Porsche Front Brakes
Updated 2/3/05
I think the number one question that I receive email on is in regards to my Porsche front brakes. Here is a little background information on why I used these and what it took to make them fit.
What: Porsche 993TT "Big Red" front calipers and rotors.
Why: I initially went this route because of the easy availability and relatively low cost of the parts. Brand new calipers were going for $300 each and the rotors were going for $150 each. So for $900, one could have calipers and rotors. When I compared these prices to Brembo or AP calipers, the Porsches were very reasonable. Some people do not realize that these Porsche calipers are actually made by Brembo. The Brembo name is cast right in the back of the caliper. If you do a search on the internet for "Porsche Big Red", you will see that these calipers have been adapted to many different cars.
The other reason that I went this route was that a few of my Z32 300ZXTT buddies wanted to use them as a company Movit, use to have a kit with these calipers and rotors that fit under the stock 16" Z32 wheel.
How: In order to make the caliper fit, I designed a custom bracket. If you get access to a bracket for a StopTech or Brembo caliper, it is nearly identical. You only have to alter the design for the 322mm rotor. In order for the rotor to fit, I designed a rotor hat that uses the stock hat mounting hardware from the stock Porsche rotor. I then pieced together stainless brake lines and assorted fittings to hook everything up. In order to get the proper pedal feel, I used a 16/15" Z32 master brake cylinder and rear Z32 calipers and rotors.
Findings: For an S13 or S14 the fitment is really straightforward with the 322mm dia. rotor. However, there are issues with the Z32. The small rotor requires that a portion of the front spindle be removed. The part that is removed is just a mounting tab for a bracket, so it does not affect the structure of the spindle. Some people do not really want to do this and I can sympathize with them on this point. The other way, that Movit was able to do it was to actually machine a portion of the caliper off. I have seen pictures of their kit on a Z32 and see how they did it. I actually did this for one of my friends. So we were able to make it fit on a Z32, but I could still not get it to fit with the stock 16" Z32 wheels. After more investigation, it looks like Movit, actually reduced the size of the rotor by turning down the OD, which was not practical for me to do.
Current Status and Recommendations: I did one run of caliper adapter brackets and rotor hats, which are all spoken for. Since I did this run, a couple of things have taken place such that I do not plan on making anymore runs. The first thing is that the price of aluminum has shot up like crazy. This combined with the lowering of prices of kits from StopTech, Rotora, and Brembo, doesn't make it worthwhile to make any more kits. My cost for the few kits that I did put together was as much as the kits that are being sold for by those other brake companies. Therefore, I have referred people to buy these other kits as my setup just does not make economical sense.
Some Part Numbers that might be of interest to you:
Porsche 993TT front left caliper p/n 993.351.425.10 $300
Porsche 993TT front right caliper p/n 993.351.426.10 $300
Porsche 993TT front left rotor p/n 993.351.045.10 $150
Porsche 993TT front right rotor p/n 993.351.046.10 $150
Hawk HPS street pads p/n HB 184 HPS $100.00
Russell SS brake line adapters p/n 655012 $44 for (2x)
Endura 9" 90 deg -3 to
straight -3 street legal (2x)
Russell fittings endura p/n 41431/641431 (4x) $52.00
#3 to 10mm -1.0 male fitting
Misc grade 8+ hardware $2.0
Custom caliper brackets (2x) $225.00
Custom rotor hats (2x) $175.00
Contact Info: email - glenn@stillensucks.com
AIM - Norcal TurboZX
Yahoo IM - gnakata