volvo brakes

311TONY423 · Post by **311TONY423** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 10:10 am

Can anyone offer a comparison from using the datsun front calipers and the 1975 volvo ones? I have the volvos on order. I hope i'm not disappointed. Every roadster I have driven has such a long stopping distance. I hope the conversion improves that. Thanks...

oilleak · Post by **oilleak** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 10:52 am

Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing a before and after measured in feet from 60 and 80 MPH instead of the usual subjective evaluations.
On another note - what brake pads are you guys with stock brakes competing on - Hawk? Which compound?

SLOroadster · Post by **SLOroadster** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 12:58 pm

Brian,
Porterfield makes some great pads, my friend uses them on one of his cars. It stops fast enough to remove a face lift. I will switch to them as soon as I kill the pads I have.
Will

Ldino21 · Post by **Ldino21** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 9:09 pm

I got the Volvo Brake upgrade on my vehicle along with the 260Z Brake Master Cylinder. You do notice a big difference when you have to do quick stopping, I had never been able to lock up the original brakes, now I can. On the other hand I figured the overall difference would be much more noticeable, which I can't say it is yet. It may be attributed to the fact that the Rotors we used were off my 66 that had been sitting for about 5 years and I didn't turn them before putting them on my vehicle, thats next.

Lou

oilleak · Post by **oilleak** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 9:59 pm

Will,
does porterfield have different compounds like Hawk? I can probably figure it out but then I've been pretty brain dead lately. Went to pick up a set of bearings yesterday and realized halfway there I forgot my check book. Saving grace - they DO take plastic. Wait a minute... Damn, forgot my wallet too. Won't be working on the diff this weekend.

sunbeam590 · Post by **sunbeam590** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 7:05 pm

Hi, I have not long finished doing the brakes on my 2000 Roadster, they were pretty marginal , I have only owned the car for 6mths and dont know the previous history, but after reading, comparing, other types Volvo etc, I decided to go with original,stripped calipers,had to blow pistons out with air, they had been resleeved in stainless,cleaned crud out, put new pads in,+piston seals, bled etc, back were much the same, freed up pistons etc +bled, Brakes are now very good quite up to the job,of course you need more pedal pressure than modern (no Booster ) but I cant see Volvo being any better or cheaper... you can allways fit a booster. TIP change fluid every 24 mths... Kev...

Post by **spl310** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 9:13 pm

Sunbeam,

Glad to hear someone chime in about the quality of the stock brakes. The issue with most folks that switch to the Volvo is that their stock brakes were not up to original spec. Remember that the stock Roadster brakes are the same calipers as used on the MGA Twin Cam, the early Jaguar XKE, the Jaguar XK150, some Maserati models and other pretty high end go fast cars. If they are good enough to haul a Jaguar back from 150mph, then surely they will hold back a smaller, lighter Roadster if they are in good condition.

Where did you get yours resleeved at? What was the cost??

Conner · Post by **Conner** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 9:55 pm

Good question.
Just to add to the conversation: I have talked to the folks at Whitepost restorations. They will totally rebuild your cylinders, including sandblasting and some kind of enamel coating finish, and they re-sleeve in brass and use OEM or similar kits for the hydraulics. They have quoted $80 per. There is a lifetime guarantee but at $80x4 that is pretty steep.
I know, I know, don't skimp on brakes.

Post by **spl310** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:00 pm

When the Volvo brakes were a huge topic of discussion, Mark Dent did a cost comparison between rebuilding OEM brakes and doing the conversion. The price difference was negligible. To do the stock brakes, it will take a couple of hours. To do the conversion, it will take a weekend or more. Personally, if I am going to have to have all of that machine work done, I will be putting vented rotors on.

Hey Alvin, chat up the Z brake conversion you have!!

Conner · Post by **Conner** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:02 pm

Rather than re-sleeving and re-building I wonder if it would be cheaper to just buy new cylinders. Are they available from Nissan? I can't find a part #. Since they are the same calipers as the models Sid mentioned above, if not available from Nissan are they elsewhere available?

sunbeam590 · Post by **sunbeam590** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 11:47 pm

Hi, Im glad to see I got a bit of a discusion going, another couple of points I would like to make, the original calipers are very easy to bleed, I nipple only per side, 10mins tops, the reason not to buy new old stock, they will have to be sleeved down the track, it costs $320 Aus to get the four resleeved in stainless and if you clean the crud out every 4 or so yrs they will last forever. + brake pads simple to change..
Cheers Kev..

datsunfreak · Post by **datsunfreak** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 4:47 am

sunbeam590 wrote:you can allways fit a booster...

A booster won't help stopping distances, though. Only pedal pressure.

Conner · Post by **Conner** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 8:45 am

Okay, so the stainless sleeving was around $240 U.S. You are right, the sleeving means no problem with rust ever in the future. I was under the impression that the OEM cylinders wouldn't rust either provided you were fairly vigilant about regularly flushing the brake fluid, keeping moisture from entering/staying in the system.
I guess the trade-off would be less regular maintenance for more cost up front.

TR · Post by TR » Sun Dec 11, 2005 10:21 am

The major difference between the volvo calipers and the stock units is the swept area. The pads are a bit more than twice as large (guesstimated not measured!). I prefer a completely loaded caliper from the store that trying to refurbish a 40 year old part. Vented rotors would be really, really nice, but I do not know anyone here that drives a 2000 pound car hard enough to require venting. Maybe on the racing forum...

I replaced the entire brake system at one time, so I cannot compare the performance of each upgrade. Also, I didn't measure stopping distances...

And yes, performance, feel, etc. is only slightly improved in a one stop comparison. But, that increase in swept area cannot be argued against in multiple stop situations...

datsunfreak · Post by **datsunfreak** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 10:39 am

TR wrote:but I do not know anyone here that drives a 2000 pound car hard enough to require venting. Maybe on the racing forum... performance, feel, etc. is only slightly improved in a one stop comparison. But, that increase in swept area cannot be argued against in multiple stop situations...

On a 510 (roughly the same weight) vented rotors certainly make a big difference in fade resistance. But you would almost never see that on a public street, as you said.

But it sure looks cool.

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