mk1 brake upgrade?

[ant666]

hi looking to upgrade my brakes front and rear on my 77 mk1.....any tips for me??? many thanks all

[GTXTRA]

Hi, depends on budget and what you're looking at get out of car.

Rear discs an option but as someone who owns both drum and disc kitted cars these really are only cosmetic in the real world.

Fronts - anything up to 280mm discs with associated hardwear possible - wheel size issues beyond the std 239mm discs your car currently has.

later servo/master cylinder upgrades = mk2 golf 16v master cylinder and bottle and servo a cost effective 'pedal confidence' tweek.

however, first off - change the fluid, check the pipes and adjust the cross linkage on bulkhead.

others will pop up with personal experiences - my favourite set up car = BRM servo/m-c set up with scirocco 16v 256mm front brakes plus standard rear drums on a 150bhp mk2. perfectly adequate.

[Roxylife]

The pedal will feel marginally longer with rear discs as more fluid is being dissapated. Pedal feel will be better with drums.
The rear drums are more than sufficient for 95% of A1 chassis cars.

Only advantage of rear discs is the servicablity and aesthetics! - Not as issue for 95% of people!

[MikeH]

What's the spec of the car - power output?

Bigger brakes generally weigh more, so you have a penalty in overall weight, unsprung weight, and rotating mass.


So if you've got a standard car, I'd say get your standard brakes working properly and they should be fine. You could go to 239mm vented discs if you're on solids.

Common conversion options:
- 256mm front discs from a golf Mk2 with adaptor brackets, or from a B2 Audi if you can find them, as the carriers will bolt straight on.
- 280mm from a corrado / golf G60 with adaptor brackets - only really necessary if you have around 150 bhp or more
- Vauxhall Astra/Cavalier/Calibra 256mm calipers and brackets - bolt straight on but you need special bolts, or sleeves around the bolts, and you also need different brake hoses. Use 256mm VW discs from a Mk2 golf 16v.
- Rear disc conversion... optional really. Use Mk2 golf bits again.

[Toohottotrot]

Easiest way to up grade to modern brakes is to fit a Chevrolet Lacetii servo/mastercylinder as on my mk1. Pretty much a straight swap.

[Roxylife]

Easiest way to up grade to modern brakes is to fit a Chevrolet Lacetii servo/mastercylinder as on my mk1. Pretty much a straight swap.

Care to elaborate!? Any pics? advice/how too?

[Toohottotrot]

Hi, sorry I forgot I posted this. My mk1 was upgraded with this when Neil built the car. He said it was basically a straight swap. I will post a pic.

[sciroccy]

I know this is a super old thread but I'm stuck with a knackered brake servo on my mk1 scirocco.

I've purchased a Lacetti servo from eBay (no idea what kind to order so just went with the first one I saw, see link. http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 1322769087)

Anyone have any ideas on what other modifications might be needed? Can I use the old master cylinder or do I now need a Lacetti master cylinder too?
I'm mega stuck on this and getting the glass fitted. Hoping to have it roadworthy by the spring!

Any help is greatly appreciated :)

[mr.brown]

You might have done better to put a want ad up on this forum before buying the Daewoo one. Your first problem will be that the mounting studs/holes on the back of the servo probably won't line up. As you've already guessed the same will probably be true of the master cylinder. The third problem will most likely be that the connection from the linkage bar will be different to that on the servo.

Best get one off someone breaking a Scirocco

[Little_bro]

I have a stock low mileage servo and master cylinder. Bit of surface rust on them. If your willing to collect you can have for free.

[sciroccy]

Hi Guys,

Really appreciate the quick response.

You're right, I may have been a bit impulsive and impatient when ordering the Lacetti servo but I thought it would be cool to have "almost" modern brakes on my Scirocco (it actually passed the MOT a couple of years ago with the existing one but is useless which is why I took it off the road again...and the crazy amounts of rain water getting in of course!)

I will wait for the Lacetti one to arrive and see how different it is and what kind of modifications it might need. The master cylinder is new so the problem has to be the servo or the vacuum pipe.

Little_bro, thank you for the offer of the servo and master cylinder. Where in the country are you? I'm in the South East.

I'm not great at the mechanical side but am always willing to give something a go. (I put together an MGB before but I'm not sure that counts (so my dad told me!). I have a great guy in Birmingham doing the work for me at the moment (the car is. Up there at the moment)

I'll post an update once I get my hands on the Lacetti servo.
Thanks guys.

[sciroccy]

Apologies for the dodgy grammar and typos...

[Little_bro]

I'm near Manchester. If your fitting the Lacetii servo you will also need the lacetii master cylinder and brake reservoir. If your running stock brakes it will make your brake pedal feel harder when you push down. To get the full benefit of the lacetii servo/ master cylinder you would need to fit bigger discs and calipers and bigger wheels

[sciroccy]

Has anyone been able to get hold of someone who has actually completed this upgrade?

I tried to PM The Autoad and supercharged20v but the messages just sit in my outbox and won't go (I must be doing somethign wrong)

This is the car that has the upgrade http://www.gumtree.com/p/volkswagen/mk1 ... 1001157101 (see pic 2) and it looks quite neat. Would be great to be able to discuss it with someone who has done it. I've just received the Lacetti servo in the post but I suppose I now need the master cylinder as well which will be a pain to get. There is another Servo and master cylinder on eBay but it's from an automatic car (should that make any difference?) Would be really interesting to see how easy this upgrade would be and what difference it makes to the braking. Could be a cheap(ish) fix/upgrade for a lot of people. Will keep looking/trying :)

[sciroccy]

Hi Little_bro...

I thought this would be something very easy to try and an interesting experiment but it's getting (or I'm making it) a bit messy. I may have to come to you for the originagl servo and put the Lacetti servo back on eBay...or I might perservere for a bit and see where it goes