UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Does any one know the best way to sharpen up my brakes on a 90 1043l box back!!!!!!!!!
Every time i use the standard one a good degree of forethought is required!!!!!

first of all check the rears are correctly adjusted and the condition of the pads and discs upfront . If it upgrades your after then the Golf mk1 gti front set-up fits the polo but I don't know if really improves brake performance or makes the car over braked at the front which is why I have not done it to my mk1

When you say "set up" do you mean everything as in the hubs, calipers and discs or just the discs?????????

First things are, flush and refill the brake fluid, sand the pads and shoes and bed them in again and check the brake compensator (if you have one).. the brakes aren't much good, but they're usable if they're properly looked after. A decent set of tyres makes braking a much more enjoyable experience as well - I've just stuck some decent 175 / 185 profile tyres on mine to replace the cheapo 145's that I used to have and the difference it's made is incredible.

As for actual upgrades, the most common upgrade is golf GTi vented discs up front - you'll want to go to a scrappy and pick up a pair of VW II calipers and carriers, they're a direct replacement for your VW I calipers, and then get golf GTi vented discs and pads. This shouldn't really unbalance the brakes, they won't be all that much more powerful but you won't get the horrendous brake fade that you get with the standard discs

As for the rear brakes, only way to upgrade these is to find a rear axle from a mk2 golf GTi and replace the whole thing - this will give you disc brakes on the rear.

The next thing is a brake servo. Unfortunately you can't just get a mk3 polo servo or any other direct servo as the bulkhead is the wrong shape and it won't fit. What you need is a remote servo like they used on some of the old minis - you run a brake line from your master cylinder to the remote servo and it does the work from there.

Let us know how you get on.. these are all things I intend to do once I've got the rest of my car running properly, so it'd be interesting to hear what kind of a difference they make

As for the rear brakes, only way to upgrade these is to find a rear axle from a mk2 golf GTi and replace the whole thing - this will give you disc brakes on the rear.

Are you sure that the whole rear beam will fit?
What happens with the handbreak cables ect, will they just connect up again?

No, a Golf rear axle will not fit. You can remove the disc brake setup, but it's pointless going to all the effort of adapting cables etc when decent drums setup properly work well enough.

Is there any way of doing it so the cables will not need adjusting?

Could have sworn someone's fitted a golf gti rear axle before.. but, never mind. Must be making things up again, sorry..

you may be thinking of a polo mk3 GT axle which has anti roll bar inside. Disks on the rear wont really benefit a polo unless it sees moody amounts of power, they arent so good as a handbrake as the disks can bind. uprate the drums instead. If you have seen a type 2 bus you will realise that all round drums arent that bad

what can you upgrade the drums from then?

cant remember off the top of my head but do remember seeing a company somewhere. THe other choice is uprated drum shoes

you do get discs on type 2 bay campers, some come as basic as they are better than drums.
there is loads of companies that do uprated drums, they are grooved drums but will not make the shoes last that long.

all round drums?!

dont ever go down a steepish hill more than about a half mile mate............. brake fade far worse than discs surely!

Don't think I'd enjoy all round drums, if discs can be as scary as they are on the polo.. I mean, the old mini's used to have all round drums, everyone said they were lethal and the mini requires a lot less stopping than a type 2..

there is a steep road that I go on to work, and its got a 60mph limit on it, and warnings to test your brakes....
...anyway there is an escape lane next to the road, which is basically a sandpit that 100 metres long so that is a waggons brakes fail, it can stop safely.