There seem to be many different types of 2002 owners in this world. There are fanatics of originality, who wince at the thought of anything
except for "necessary improvements" to '02s. Hot rodders are also quite
active in the scene, with projects ranging from big carbs and cams to
engine transplants. Also, there are many people that are just trying to
keep the cars on the road and not let them become scrap metal. One theme
that is common across the board is the issue of stopping. We all have
to do it, some don't like to, and others thrive on it. Stopping what?
Stopping the darn car!
Okay, this isn't going to be one of those lectures about the necessity
of brake maintenance (we already know that, right?). In fact, instead of
dealing with maintenance of old brake systems, I am going to advocate
throwing the whole of it out! Well, most of it anyway as some parts
still need to stick around, some may still be good, and this may be of
no interest to some of you. Yes, throw it out and get ready for (drum
roll please... ) Big Brakes! Some of our cars may really need some help
stopping. When I bought my '72, it had been quite a while since there
was any attention paid to the brakes, or anything else for that matter.
At that point, it was okay because the wheezing smoke-bag of a car could
barely get up to speed. After the somewhat tricked out engine was
installed, it was "lookout, Because I'm goin' fast and there isn't a
thing I can do to slow down!" Well, that was entertaining for about ten
minutes, then I realized I needed help.
A look through all the usual resources gave me the information that
more stopping power is easy, if you have a tii. Since I don't, and
wasn't about to upgrade struts and all of that, I kept looking. I think
that it was about that time that I found out about Ireland Engineering.
A quick trip to their web site confirmed that they were one of a few
companies that offered a bolt-on big brake kit for non-tii cars. I gave
them a call, and spoke with Jeremy Chandler about the products they had
to offer. Jeremy gave me the details of the kit, and I went off
contemplating how I was going to pay for the parts I so sorely needed.
No stranger to this game, I pulled out the trusty plastic and gave
Jeremy the call.
A few days later, two heavy boxes showed up on my doorstep. The boxes
contained: new front calipers, shiny vented discs, hubs, bearings, rear
drums, backing plates, wheel cylinders, braided stainless lines, pads
and shoes, and some instructions. My original intention was to do the
work in front of my house, on the street. The leasing of a spacious
garage by my house averted that disaster. Now all I had to was wait
until my garage mate left for vacation, and it would be time for action.
Never having done any serious work on brakes, I thought it would be
best to jump right in and figure it out on the fly. Hey, I had some
directions and of course, the trusty Haynes manual. Using my best
judgement, I got the front end up on jack stands, and started tearing
into it. I am quite excellent at taking things apart, the problem being
that they rarely go back together correctly. With that in mind, off came
the wheels, calipers, rotors, lines, and backing plates. I thought that
the best thing to do at this point would be installing the new
ultra-fancy braided steel lines. That went well, with no problems to
speak of. Then the new hub, a '77 320 unit I believe, was installed. The
hubs came with old bearings, so those needed to be knocked out and
replaced with new pieces. Following the Haynes manual, I packed the
bearings, mounted the hub, and torqued the retaining nut. Hey, this
brake stuff isn't all that hard!
Thinking I was a star mechanic by this time drove me to get the caliper
on and move to the other side. The calipers that Ireland supplies with
their kit are not original BMW parts as with tii kits. They are Ate
calipers from a Volvo 240 in the '79–'84 era. Ireland plugs the
mounting holes and moves them so that the caliper sits about one-half
inch inboard. On the passenger side, it mounted exactly in place with no
problem. Moving over to the drivers' side, I did run into a few tough
spots. When I tried to undo the flexible lines, they would not budge.
Noticing that the heads were starting to round off, I went and bought a
flare wrench. At this point, I must recommend that a high-quality flare
wrench is purchased before tackling this job. The cheap one that I
bought did not make the grade and completely destroyed several of the
heads.
After the brake line ordeal was solved with vice-grips and a
sledgehammer, I assembled the rest of the brake. It all appeared to go
together well and looked quite macho sitting there in the open. Just for
kicks, I tried to give the rotor a spin. It really didn't want to go
anywhere. To make a long story short, after much contemplating, foul
language, pizza, beer, and mockery from friends, I finally came to the
conclusion that the caliper just did not fit. Several conversations with
Jeremy determined that there had been a machining error and the caliper
was actually contacting the rotor. Jeremy, being the super guy that he
is, shipped me a new caliper, Saturday delivery. It bolted right up, and
I was done with the front, after only about five days of bloody
knuckles.
The rear brake setup is the basic bolt on 320 conversion. I did not opt
to replace the wheel bearings at this time, as I really wanted to get
this finished and didn't need the added complication. Since the 320
brakes are very similar to the 2002, it was a relatively simple process
of matching up the parts. After struggling with it for a while, I came
up with the brilliant concept that it would be a lot easier with the
emergency brake cables undone. It was, and I got finished a bit before
three in the morning.
The next day, I took a cautious lap around my block and everything felt
fine. Following the directions for bedding in the Metal Master pads, I
found a strip of somewhat quiet road and did several hard stops. Braking
power was dramatically improved from where it was one week before. There
was a very solid feel to the pedal that inspired confidence, not fear.
The next morning, a foggy San Francisco one no less, I found myself
coming down a steep hill that was a bit wet. I actually had the
misfortune to test out the brakes when some fool blew the red right in
front of me. Well yes, the car stopped – but it wanted to continue
through the intersection tail first. A few more tests revealed that the
car now had a serious tendency to lock up the rears a bit early for my
tastes. Seems that the Metal Master pads need to be warmed up a bit to
be as effective as the Textar shoes in the rear. Playing with the
adjustment on the rear brakes dialed them in to a usable balance, and
off I went.
It has been about 6,000 miles since I did the conversion, and I am
extremely happy with the results. As you all know, it was a pretty wet
winter in these parts and I used my brakes a lot. I find them to be
extremely responsive in the city, always stopping me in plenty of time
to avoid the brilliant situations that other drivers create. Out in the
hills, the stopping power is truly realized. The brakes really haul the
car down from high speeds with alarming tenacity. I often wind up
startling myself with the braking force that this car can generate. The
only change I plan to make is to switch to a tii booster, mostly for
side-draft clearance. Ireland has a good kit and excellent support so
that even a relatively green mechanic such as myself can get the job
done and make the car stop.
|
