CurlyDE

I just recently replaced a lot of braking components on my 951 and the brakes are still not all that great (ie: my daily driver '97 Prelude stops better, wth?!?). I have compared the brakes on my 951 to another lister's 951 and there is a big difference.

Stuff that was replaced:
booster, master cylinder, SS lines, pads (Metalmaster), vacuum lines of all kinds, rotors were turned (I checked and they are well within the usable range).

The pedal feels a lot better now (although it does seem to require more travel before the brakes engage compared to Kool's 951). Basically, it is not mushy at all. I am not really too sure how to describe the problem. In Kool's 951, when you hit the brakes the car grabs hard and immediately stops. It feels like it will stand up on its nose. My car does not have that feeling ... there is no instant grab like the other 951. The car just sort of slows down, but it does not have that "throw you forward in the seat" feeling.

Does anybody have any ideas?

awilson40

I was told that you are not suppose to turn the rotors. I dont know why, but I replaced with new instead.
Mine doesnt give you a hard stopping feeling, more steady and linear.
But with still stop 60 - 0 in 123 -130 feet which is pretty good.

Claus Groth

Adjust that where the pushrod attaches to the pedal.

RPG951S

Lose the Metal Masters, switch to a pad that has a higher cold temperature CF.
The MM's are cheap and fairly effective, but aren't all that 'grippy' feeling, especially when cold.
Switch to a more aggressive street pad, like a hawk HPS/HP+, Pagid Street(Blue? I think), or Porterfield R4S.
Look for a pad that has a higher CF, and you'll find what your looking for.
If find most 'underbraked' cars will attempt to make the braking 'feel' better by fitting high-cold-CF pads;when warmed up or pushed, they fade away. (I'm talking about 'other' cars, not a 951)

OriginalSterm

i disagree with RPG (respectfully, of course), you don't need a more aggressive pad. Especially on the street. I have Mintex C-techs, not the greatest pad on the planet but a good street pad (and good novice DE pad) and they will throw me forward in the seat if I jam on the brakes. My "secret"? Bleed the brakes good and use ATE super blue, and PROPERLY bed in the new pads. I bed the pads in incorrectly once and the car had what felt like immediate fade. Not sure what technique you used, but I got the pads hot slowly at first, then slowly let them cool, then heated them up good and hot, and slowly cooled them down again. The smell was horrid. The process took about half an hour and I couldn't believe the difference from the old pads and the new properly bed in pads.

RPG951S

Mintex C-tech's actually make a pretty track pads; they are MUCH better than the Metal Masters. While I agree with ya.. I still think even with properly bedded and bleed brakes and fluid, he'll never like the feel of MM's, I never did. Swapping to Porterfield R4 really brought the brakes to life. (even on the street)

OriginalSterm

i'm anxious to see what these mintex pads will do on the track, my biggest concern is eating the rotors.

as far as the porterfields (or pagid or hawks) is that the braking might feel better than the metal masters (which i've never run, so take this for what it's worth) do, but if a pad isn't bed in properly you won't get the most out of them, whatever they are.

hosrom_951

How do you adjust the rod on the pedal?

CurlyDE

Thanks for the responses guys. I will try another set of pads and see if that gives me what I am looking for. The car stops "well" now, but no where near as well as the 951 that I compared it to.

I did a few hard stops (separated by a short cool off period) as part of the bed in procedure for the MM pads. I am not sure if this is proper or not, but I have not had any issues with this procedure on my other cars (non p-cars) in the past. I just read a procedure on Paragon that sounds similar to the one that OriginalSterm mentioned. I will try this on the new pads.

hosrom: Basically the rod has a fork on the end of it that screws on (lock nut is there too if I remember correctly). The fork is held to the pedal by a rod and locking pin. I am not sure how difficult it will be to adjust it while everything is in the car ... it is really easy when the booster is out though. You want to remove the fork from around the pedal, break the locking nut loose and turn the fork out some on the booster rod.