barchetta_97 said:

i'm in, if price is reasonable..

Click to expand...

I might be talking b***** but if you do the big front brake conversion, would there be a way of using the original front discs and calipers to uprate the rear brakes ....just a thought , i,m no mechanic .
Steve

Handbrake?

lol....i did say i,m no mechanic

Rather than posting a new thread, I'll add here.

I've finally got around to upgrading the front brakes on the B. One caliper had no dust seal on the piston, so it was gonna be scrap anyway if I needed new pads.

If you have an early Barchetta, they have quite small brake pads on the 257mm vented discs. If you have big enough thigh muscles, you can stop ok from Ridiculous Velocity, but Creg-Ny-Baa will just about set them on fire if braking from 110 mph.

For the grand price of £15 each, I got a pair of good condition Brava 1.9 JTD front calipers. Gave them a quick wire brush up, checked the pistons were ok and moved freely, dust seals all a-ok.
The calipers bolt straight onto the standard hubs. The Brava pads also have the pad wear sensor wire too, so it's all good.

I gave the discs a light rub over with emery cloth to deglaze and lightly score them, helps bed the new pads in quicker.

The result is much, much better braking and feel - a hell of a lot more confidence inspiring than the old setup. I'd heartily recommend it to anyone.

As a consequence, I have a pair of old mk1 (small pad) calipers in the garage if anyone needs them. Be aware that the drivers side one isn't much cop, with the dust seal being missing for 18 months+. Passenger side one is fine though.
As people on here have been a lot of help, they're free to anyone who wishes to collect or pay for postage (probably about a tenner?).

hm... good to know that... do you have any size compare pictures? and those calipers fit in bolt? no need any special adjustment?

I haven't taken any photos, mostly because the job kept getting stopped for rain!

Everything just bolts straight on, apart from a new set of pads you don't need to change anything else.

Had a rummage around in the bin (the things you do in the middle of the night for the forum...!)

Found the old pads from the Barchetta and the old pads that came with the Brava calipers. You can see why it stops better!

Pics of the new Brava calipers:

i just order them for €40ish... will clean them, and give them a nice red colour.

Good stuff Once they're bedded in, you can tell the difference!

Further to this, I've sourced some Fiat Tempra rear calipers. Again, much bigger pad than standard and a better braking performance.

Direct fit, everything just lines up and bolts on using standard Barchetta rear discs.

HP. said:

Further to this, I've sourced some Fiat Tempra rear calipers. Again, much bigger pad than standard and a better braking performance.

Direct fit, everything just lines up and bolts on using standard Barchetta rear discs.

Click to expand...

This is good, first time i heard of someone upgrading the B's rear brakes,

I,ll be doing the brembo set up on the front soon, thanks to Tim, ( Johhny Atom) .. but would also like some improovement to the rears,

Looks like I will do the tempra mod too.

Thanks!!!

i read somewhere that barch have quite poor braking... brake coefficient was 0.8 i think... i also don't know what that mean.

The things that led me down the path of bigger brakes were firstly just about setting the front brakes on fire on the Isle of Man TT circuit and secondly struggling with the UK's annual MOT brake test.
At last years MOT the bloke said the bigger front brakes gave an excellent performance but the rears and handbrake were low.

I wonder if the small pad setups fitted to older Barchettas were ok before the asbestos ban?

Hiya!

My B is an early 95 model which originally had the small pad calipers,
I think it was one of my early modifications to upgrade the braking system as well as i could at the time so i went for the best pad i could source, new vented/ grooved discs and dot 4/5 brake fluid.

Pads being the ferrodo DS2500 range,and the having thrown the B round Bruntingford aerodrome a few times tested this set up to the max and found the brakes to be ok and managed to get back home in one piece..

But!! after i sourced, upgraded and fitted the bigger calipers off of the new barchetta found the braking to be significantly much better.

I cant wait to feel the difference with the brembo's and the bigger rear Tempra caliper, but have been having a search for these these and wondered what model / year Tempra were the calipers you have used for your B.
Are their any particular model/ brand calipers i should look for?

I'm told the calipers were from a 1993 Tempra SW 2.0 ie estate. The ones I got have been overhauled.

The chap who sold me the calipers reckons you may be better looking for Marea or even Alfa Romeo rears as they will be newer and may not need the refurb mine had.

I think you have move chance of finding a Marea/Bravo/Brava than a Tempra SW 2.0 estate!

Fair point well made!

Hiya Guys,

I have found a fiat breakers in Cyprus who has lots of spares, not for a barchetta but for lots of fiats.. LOL!!

Just regarding the rear brake upgrade, what caliper from which fiat would be the best replacement upgrade and direct fit to the Barchetta,

Speaking to the gentleman he seemed to have lots of bravo, brava and marea parts..


Are the calipers the same on all models.. ?

Many thanks, Kiry..

For those who are interested!!

Been having a search through the net and discovered the bigger rear caliper used on the 2.0 tempra is a bendix , the other used was a lucas thats shares the smaller and similar pad as on the Barchetta and most fiats as standard.

heres, a link to the lucas caliper.
http://cgi.ebay.ie/FIAT-BRAVO-BRAVA...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f04246ebc

The bendix caliper is found on

The pads have a part no or cross reference equivalent to
Mintex MDB 1258
Ferodo FDB 360
Brembo P23014
Delphi LP0464

further searching has shown that these pads also fit calipers fitted to the Lancia 2.0 Beta HPE, Thema and Trevi.. which are earlier model vehicles than the B and other later fiat models..

Is it just a fact that bigger calipers and pads equal better braking efficiency or is the later lucas caliper better as fitted to later fiat type models..

Any extra advice and help would be appriciated..
I,ll do some more seaching..