Was looking at brake upgrades, and seem allot of ppl use 944 parts... i know it won't be as straight bolt on, but pretty easy?

And then my other question, if 944 stuff fits, will 968 stuff fit? they are very similar cars... and i might know where a full set of brakes will be going for a good price....

944 and 944T (951) seems a pretty common way to go - there's a heap of info on http://www.germanlook.com  about the various options.

Info is for BJ front ends mostly, but I've read somewhere that L bugs are really simple since the 944T steering knuckle basically bolt straight up. I have some 944T knuckles, but don't have access to an L bug so can't really say for sure...

Early 944 NA are the easiest to fit.

The rears bolt on (ie calliper bracket fits to the Beetle trailing arm and hub fits one beetle stub axle, just a bit of fiddling to make the handbrake work (either new cable with the Porsche ends or make a new clip for the beetle end to hang onto).

The fronts require the 1303 pressed steel arms and a Kerscher ball joint. The ball joint fits into the beelte arm and fits the Porsche steering knuckle. (Beetle ball joint stub is too small to be clamped by the Porsche knuckle). The 944T ones have a bigger ball joint again, so the Kerscher one won't work, and the backs I think have a different bolt pattern as well.

The Porsche knuckles have more positive camber on them so you need more adjustment than the stock setup can give you to bring it back. Topline sell an inner bush for the control arms to do this ("camber +" kit). You will also need 1303 / golf (mk1) / 944 front struts. Golf are the shortest.

The setup adds a reasonable amount of track to the front of the car so to get the wheel to fit under stock guards you need rims with an offset of around 50mm

Then you need to fit up the Porsche master cylinder because the front calipers are too big for the Beetle master cylinder to push enough fluid, otherwise you end up with a very poor pedal feel. This is also bolt on (same bolt pattern) but a little bit of clearancing required and some new brake lines to extend the originals to get everything fitted up.

Then you end up with very average feeling brakes on the street, and after a few laps around a track (once things have warmed up) they feel fantastic!

Thats my experience anyway. I've got some photos http://carolineandjeremy.multiply.com/photos/album/2 

I kind of wished I'd gone a different way, more like what Steve C has, only use the ford rears and some 4 pot fronts over a Beetle hub with vented disk attached. That way you get to choose your stud pattern and much better selection of wheels, not just Porsche ones at Porsche prices, although you may have a better selection over there than we have here.

Or check out vdub engineering- http://www.vdubengineering.com  for other options.

There must be some other options in Aussie? You guys have been racing beetles for ages, what do Vforce and those guys do?

Good luck

Cheers
Jeremy

968 parts should work, I have 87 944T calipers front and rear, for the rear i got an 84 944 hub and handbrake/caliper mount which bolts straight on and for the front i used bj dropped spindles with the modified 87 944T front hubs to accept a type 1 bearing. I wrote an article for VWMA it's in the issue with Dasdubbers beetle on the cover. Also i am in north brisbane if you want to come over and have a look. Damo.

yeah just looking into it at the moment. I was having a good look at a 968 and the rear suspension looks like it would almost bolt straight in. and the 968 was an evolution of the 944, but they replaced allot of parts so thats why it got the new model number rahter than 944 S3....

The kerscher ball joint does fit the 944T spindle. I have the turbo spindles and the kerscher ball joints. but like he said you need to get the 1303 lower control arms. And then you need to make a custom strut with the 944t leg and 1302 bearing plate(well on a 1302 any way). V-force is making mine.

Also for the rear i think you need to up grade to T2 outers to match the 944T hubs.

Also the dual circuit vw master cyclinder is apparently good enough. It just needs to be depressed further than standard but works fine. I'll let you know after I install mine!



[ Edited on 26-6-2007 by punchbuggyracer ]

Quite possible I've only researched the Turbo stuff. You can see some of the parts I have purchased in the Bugs section wear I posted "my not so super 71 super"