More brake for less, Volvo brake swap

[TacomaBoy]

I'm curious of those who have done the volvo brake conversion. I'm wondering if this swap along with a power brake booster and slotted/vented rotors would be enough to whoa a 2k lb. car with 225 + hp. I'm having a feeling that the quite new stock combo I currently run, wont fit the bill. Any info in this area would be a big help. Thanks.

[spl310]

You will get lots of opinions here. Remember that the brakes that you have on the front were the same design and size as used on Ferrari, Maserati, Jaguar and others of the same vintage. They had herds more power and did OK with those brakes. Yes, you can do better, but I don't think that the Volvo swap is it. For my time and money, I would look for something that can dissipate heat better - ie. a vented rotor.

Yes, I have driven both stock (good and worn out) and Volvo conversion brakes.

[SLOroadster]

On the street, stock setup with good pads and shoes are fine. On the track, I've wanted a full track compound once or twice, but the pads I run on the street were working very well.

Will

[fj20spl311]

I'm curious of those who have done the volvo brake conversion. I'm wondering if this swap along with a power brake booster and slotted/vented rotors would be enough to whoa a 2k lb. car with 225 + hp. I'm having a feeling that the quite new stock combo I currently run, wont fit the bill. Any info in this area would be a big help. Thanks.

With a booster and vented brake rotors the Volvo brakes with the "right" pads would be killer.
You would still need to install some method to get the proper balance (this is not the normal Volvo conversion).

The stock brakes with a booster would also be the one.

[RC240z]

The biggest problem with the brakes on a roadster is the pedal ratio and balance. I run stock brakes on my roadster with racing pads and can't make them fade. I am sure that you think you need more, but I assure you that proper attention to the real problem will solve your issues.

[TacomaBoy]

All very good informaton.So essentially the Big dollar conversions that we see available have little to no use? I'm not sure I agree with that. I have not held a Volvo caliper in my hand,but seems that having a an almost more than doubel pad size on a 4 piston design would stave off any future issues due to excess hp. and hard driving.Looks like a very cheap conversion that would give great performance. Will probably do the 200sx rear swap as well to complement,with proportioning valve. Revolting to some,just a performance inhancement to me. Thank-you to all feed back.

[SLOroadster]

I don't think its revolting, but a waste of $ to go with the Volvo setup. If anything, go with the Wilwood setup. Its MUCH lighter. I'd go this route just to loose the weight. The Volvo Girling setup is pretty heavy and you end up loosing rotor diameter to make it work. You could also look at doing the 300ZX setup as well. You have to remember that the front brakes handle 80% of the braking and the rears only 20%. The stock drums work very well with good shoes back there.

My roadster will out stop my Alfa any day of the week, and the Alfa has power brakes as well as being 4 wheel disks with the same pads as the roadster's fronts all the way around.

Will

[spl310]

Personally, I see brake swaps/conversions in the same light as engine swaps...

[gpdatsun]

The easiest and best solution for the race car was to go with the modification necessary to use '70-'78 Z calipers over the roadster rotor. The mod involves opening the caliper mounting ears for a larger bolt and relieving the rotor groove in the caliper slightly to allow the roadster rotor to fit. And you need to modify the bracket to space the caliper out slightly. But the larger Z pad makes a big difference in performance over the roadster pad. I wrote up the process elsewhere on this forum.

I can only modify to the rules and vented rotors are not allowed. If you're going to make modifications, keep it simple and cheap; that's the beauty of the Z caliper, pads and calipers are cheap, and you retain your roadster rotor and hub.

I did approach Dean and Design Products about making the modified bracket available to roadster owners. If there's more demand, maybe they will. Al Gast made the ones I'm using.

Your mileage may vary...

Bill

[Datrock]

I'm in the middle of doing a Volvo conversion on the 67.5 1600 that is also getting the modified diesel 5 speed and U20 transplant. So far I have yet so see any reason to not continue, I only paid $25 for a set of calipers that were loaded, plus the roadster owner I got them from had made his own manifolds for them. He decided to go with an aftermarket mustang II frontend with rack and pinion that he bought as a package with brakes.
I did not like the manifold setup so I found a Jaguar owner that posted his work on the internet, yes Jag owners also do the Volvo conversion. He modified the calipers to eliminate the inlet manifold and go to a single banjo fitting and banjo bolt, you will need to dis-assemble the calipers and drill 4 holes to make crossovers to the pistons that are getting the line blocked off. It makes a nice clean appearance with one line to each wheel, no "T" or manifold. After finding the info I found out a friend has the same modified volvo setup on his 32 Ford Hi-boy kit car and they work great for him. I've also been told that I'll need to install a 7/8" master cylinder, which is no problem doing...Hope this helps... Bill

[zippy67roadster]

I was unaware of any brake boosters fitting our cars. I looked at many possibilities to run with the stock brakes to to give them more pedal feel and responsiveness without any luck. I even contacted a company that made racing brake boosters for the 510 with no luck. The problem, I was told, is that there is just not enough space on the firewall to mount one!

[spriso]

Never skimp when it comes to your brake system. Buy the best you can afford, either by keeping it stock, or upgrading to a big brake kit...

We had mixed results with the Volvo brake conversion, which I have talked about on 311s before. The stock rotors were not up to the task, and we found that we could get them to fade during enthusiastic mountain road driving. We also experienced heavy rotor wear on the stock roadster discs...

With a goal of 225+ hp, you are going to want to get the best setup that you can justify. Even if you don't reach your hp goal, these cars can accelerate very fast and some times life throws you a curve ball and you run out of road. I have close friend who is alive today because of the brake upgrade we did on his roadster...

Michael

[nismou20]

So Will,
What make of pads and shoes do you recommend for the average street roadster? I've got newer rotors and planning to R/R rear lines with goodrige steel braided ones, but I'm sure there's better stuff out there than stock.

[SLOroadster]

I've had VERY good luck with the KFP blue compound. I run the "Green Stuff" Nissan Motorsport rear shoes. Some people have said they eat drums, but I haven't had that issue. KFP and Porterfield will reline the rear shoes with what ever compound you want to run. With this setup, I've only wanted more breaking power once. I was trying to late break an Audi S4 into turn 11 at Sears Point last year, I had the inside line and he was trying to go around me on the outside. In hindsight, I should have just let him have it. I got on the brakes WAY deep into the braking zone toward the end of the session, and it was a bad decision. Had I been running the KFP Gold compound pads, it might have been a differnet story, but I really should have braked earlier. In the end, there was no contact with anyone, or anything, but it did get my attention.

Will

[datsun1500]

Someone did a write up here on on the list that showed the Volvo conversion actually gave you less stopping power. I don't remember who or why, but it was pretty technical. I agree that a brake upgrade would be nice, but the Volvo one is not it.