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Hello-
All the following is for a T3 with the 4 bolts hubs. As far as I know the late models and early models 4 bolt brakes are the same.
The rears are the same. The 1971-1973 fronts are very different. They use the same bearings, but a different rotor, calipers, backing plate, etc. The parts are the same as a 1970-72 Porsche 914 or 1969-72 411/412 - they use 42mm pistons in the calipers (which have a much more common 3" bolt spacing).
The front and rear torsion bars are indexable just like the rears on a beetle.
Yes indeed. It makes front suspension adjustment much more fun :-).
If I remember correctly one the bottom tube on a T3 has a torsion bar. The top just has a bar to hold it together.
Actually, the T3 has _three_ torsion bars in the front beam. The bottom tube has two of them, and one end of each is fixed to the tube. These act as the main "spring" for each wheel. The third torsion bar is in the top tube and goes from one wheel to the other. It acts as a built in "anti-sway bar." Very convenient.
The rear should be the same as a bug except the later ones had a larger torsion bar for the greater weight.
Only Squarebacks, IIRC.
The early 944 brakes with the steel arms will bolt right up. They only require an adapter for the emergency brake cable. I forget who sells one.
I got some from Alex (thanks, Alex!).
If you go with the single pots you will need the 944 MC as they require more fluid than four pots to engage the rotor.
Really? 1-pots take _more_ than 4-pots? I'd have thought that it'd be the other way around...
I'm also using stainless steel brake lines, so I hope that they help to compensate for the bigger brakes and make my MC adequate. If not, I'll swap it out later.
Ah! The fronts. As far as I know the front rotor and caliper is the same as a Ghia.
Ghia is 40mm piston with ~2.25" bolt spacing, as is pre-71 T3. This bolt spacing is the same as only a few odd rear caliper pieces from other makes. But 71-73 is different - 42mm piston with 3" spacing. The 3" spacing is _very_ common, so there are quite a few caliper swaps from other cars (like BMW) that become possible.
[B]The biggest problem will be making an adapter for the caliper for the front. The machining will be quite tricky.
I'm not afraid of machine work...
I just measured - the 944 fronts use a 3" bolt spacing, too. This is a good thing! It *may* be even easier than I was expecting!
Thanks for the help!
Take care,
__________________
Shad Laws
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