Technical Disc Conversation Upgrade

[Suechap1969]

Hi,

This may be a silly question, but before purchasing a disc conversion for my wife's classic 500, I wanted to be sure there is a clear improvement in braking efficiency.

Could someone who has done it give some feedback.

I'm looking to buy the Ricambi 500/126 kit currently on Ebay for £625.

Your thoughts and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Bruce

 

[Noah500]

I had a disc brake conversion done after being scared on the drums...

See my posts starting here - scroll down past a couple of other non-related ones for my impressions.

I think the one I got is the same one you are looking at and I found it fine. Even with the 126 to 500 adaptors the wheels don't foul the arches and I personally found a good improvement in braking.

(btw I like that a discussion about disc brakes is called 'Disc Conversation Upgrade'

 

[the hobbler]

I had a disc brake conversion done after being scared on the drums...

See my posts starting here - scroll down past a couple of other non-related ones for my impressions.

I think the one I got is the same one you are looking at and I found it fine. Even with the 126 to 500 adaptors the wheels don't foul the arches and I personally found a good improvement in braking.

(btw I like that a discussion about disc brakes is called 'Disc Conversation Upgrade'

A word of warning----if you are going to retain the original wheels/tyres, I would suggest that the fitment of front discs (waste of time, money and effort on a "road-use-only" car) may not be a very wise thing to do. From personal experience, I can assure you that under very hard braking, it is possible to lock-up the STANDARD front brakes in adverse conditions. I have 13 inch wheel on my "Abarth replica" with 5.5 x 13 tyres (a LOT more rubber on the road than a standard car) and I can, under VERY hard braking lock my front wheels IN THE DRY. With standard size wheels/tyres, you will probably be able to easily lock up the front wheels---not a sensible scenario. Set up properly, and with standard engine performance, the 500's drum brakes are perfectly adequate. If you retain the original brake master-cylinder (which is possible and has been done by a number people) you MAY find that you have to fit the smallest size of REAR wheel cylinders available (5/8 in ---15.7mm---from a Mk 1, 594cc Fiat 126). This is because the calipers 'absorb' more brake fluid, when operated, than the original wheel cylinders do, and whilst you will get a hard brake pedal, you might also have a large amount of travel before the pedal becomes hard. Allthis is from personal experience, and just something to take into consideration

 

[Toshi 975]

When I bought my last 500L it came with an MOT along with the longest list of advisories I have ever seen which included king pins, wheel bearings and I found the brakes to be poor. I bought the Ricambio set as it solved all the front end problems in one go. They performed very well and on a couple of occasions I was pleased to have them when forced to do emergency stops. They are pretty much maintenance free under the light load of a 500 although I did strip them down for investigation and I found the kit consists mainly of refurbished and modified standard Fiat parts where the discs, pads and calliper carriers were modified. If I were looking to buy a set now I would opt for one of the purpose built conversions that use new parts but do not include stub axles like the one sold by Auto Bella.
I ran my car with the original master cylinder, no problems. For the disc brake callipers to function the pistons pretty much just rock in the rubber seal and there is very little movement and minimal fluid displacement (explained to me by a lecturer in motor vehicle technology)
I put together my own conversion for a 126 with 13” wheels and had an exhilarating high speed drive with a mate who was driving his 126 Bis with standard brakes. I was in front then he disappeared from my rear view mirror. I turned around and went back to find him. Turned out his brakes had faded due to boiling brake fluid and he had to pull over. Further evidence to me that the discs were superior.

 

[Goldnrust]

I have not driven a 500 with discs, and not meaning to patronise you, but maybe a thought to consider...

We're all used to modern servo assisted disc brakes, and its easy to compare those to unassisted drums and the amount of foot force required to stop the car and think that upgrading to discs will mean you get modern car levels of just lightly touching the brake pedal to slow down.

Having driven a friends Lotus Elise the other day, with unassisted discs, I can say that it requires just as much leg force to drive at road speeds as my 500 does. The same could be said for my old Triumph Spitfire that had unassisted front discs, it wasn't the same 'foot experience' as servo assisted discs.

Don't get me wrong, start driving harder and the discs will immediately outshine the old drums, but an upgrade to discs will not necessarily mean you have a feather weight brake pedal, if thats the goal.

If you're finding the drums are getting hot and fading, or the car just isn't stopping fast enough when you really stand on the brakes, then thats a totally different matter

 

[fiat500]

I have not driven a 500 with discs, and not meaning to patronise you, but maybe a thought to consider...

We're all used to modern servo assisted disc brakes, and its easy to compare those to unassisted drums and the amount of foot force required to stop the car and think that upgrading to discs will mean you get modern car levels of just lightly touching the brake pedal to slow down.

Having driven a friends Lotus Elise the other day, with unassisted discs, I can say that it requires just as much leg force to drive at road speeds as my 500 does. The same could be said for my old Triumph Spitfire that had unassisted front discs, it wasn't the same 'foot experience' as servo assisted discs.

Don't get me wrong, start driving harder and the discs will immediately outshine the old drums, but an upgrade to discs will not necessarily mean you have a feather weight brake pedal, if thats the goal.

If you're finding the drums are getting hot and fading, or the car just isn't stopping fast enough when you really stand on the brakes, then thats a totally different matter

......if you're going so fast that that is the case. I would simply drive a little more slowly.....in my experience that's more fun too.

 

[Noah500]

When I bought my last 500L it came with an MOT along with the longest list of advisories I have ever seen which included king pins, wheel bearings and I found the brakes to be poor. I bought the Ricambio set as it solved all the front end problems in one go. They performed very well and on a couple of occasions I was pleased to have them when forced to do emergency stops. They are pretty much maintenance free under the light load of a 500 although I did strip them down for investigation and I found the kit consists mainly of refurbished and modified standard Fiat parts where the discs, pads and calliper carriers were modified. If I were looking to buy a set now I would opt for one of the purpose built conversions that use new parts but do not include stub axles like the one sold by Auto Bella.
I ran my car with the original master cylinder, no problems. For the disc brake callipers to function the pistons pretty much just rock in the rubber seal and there is very little movement and minimal fluid displacement (explained to me by a lecturer in motor vehicle technology)
I put together my own conversion for a 126 with 13” wheels and had an exhilarating high speed drive with a mate who was driving his 126 Bis with standard brakes. I was in front then he disappeared from my rear view mirror. I turned around and went back to find him. Turned out his brakes had faded due to boiling brake fluid and he had to pull over. Further evidence to me that the discs were superior.

I can't answer for anyone else but it looks like I'm the same as @Toshi 975 : my brakes were very poor; now, with the discs, I don't feel worried about the outcome every time I brake normally (never mind emergency stops)...