Best brake upgrade option. Is mk2 16v upgrade easy?

[Ike]

Hi,

I have just got my hands on a 1983 GTI cabriolet which is need of a few jobs and has mainly original parts.  The brakes are rubbish but there are enough reasons for this.  It has original servo, MC and still requires braided hoses.  I have not bled or done any work on the system yet as I thought I would hit it in one go.  I'm basically looking for an inexpensive upgrading option which if possible could be done with scrapped/second hand parts. 

Ive looked at a few options but im a little confused about a few points with all of them.  Firstly I probably will change the Servo and MC (think I can get MK2 16v type for about a tenner) as the current ones look quite rusty and weak, with this I may replace hoses and piping. Are there any problems involved in doing this? The front brake discs are worn quite badly (2-3mm of Kelsey Hayes type) so I probably should concentrate here.  Should I just replace the disc with a grooved type and up grade pads or bother to put a 256mm mk2 16v disc and caliper set up.  Also how easy is this up grade I gather that if you have the mk2 caliper career then no hub change is needed but a spacer is required.  How can I get hold of this part inexpensively?

Basicaly I want to know how much of an improvement 256 discs may to the stopping power.

Cheers

[rubjonny]

mk2 22mm MC & servo is a good upgrade, only issue is it only has 4 connections and the MK1 sometimes has 6!  If you get some brake line combiners off a MK2 you can use these to put the brake light switches in the lines somewhere

However MK2 16v front brakes wont swap straight on, you have several options:
1. Older audi 256mm calipers & carriers, hard to find though!
2. Vauxhaul 256+ front calipers, boilt straight on. You need vaux pads, brake flexis and longer bolts. However the bolt holes are bigger so you either need shouldered bolts, or a slieve to take the diameter down to the size of the MK1 caliper bolt thread.
3. Caliper adaptor plates, TSR used to do these and you do see them around from time to time. These allow you to fit bigger discs using your old calipers

[caddyrage]

mk2 22mm MC & servo is a good upgrade, only issue is it only has 4 connections and the MK1 sometimes has 6!  If you get some brake line combiners off a MK2 you can use these to put the brake light switches in the lines somewhere

However MK2 16v front brakes wont swap straight on, you have several options:
1. Older audi 256mm calipers & carriers, hard to find though!

Selling my set on ebay at the mo including 22mm M/C. Collected them to fit on my caddy but need funds for respray on my gti 

[Ike]

Cheers guys.  The car is up for its MOT so if the brakes fail I will definitely do the upgrade to 22mm servo/MC but really should get some discs soon too. 

Whats the link for the ebay item?

[caddyrage]

here ya go mate 
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=300100078219&rd=1&rd=1

[LITTLEGADGI]

mk2 22mm MC & servo is a good upgrade, only issue is it only has 4 connections and the MK1 sometimes has 6!  If you get some brake line combiners off a MK2 you can use these to put the brake light switches in the lines somewhere

However MK2 16v front brakes wont swap straight on, you have several options:
1. Older audi 256mm calipers & carriers, hard to find though!
2. Vauxhaul 256+ front calipers, boilt straight on. You need vaux pads, brake flexis and longer bolts. However the bolt holes are bigger so you either need shouldered bolts, or a slieve to take the diameter down to the size of the MK1 caliper bolt thread.
3. Caliper adaptor plates, TSR used to do these and you do see them around from time to time. These allow you to fit bigger discs using your old calipers

[LITTLEGADGI]

HI ANYONE GOT ANY PICS OF THIS SERVO/16V MASTER MOD IE MK1 STANDARD MASTER CYLINDER 6 OUTLETS .REPLACED WITH 16V WITH 4 OUTLETS USING INLINE TEES FOR BRAKE LIGHTS JUST CANNOT GET MY HEAD ROUND HOW 2 ACHIVE THIS MOD  :embarassed: MAD OR WOT  CHEERS  MARTIN

[rubjonny]

What you do is either thread the T adaptors into the 2 odd connectors at the bottom of the firewall just before the lines go under the car, or make up 2 extrashort lengths of brake hose and fit them inbetween the MC & the original lines from the MC.  Other option is to totally redo the front brake lines and rig the 'T's inline with those.

Final option is to rig up a brake pedal switch and do away with the original MK1 switches completly, the MK2 scirocco has a brake switch, to fit you can swap in the Scirocco column or pedal box (can't remember which it is)  You can also mod in a switch from another car somehow, someone mentioned they drilled a hole and fitted a pug switch somehow?

[Madone_si]

Worth a read.... Vauxhall 256mm Front Brakes Setup

http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=15014

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http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=17294