Brake Upgrade for mk3 golf 4 stud?

[BugsyMalone666]

So my daily ride is a 1994 1.8 mk3 golf driver, its got stock solid discs at the front and drums at the back. They seem fine compaired with my old beetle, but soon the front discs need to be replaced and I have to do the axle bushes on the rear so that would be an ideal time to replace/ugrade the brakes and bleed the system through.

obviously I`m not made of money but I was wondering what sort of upgrades could be bolted on with minimal extra components?

I did wonder, the rear axle I presume will be identical to the mk3 GTi(which is 5 stud) I might know someone with one of these axles and I thought it might be easier to do the bushes on a 2nd axle, clean paint with upgraded brakes then just roll it in and bleed the brakes. mk2 16v golfs have rear discs in 4 stud(?) would mk2 discs fit mk3 axle/calipers? So effectively I could use the mk3 axle/stub axles/calipers/pipes etc then use mk2 discs/wheel bearings?

is that a feasable Idea, or would a whole mk2 16v axle drop right in? corrado axle?

What can I do about the front brakes? im not after 12" discs or anything, but a mild improved setup is what im after that will be good for if i decide to do a turbo engine for it. I know there was vented discs available on some models? Idealy I dont want to have to change the stub axles so something that I can just bolt on new/2nd hand good calipers and new discs which i need anyway.

whats everyones thoughts? I want to keep the vehicle 4stud as I already have nice wheels.

[tornadored7]

Hi Bugsy,

I'm afraid that I can't offer any advice , but am interested in doing the same thing , ideally myself.

Are you planning to do the work yourself, or employing the services of a mechanic ?

Please let us know how you get on, any issues you face and decisions you make ...

BTW, fine example of a MK3. Is that Tornado Red ?

[BugsyMalone666]

I think if i remember rightly my paint code indicated it was volkswagen `Classic Red`, i need to double check that somewhen as i need to do some touch ups roudn the edge of the arches and i need to colour code the centres of the bumpers so it looks a bit more modern/like the GTi.

Im gonna be doing all the work myself with the brake system, with regards to spraying the touch ups im gonna do that myself too(although how good it will be im not sure, need some practice)

at the moment im a little bit stuck with this brake conversion as I dont want to hazard a guess to much that parts will fit, I havent had a whole lot of free time lately to do the research online but i need to find some resources for brake discs suppliers, I know when i was doing my camper which they have year only discs and later discs, you can fit later calipers with adaptor bushes, but you only find this out if you have a look online and look at the dimensions/offset of the 2 types of disc.

So what I need to do when i get some time(unless anyone can point me in the right direct) is find somewhere with such informantion, as for rear wheel bearings for fitting mk2 rear discs to a mk3 rear axle, someone on another forum suggested it wont be a problem as SWF manufactor nearly every different size of bearing imaginable.

with the front brakes I know there is also a vented disc brake available but im not sure if its 4 stud, I think the mk2 GTis had vented front brakes, corrados will have, but need to find out if its just a caliper swap jobby when i fit new discs, then add a set of stainless braided lines and better brakes will be at my command

[BugsyMalone666]

Ok I have done some Detective work and someone on another site pointed me in the direction of the Brembo website.

mk3 GTi 5 stud rear discs have identical dimensions to mk2 4 stud rear discs, they come out the factory as a blank and are drilled with 4x100 or 5x100 stud pattern it would seem, but are made from the same blank.

so if you get a mk3 GTi/VR6 axle that will bolt straight into your 1.6/1.6/1.8/1.9D mk3 then just get 4 stud rear discs from the mk2, easy as that yet no one could tell me that!

things to note though:

- handbrake cables are different for discbrake models, but relatively cheap.
- Looking at the German Swedish & french parts catalogue, it would appear the brake compensator valve has a different letter after the part number depending if its drums or discs, so im guessing a GTi/VR6 compensator valve will also be required.

[BugsyMalone666]

Right with the detective work done on the back, its time to address the fronts and bring them up to a similar standard, this is something where doing the same research as the back has left me a little baffled.

it would seem there are 5 brake disc sizes for the front of golfs in 4 stud 239mm Solid discs(which mine has)239mm vented 256mm Solid, 256mm Vented disc & 280mm Vented disc on G60 Mk2s

on the mk3 GTi/VR6 you can also get a 280mm & 288mm 5 stud

so the question is, how do i fit bigger brakes on the front?

239mm solid discs have one dimension 256mm Solid discs have different offsets so i cant see that being an easy swap.

256mm solids and 256 vented have very similar dimensions, so if you had solids and swapped for vented calipers, i cant see any problems.

280mm G60 Discs have very similar offset (give or take 0.5-1mm) to the 256mm vented, so presumabley room for an upgrade.

with all this information, the big question is are the actual hub/axle assembles different on all these cars, or is it just a case of different brake calipers to accomadate the size?