havent really been panick braking but i notice the right front wheel locks first and then the brake pedal behaves strangely! does this sound normal?

 

Abs...of steel?

 

Anyone know how hard it would be to put a late model ABS system into an earlier car?
Assuming you do the brake upgrade at the same time, etc...
Would it be easy to hook up the sensors, actuator, etc?

 

No it doesn't, but what do you mean by lock exactly? If you have ABS then the wheels should never lock up. Without abs, it is not strange to have one wheel lock up first in a threshold brake. I have driven formula dodge cars (open wheel) and when you get on the brakes a bit hard you can see one tire lock up first. Depends on the car which wheel. If you think you have ABS, it sounds to me like it isn't working.

 

ABS does let the brakes lock up but only for a very short time. After that the brake pedal can move up and down as the ABS system works and you keep the pedal pressed down.

 

Nick, I see your MY is 1986. If your serial # is >1000 you should have ABS, Mine will "chirp" the tires in a panic stop and then it feels like a tiny drummer is rolling his snare under the brake pedal as the system does it's thing and mediates the braking.

 

sorted! trip to my mechanic this weekend (chris at loebank motors for any uk 928ers) to check t-belt tension and as one of the few people i will actualy let drive my car, i watch as the abs is put to the test - confirming correct operation.

all four wheels are able to be 'chirped'/locked very briefly before the abs comes into effect. it seems that the abs in earlier cars is typicaly a little slow in onset compared to the later ones.

 

BC,

As to installing ABS in an early car - depends. Any earlier than 84, and it is an absolute no win. There are several body mods (read: holes) that are required to mount the system and a fair amount of hardware.

The 84+ cars come with the required holes (ie the big one in the LF fender) for the ABS unit and that's just the start. You will need the to update to the later suspension (all the way round) to provide mount holes for the wheel senders. You will also need the appropriate rear axles, front hubs, wiring looms, brain (ABS or ABS/PSD), update all the brake lines ('cept the rear at the split).

Yes it's do-able. Yes it's a (huge) pain. No, there's really no return on investment of $ (let alone time) of doing it unless you got a great (almost free) deal on donor parts.

THEORETICALLY, there was a factory retrofit solution for 84+ cars, but I have yet to see one executed on the road. I have seen a coupla euro 84-85 cars with ABS factory installed, and it was supposedly a US option, but I have yet to see a US 84 with factory installed ABS. I'm sure there's a few out there, but I just haven't seen them yet.

Greg