Hi Peter, I got some "high performance" street pads from a name mail order parts supplier to the Alfa community and they were so bad and so far from the description that I sent them back and traded them for floor mats! Your cheap alternative might be to try some more standard pads. I can highly recommend Jim Cestarollo in Novato for advice and/or work. He does everything from restorations to he's the team mechanic/alternate driver for a Lemons car. His family has run Alfa Center in SF for a long time and he's now on his own. I've spent over $10k there on 2 cars and am very happy with him. He's not expensive and he's fair, which says a lot. I'm in Marin and have no problem hearing stories in reverse 8-D. Jim changed out my brake pads...and all of a sudden I had brakes! I am definitely NOT the slow guy on most of the drives around here...people are amazed at how fast I go in the Berlina. Changing the pads was the difference between wondering whether or not I was going to plow into a car in front of me and feeling like I had first rate brakes. I already had drilled and slotted rotors, stainless lines, etc. The pads from said supplier were a HUGE disappointment and I'm glad they took them back. Try a pad slap as a cheap first alternative and let me know. Where in the Bay Area are you? Hope it helps! Stevan In a message dated 1/9/2012 11:05:37 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
Hi Stevan, I think you are in the Bay Area, right? Maybe in the spring I can get you in the GTV and you can see for yourself. Regarding my GTV, it is not that the pedal is too stiff, or requires too much effort. You barely need to apply them and it hauls the car down quick. I think the larger factor than the lack of booster is the 500lb weight differential between the cars. Makes it easier to stop the GTV. Then the secondary factor is the shorter stroke of the floor mounted pedal versus the firewall (floor mounted being about half the moment arm of the firewall). All I was trying to say with my post is that a spongy brake pedal on a floor mounted MC car is not "cast in stone" (assuming one could cast stone !!??). Since I am telling the story in reverse (you must hate this), the cars have a Performatex "system" that includes the calipers I mentioned, larger Brembo rotors, larger diameter MC, ATE Super Blue fluid, SST flex lines and some street/race pads that Andy recommended. As great as the brakes were on 105's when they came out, I chose to make some upgrades because my dad's #1 rule with motorsports was "the only thing better than hauling ass is stopping." Again, maybe in the spring my brother and I will get the cars out so some local Alfa folks can drive them and compare the brakes and stuff. Sincerely, Pete ____________________________________ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected]; [email protected] Sent: Monday, January 9, 2012 10:22 AM Subject: Re: Underfloor GTV Brake MC sizes (Outlaw calipers on a '69) Hi Pete, Seems like a self answering question, add a booster if that's what works on the other cars and is lacking on this one. When the power steering didn't work on my ex-wife's Volvo, it was similar. Very heavy effort needed to turn the steering wheel, but it turned. Fixing the PS pump put it back to normal. HTH Stevan Thomas In a message dated 1/9/2012 8:26:57 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, [email protected] writes: Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2012 17:20:02 -0800 (PST) From: Pete Lundquist <[email protected]> Subject: [alfa] Underfloor GTV Brake MC sizes (Outlaw calipers on a '69) Hi Graham, Not to confuse matters, but my 1969 GTV has a very stiff brake pedal. At rest, the pedal is on the cabin side of vertical. When I stand on the brakes the pedal gets to the vertical position. There is no fade, no spongy pedal, just really stiff brakes. I have some Outlaw calipers on the car (four piston in the front and larger two piston in the back) and a 22mm '67 MC. When I got the car back in 1985 I tore out the original brake system and basically converted the car back to a '67 MC without a booster. The brakes are absolutely sweet. I am running the same brake set up on my '72 Berlina and '88 Spider, but neither has the stiff pedal of the GTV. Of course, these cars have the firewall MC and a brake booster too. Cheers, -- to be removed from alfa, see http://www.digest.net/bin/digest-subs.cgi or email "unsubscribe alfa" to [email protected]
