Porsche Crest Brake Upgrades

Why?

As my driving ability improved and I began to push the car harder, the limitations of the brakes quickly became a problem.  With the car doing double-duty at the track, both Natasha and I driving, the problems got even worse.  The brakes would quickly overheat, the fluid boil, and the rotors warp.  Now that I would be carrying even more speed due to a much more powerful engine, it was time to upgrade the system.

Options:

There are a lot of options for upgrading Porsche brakes.  I tried to research the most common options.
Big Red = Big $$
Open your wallet.  A kit alone will cost in excess of $3500 for all four wheels.  Factor in wheel spacers and new 17" (or bigger) modular wheels and you're talking $6000 - $7000.  There are quite a few vendors for this setup.

Generally, the kits have 993 Twin Turbo front calipers and C2 calipers modified to fit on the rear.  17" wheels, or bigger, are required.  Front rotors are 12.75" x 1.25".
This setup uses 928S4 calipers with 12" rotors.  Adapters are used to convert from radial to axial mounting configuration.  This option is slightly less than the big reds for the hardware.  Where you can save more is that you can run 16" wheels.
This setup uses 4 930 (4 piston) calipers and 12"x1.25" rotors up front.  Stock 930 rotors are used in the rear.  To fit the calipers on the rear, they have to be machined to fit the non-turbo trailing arms.  This machining costs about $400 if you can find a used set of calipers.
This upgrade is not really an upgrade at all.  While the calipers are based on the 964/Boxter, the rotors are just plain Carrera units.  If stamina at the track is what you're after, this "upgrade" is not for you.  Yes, the calipers are bigger and will provide more stopping power.  But, the rotor is the same small one that you already have.  This setup will only make your heat problems even worse.  Without upgrading to a bigger rotor (heat sink) your problems will persist.

Decisions, decisions:

I chose to upgrade to 930 type calipers and rotors.
Due to the calipers requiring much more fluid to actuate them, a master cylinder upgrade is also required.

Parts:

The parts were not easy to find.  I got them from various sources:
Vehicle Craft Inc.
 Front brake rotors.  These appear to be 13.5" units machined down to 12" to fit my car.  They are equipped with special hats that bolt up to the wheel hubs on the 911SC.  I chose rotors with cast-in holes.  These type tend not to crack like cross-drilled units.

ATE 23mm master cylinder (my car had a 19mm unit stock)
DC Automotive
 Rear calipers.  These calipers were already specially machined to fit on my trailing arms.  This is usually about a $400 modification!  They also came with specially machined bushings to center the caliper on the rotor.

Rear rotors.  These are factory 930 rotors and fit on the SC unmodified
Nino Performance
 Brake pads.  I usually use Pagid Orange, but due to excessive noise, brake dust, and lack of braking power when cold, I chose to run Jurid pads for the street.  I'll probably switch to Pagid for the track as the pads are very easy to change.
Private seller
 Front calipers.  I found a completely rebuilt set of calipers for the front.  I drove to MA to pick them up.
The Nutty Company (Shelton, CT)
 Special length metric bolts for mounting the calipers.  12mm x 50mm.  Highest grade available.
Pep Boys
 Pre-flanged 12" metric brake lines
Performance Products
 SS DOT approved flexible brake lines

Labor:

I did all the work for this conversion myself.  I spent about 1 day on the front, and other day on the rear.  Yes, I work slowly.  Now that I know what I'm doing, I think the upgrade can easily be completed in 1 day, probably less.

Since you will be removing the calipers all around anyway, you might as well drain all the brake fluid from the reservior and not have brake fluid dripping all over the place.

Important:  DO NOT get brake fluid on ANYTHING with paint on it.  It is VERY corrosive.

Front Brakes:

This is an easy, bolt-on conversion.
  1. Jack up the front of the car and remove the wheels
  2. Unhook the short brake lines from the calipers
  3. Remove the brake pads from the calipers.  On the SC, this involves knocking out 2 pins on each caliper with a 4mm punch.
  4. Unbolt the calipers from the front strut.
  5. Remove the hub dust covers with a large Channelock pliers.
  6. Loosen the front hub lock screw with an allen head wrench.
  7. Remove the hub nut
  8. Carefully pull the entire assembly off of the spindle.
  9. Unbolt the front rotors from the hubs
  10. Bolt the new rotors (with adapter plates) to the hubs
  11. Repack the front hubs with new grease and reassemble the hubs, wheel bearings, and hub nut
  12. Adjust the wheel bearing and tighten the allen head lock screw
  13. Mount the new calipers and bolt them to the strut.  I had to use 2 12mm washers on each bolt to center the caliper over the rotor.
  14. Install new brake pads
  15. Custom-bend and install a new hard brake line from the caliper to the flexible line
  16. You'll want to recheck the wheel bearing adjustment

Rear Brakes:

This is also as easy, bolt-on conversion
  1. Jack up the rear of the car and remove the wheels
  2. Unhook the short brake lines from the calipers
  3. Remove the brake pads from the calipers.  On the SC, this involves knocking out 2 pins on each caliper with a 4mm punch.
  4. Unbolt the calipers from the rear trailing arm.  An offset wrench is very helpful due to the limited access.
  5. Remove the two small screws that hold the rotor to the hub
  6. Pull the rotors straight off
  7. Modify the rear trailing arm by cutting off the "ears" that used to hold the backing plates.  They will interfere with the 930 calipers.  Be sure there is enough clearance and no binding.
  8. Slide the new rotors on
  9. Bolt the new calipers (with spacer bushings) onto the trailing arm.  Yes, there really is enough room to get a wrench in there!  :-)  Again, an offset wrench is very useful here
  10. Install new brake pads
  11. Custom-bend and install a new hard brake line from the caliper to the flexible line

Master Cylinder:

While generally easy to do, it is still a pain in the ass to R&R the master cylinder.