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As some of you know, my partner Matt and I (www.avalancheperformance.com) have been working on a variety of brake packages for the 122 (and 1800 I suppose) series cars. We have currently developed what we would call 2 different stages of performance upgrades.
The first is what Craig (Canuck 122) is running on his car. Those consist of Wilwood hats, rotors and calipers; all off-the-shelf items. The only part we supply is the caliper adapter bracket. They have larger-than-stock rotors (11.75 X.81") and 4-piston calipers so are a significant upgrade over stock and are not suitable to run without some rear brake upgrade. Craig has done this by swapping in a disc-brake 240 rear end. He uses a stock master cylinder with no brake booster. These brakes do not fit under the stock 15" wheels.
The second is what I have done on my car. This consists of custom hats front and rear with Wilwood 6-piston calipers on the front (11.75X1.25" rotors) and Wilwood 4-piston calipers on the rear (12.19X1.25" rotors). I run an aftermarket master cylinder as well. These require minimum 16" wheels.
We are now working on something to fit under a 15" wheel that is pretty much a stock replacement setup. This is where your opinions come in. We've had numerous emails asking for some sort of brake kit. What isn't clear is why. Is it because the stock parts are too expensive? Are they too hard to find (regardless of price)? Are you looking for something that performs slightly better without breaking the bank on new wheels and tires?
We have a solution.
The pros...It is a vented rotor. It fits under a 15" wheel (and even a 14" ET mag wheel we have). It would use a 240 series caliper and they are relatively cheap. Use of a 240 caliper would also give a variety of pad choices. This setup will also look very stock so vintage racers etc might be able to take advantage of a vented-rotor setup without breaking rules.
The cons...it is not an off-the-shelf solution. While the rotors are common parts, they do require some machining to make work. This means replacement rotors (should they ever be required) are available only through us. We would also provide a replacement caliper bracket for the 240 caliper as well as a 1-to-2 tee for the brake lines as the 240 caliper has 2 brake line inlets.
Here is what we are having problems with...
Preliminary estimates put this setup somewhere close to what OEM parts would cost although the jury is still out on that depending on what machining cost are.
So...what are your thoughts? If you are spending money on new brakes, would you rather get OEM parts or would you spend similar money on something that might be a little more readily available and offer a slight upgrade in terms of performance; keeping in mind the only thing you would be upgrading is the rotor. The 240 caliper has the same overall piston area of the 122 caliper and the rotor diameter is the same so actual braking power will not be change. The rotor's ability to absorb and dissipate heat will be improved with the vented rotor. We may be able to get drilled/slotted rotors as well.
Thoughts please...
Thanks,
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Dale
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