Rear brakes and e-brake... Options

[edhall]

Hi guys, just joined as I've just got a 914. Need a little help with parts compatibility and wondered if anyone could help?

Car is a 74 914 with a 3.2 Carrera engine, 901 trans, and it stops with 911 SC vented rotors and calipers all round. Thing is, it doesn't have an emergency brake. The car was built in California but here in the uk it cannot be road legal without one.

Do I go 911 style drum in disc or 914 style ebrake on a calipers?

Thanks in advance

[Eric_Shea]

Here's my take; many think I'm a big brake hater, which I'm not. I simply don't think enormous brakes are needed on a 914. It's a tiny lightweight car and an S-Caliper or a 908 caliper is just fine. That's what brings my car to a halt and nearly every single 914 in HSR series racing. I kid you not, if you're get a chance to see Frank Beck of Phoenix drive his 914 at speed you will get tears in your eyes.

My concerns usually are twofold:

1. A mis-engineered system. Big brakes up front and nothing in the rear or worse, big brakes in the rear and not much up front (the old "put and early 914 front caliper on the rear" trick). The ideal factory balance with fancy calculations and all comes to about 1.6:1 front to rear... regardless of how big you want to go.

2. People ditching the pressure regulator on street cars. It's the first anti-lock brake device and it belongs in you car.

So... if you want to put 930 or 996 calipers on your 914, feel free. You will have amazing brakes. They may be difficult to modulate at first but you should be able to get use to that. That's when Chris' system pays off. It is the most "stout" of all 911 e brake solutions and as mentioned by the previous poster, it should handle heavy duty handbrake use. If you read Vic Elford's Performance driving handbook, he uses the handbrake to bust the back-end loose in corners when rally driving. Chris's solution is the only one I would trust to do that as he has a very strong piece of metal welded to the arms for the shoes to pivot on.

Nice balanced early system? Use 911 calipers and struts up front with 914-6 calipers in the rear.

Nice balanced big-big brake system (930 front and rear as an example... Remember 1.6:1 and a good "system" approach) - the CFR kit is the only way I would go to get a handbrake.

[Jeff Hail]

Here's my take; many think I'm a big brake hater, which I'm not. I simply don't think enormous brakes are needed on a 914. It's a tiny lightweight car and an S-Caliper or a 908 caliper is just fine. That's what brings my car to a halt and nearly every single 914 in HSR series racing. I kid you not, if you're get a chance to see Frank Beck of Phoenix drive his 914 at speed you will get tears in your eyes.

My concerns usually are twofold:

1. A mis-engineered system. Big brakes up front and nothing in the rear or worse, big brakes in the rear and not much up front (the old "put and early 914 front caliper on the rear" trick). The ideal factory balance with fancy calculations and all comes to about 1.6:1 front to rear... regardless I how big you want to go.

2. People ditching the pressure regulator on street cars. It's the first anti-lock brake device and it belongs in you car.

So... if you want to put 930 or 996 calipers on your 914, feel free. You will have amazing brakes. They may be difficult to modulate at first but you should be able to get use to that. That's when Chris' system pays off. It is the most "stout" of all 911 e brake solutions and as mentioned by the pervious poster, it should handle heavy duty handbrake use. If you read Vic Elfords Performance driving handbook, he uses the handbrake to bust the backend loose in corners when rally driving. Chris's solution is the only one I would trust to do that as he has a very strong piece of metal welded to the arms for the shoes to pivot on.

Nice balanced early system? Use 911 calipers and struts up front with 914-6 calipers in the rear.

Nice balanced big-big brake system (930 front and rear as an example... Remember 1.6:1 and a good "stysem" approach) - the CFR kit is the only way I would go to get a handbrake.

Going back to the 11 parking brake Eric, did you ever weld the rotation limiting 40mm bracket on the arms or did you leave them on the backing plates? Reason I ask is longevity. Recently inspected a 14 with 11 parking brakes and noticed the backing plates were cracked from fatigue where the owner welded the 40mm limiter to the backing plate. Thinking about it as long as it is used as a parking brake not a major issue as the shoe's won't twist inside the rotor drum -BUT if in an emergency situation required them to be used as a stopping brake they would well you know....