to the fronts too. As I recall, I had to turn the OD on the spacers for the rear about 1/4" to fit inside the drum. I used the spacers from PP because they had a 5 bolt pattern, not the "Universal Metric Fitzumall" slotted kind in other catalogs. I did not increase the wheel stud length, since there is a huge amount of engagement in the current set-up.
I put in new ATE pads, and made my own Stainless Steel pistons front and back. I was working for a company that I had access to the materials and shop equipment. You can buy them, but I did my own.
I also had previously upgraded to the larger 19mm brake master cylinder, and the combination is trouble free. I have a set of extra pads for the rears, since they are a bit tough to find out on the road. I throw them in the tool kit along with my other spares.
I also removed the dust/splash shields for cooler running brakes. I live in California, and don't need the slotted shields. If I do encounter a puddle where me 'n the '12 go wading, I just lightly apply the brakes
upon exiting the swamp, and it burns the water and yuck off the rotors really quickly.
To date, my brakes have given me no problems. The rotors are wearing very evenly, and the pad wear is not that high. I don't Autocross the car (Are you nuts?) since I have custom rear flares, etc--and a wipe out in the rear could be very expensive.
The Cypress book put me onto this whole rigamarole, and was very accurate and helpful. The fronts are a direct bolt up, and require nothing in the way of adapters, etc. Only reason I did the backs was
for full emergency brake engagement, but I suppose you could do it without.
Hang in,
Bill

From: Alexander Wachter;  1997 I bought my 912 in Florida, the caliper-pistons were rusted so the brake pads did not open completely. The previous owner did not care so the disks heated the chrome wheels all the time the car was driving. As a result the chrome pops off in some areas on all four wheels - more and more - if it starts ones it will continue. I look around for new chrome wheels but these items are hard to find.
To get the car ready for the trip to Sarasota-Jacksonville-Bremerhaven(Germany) and later to Munich I
replaced all disks and the front calipers. The rear calipers could be rebuild, but better DONT do it without the correct tools from Porsche (Thanks to Luciano and Dino in Sarasota, Fl.). Front calipers for the non-ventilated rotors were not available from Performance Parts in California so I decided to convert
to the stronger 911 S Brakescombination in the front with the ventilated rotors. Until today, this upgrade works perfect, but I dont know if it was correct to do it that way (probably brake-masterzylinder has to be different to?) Regards from Munich - Alex

From: Steve and Denise;  Stephen Lynch - - 1969 912
The fronts are solid rotors, stock calipers (rebuilt) and I just replaced the pads. I'm unsure as to the type. I bought them at Parts Heaven in Hayward CA www.partsheaven.com/
The rears were completely replaced with a solid rotor and caliper setup by the previous owner.
Did 1969 have rear drums or did all 912's come with rear rotors. As I'm a new Porsche owner, I'm also learning quick about what isn't stock! The improvements are quite nice though. Steve

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