Enhanced stopping of a 73 911T

[911hillclimber]

My car has stock discs, mater cylinder, A callipers front, M rear and Carbone Loraine pads.
It stops ok, rather than well and can make you wince in modern traffic.
Pondering what can be done.
Most of my 911 driving now is UK roads in traffic congested West Midlands, no hill climbs, no fast tracks etc.

It is time to bleed the brakes to replace years and years old brake fluid, but, as it is winter, I wonder what can be done to economically enhance them.
Pondering the new twin servos you can get for dual circuit kit cars, now small enough to fit above the pedals and even come through the smugglers lid.

This would be far cheaper than 6 and 4 pot callipers at about 1500 to £2000, and more interesting to do too over this winter.
The engine is a 3.2 so I can get a servo hose off the engine easy.
I also have most of a 3.2 servo system as another option that the factory thought was the solution.
Any thoughts please?

[johnM]

What tyres are you running?

My car stops great on Avon CR6's and more recently Pirrelli C36

(Obviously not well enough) Before anyone says!!

[Gary71]

Servo will only reduce pedal effort, not ultimate stopping power per se.
I find flex around the pedal area is an issue and, so the servo may help by giving a self contained system independent of that. Should give ‘bite’ if not actual stopping power.

I plan to reinforce the floor (not sure how yet!) to try and help this.

[911hillclimber]

Ah....
My question lacked finesse!
Ultimate stopping is ok, don't do many emergency stops and the car has simple tyres, Dunlop Blu Spors, but it is the daily traffic driving where people stop sharply and such like, so reducing pedal pressure will allow better stopping for less effort, far more modern car performance at normal speeds and daily conditions.
I like the kit car servo unit as it will place well in my rhd converted car where originality is not sacrosanct...
They are about £400 and look quite easy to install, I'm ok with spanners etc so should be sort of easy but give a good result keeping the brakes I have already.

[Gary71]

That’s the ‘bite’ I was talking about. Servo should help with that getting that line pressure up quickly

[NurLinks]

Don't want to be a smart ass/arse, but what is the working temperature range of your CL pads? It may be worthwhile to use another compound with better low temperature ultimate friction, initial bite and modulation (in reverse order), before throwing money at upgrading your other hardware.

I also assume that your discs (thickness, warp and surface contamination), calipers (pistons, seals and pad seating) and brake lines (flex) are in top shape, if not, start there. IMHO, there is no reason why the standard setup should not be up to the job with little effort on what is a light car.

[911hillclimber]

The pads are about 6 years old now and stop well enough, several on here use them too.
They are formulated for initial bite and are the best pads I've ever tried.
The system is tip top and having had the car for 30 years on the road I know it well, but at my age (etc) some modern world improvements wouldn't go amiss.

I find it a bit nervy in dense traffic esp on a motorway when traffic pulls up fast.
Hitting the brakes cold will pull the car up hard if rather noisily, discs are vented and cross-drilled.

I'm not interested in preserving the classic feel of the car, keeping those quaint characteristics of the 70's, just want to enjoy driving it and find the brakes could be enhanced to make it easier to use for me and the wife.
I rarely drive it without her in it and she gets a bit uncomfortable when stopping seems to take a touch too long...so we tend to use the Boxster instead growingly and the 911 just sits around too much.

I used to do 3000 miles/year, now its about 900.
This is one of the reasons I borrowed Gary's seats early this year, again looking to improve the drive.

There is also the 'project' aspect of this, something I like to do.

The car can stop hard at speed...