Technical Fiat 124 upgrades

[Carmad124]

Any body out there with a classic fiat 124, I'm wondering if there is a front brake upgrade,
where as fitting better disc's and calipers from a different vehicle??
If you made any other modifications I'd be very interested.
Many thanks

 

[Slotman]

They have this on bayless...

 

[gengis]

I made a change to my CSO spider (1982 - 14" wheels) in 2003 whilst restoring. I used Fiat Marea calipers and vented discs...257mm x 20mm which were the more modern sliding pins rather than sliding wedges. If I were doing it today I would probably look at the Fiat 500 for donor parts.

 

[124BC1]

I made a change to my CSO spider (1982 - 14" wheels) in 2003 whilst restoring. I used Fiat Marea calipers and vented discs...257mm x 20mm which were the more modern sliding pins rather than sliding wedges. If I were doing it today I would probably look at the Fiat 500 for donor parts.

That size of Fiat brake disc and the more modern calipers were also used on later Fiat models e.g. Fiat Bravo2 (2007 - 2016) over here in Europe. and, as you say, possibly the 500. Bear in mind that more modern calipers often have larger caliper pistons, so brake pedal travel will be greater (might not make any appreciable difference?). I've no idea if different mounting brackets or bracket spacers would be needed for a conversion (interested to hear though).

 

[348azeus]

I upgraded using Wilwood calipers but if I was doing it again I would go the route of using something from another model. I know some of the Fiat Punto models are a bolt on swap and have vented discs like the Marea.

 

[Twink80]

Any body out there with a classic fiat 124, I'm wondering if there is a front brake upgrade,
where as fitting better disc's and calipers from a different vehicle??
If you made any other modifications I'd be very interested.
Many thanks

Hi
I looked into brake upgrade on the front. You can use Fiat 500 or Panda 100 calipers and discs BUT….these are massively heavier and will increase the unsprung mass making it more difficult for the dampers to control. Plus the Spider is quite an old structure and not as stiff as modern cars so when you go over bumpy roads the car is likely so shake and ride quality will be worse
There isnt too much wrong with correctly set up standard discs unless maybe going racing regularly
My car is 150hp and I havent ever run out of brakes
I did fit EBC greenstuff pads to give better pedal feel (no abs so easy to lock wheels!)

 

[Twink80]

Any body out there with a classic fiat 124, I'm wondering if there is a front brake upgrade,
where as fitting better disc's and calipers from a different vehicle??
If you made any other modifications I'd be very interested.
Many thanks

If you get the diameter and thickness (10mm) of the standard disc you can do a bit of research looking up front brake specs of potential cars on line (start with car specs eg Autocar, then youcan look at part specs on ebay/GSF etc). If you don’t want to fit bigger diameter rims (heavier, more expense) look at fiats with 13ins rims (Panda, Uno/Punto, Fiat 500/Vauxhaul Corsa. I think most of these are pretty close on diameter but are vented so thicker and you will need the matching caliper. There is plenty available second hand/salvage and way cheaper than the upgrade kits that are prepackaged.