VW Mk1 Golf GTI - Big Brake Conversion

#youtube #explained #mk1golf
Here we have a guide to upgrading the stock brakes on the Mk1 Golf GTi to the biggest you can fit under 15" wheels
280mm discs
G60 brake calipers
Adapter kit
16v 9" brake servo
22mm brake master cylinder
Huge improvement over the stock set up, due to the mk1 being a mk1 they still suffer from a long pedal travel as the mastet cylinder is on the passenger side so have a rod and link set up.
With the LHD models the brake pedal acts directly onto the master cylinder so isn't affected and retrains a normal pedal travel.
Any questions as always fire away.

[@garazowemanewry]

The cheapest 280mm brakes for Golf mk1 are caliper and yoke from Opel Omega 16v, ISO 7379 m10/m12 screws, G60 disc, brake lines from Golf IV

[@GreyGooseRestorations]

Interesting info, thanks

[@stevengrace6712]

Great video as always, useful for anyone that wants to go that way.

[@waynegardner2495]

Good video all explained fully

[@pdmotors5027]

A great conversion for a Mk1, nicely done. I rebuilt a 16v Mk2 about seven years ago, and when it came to the brakes, I did the G60 calliper upgrade. Braided brake lines, 280mm discs, both groved and standard, also the 22mm master cylinder. But to be honest, I was not that impressed. A few years later, I thought I would try upgrading the 16V Servo to a bigger unit. Basically because every time I jumped into my wife’s MK 5 TDI Golf, I was blown away with the standard brakes. So I tried fitting a BMW E30 brake Servo. The bolt mounting is the same and if memory serves me correctly, it’s close to being a 12 inch Servo. Yes there was basic engineering involved in making the VW pedal input shaft fit the input shaft of the BMW Servo, but nothing complicated as long as common sense is used. Well the transformation was staggering. I have been driving with this setup for at least four years now and for a time was worried I would lock up the breaks during a possible emergency situation. Well it’s never happened and once I even tried the car out on a track driving you know what out of it. Perfect, never let me down. Even just driving around normally, the brakes give you lots of confidence. Well worth the effort if you want just that little bit more out of the brake system. By the way, at the time I could find nobody who had done this conversion on TH-cam.

[@GreyGooseRestorations]

Hmm interesting 🤔 nice to know that 👍

[@JeezusChrist]

can you make a short video explaining what you did, and how you would do it over if you had to? I'm upgrading my brakes in 2 weeks and really want to have brakes I can use with confidence.

[@GreyGooseRestorations]

We actually put to stock servo and master cylinder back on the car so it was just the bigger calipers etc
It gave a better pedal feel and travel, whats hard on the Mk1 is the linkage system has a lot of flex in it so you can lose pedal feel easily.

[@hoffa2586]

Nice job. Does it need a proportioning valve to adjust rear bias?

[@GreyGooseRestorations]

This particular model doesn't have the rear valve. it just has the smaller wheel cylinders, 14mm ones if memory serves me

[@miniek83]

Hey. Can U post oem numbers for calliper and carrier ?

[@ForSunday]

I have G60 brakes with 16v servo in my stripped out MK1, with a good set of tyres on a nice dry day you can really slam yourself forwards if you stamp on the brakes. Need to get it back on the road. Semi-related, I remember seeing an upgraded brake linkage bar that runs across the bulkhead but since have never been able to find it, are you familiar with it? Be a nice upgrade to brake feel.

[@GreyGooseRestorations]

Yeah i remember that there was a sort or kit to take out the flex in the cross link.

[@JamesGadbury]

These are from a Corrado G60, and not Girling 60 twin pot calipers from Audi's of the period?

[@GreyGooseRestorations]

Yes correct G60 as is corrado etc and not the hoofing great big twin pots 🙂

[@maverick4177]

£500 for some marginally better brakes, seems expensive for a car that isn’t very fast

[@GreyGooseRestorations]

The mk1 brakes are poor to start with, the G60 brakes are a huge improvement over stock

[@maverick4177]

@@GreyGooseRestorations im well aware, have owned 8 of them, but that’s an expensive upgrade, even if you do the work yourself, very expensive if you pay for Labour as well

[@Mario_Marques]

​@@GreyGooseRestorationsI do not agree with that, the original brakes are quite good if they are in perfect condition.

[@GreyGooseRestorations]

This was one reason for the upgrade, the original hangers had wear marks causing the pads to rattle even with new anti rattle clips which was a huge annoyance.

[@Mario_Marques]

@@GreyGooseRestorations maybe your rubber guide was worn out.
At the moment I do have the 280mm like you and a Wildwood master cylinder, but first I have rebuilded the entire original system and then made the upgraded to 280, it made the car loose a second from 0-100 because they are pretty heavier than stock, and made no difference in braking power or Fade, made a noticeable difference only in braking power modulation, there was no fade before with stock size system and sport pads, i did the 280mm because i was concern about overheating and pad wear, but I found out that was not necessary at all, I do Race my car often in hills.
There are some old tests about this Cars and they were very good at braking, actually better than some modern sports Cars, except when ABS matters, check some tests from motorweek and see for example the cabriolet vs a golf 4 r32, you Will not expect that result, or even some Porsches or other modern Cars.
In those tests you get an idea how it should be when new.