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Hi guys - I'm wondering if anyone has experience with these: we have disc brakes all the way around on our Speedster. Judging by the pads exposed in the rear, I've gathered they're EMPI. My question is: if I wanted to upgrade to some sort of coated rotor, or some ceramic pads, is there a vehicle these correspond to? Say, year, make and model such and such would be compatible with the brake setup we have, parts would be interchangeable? I'm assuming there must be, hoping maybe others have some insight they could share.

Front Rotor:


Front Caliper:


Rear Rotor:


Rear Caliper:

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@JR_1979 posted:

Thanks, @Eric (McGruff).Any year in particular? I guess I'm looking for the 2 pin pads. KG Rotors as well? I know the rear calipers are different and take different pads, as the KG had drums.

The conversion kits have their own rotor/hub units, front and rear. Not sure whether the fronts are compatible with the Ghia, but the rears aren't, they're splined. My rear calipers take the same pads as the fronts. 

 

@JR_1979 , when I ordered rear discs on my VS, they installed an EMPI set, which look a lot like the picture of the caliper you posted (although mine are 4-bolt wheels):

EmpiRearCaliper03

I replaced pads a few years back and discovered they take a very common pad that was used on a lot of cars around 25 years ago (including  Ford Tauruses). The industry term for this size is D610.

I ordered a set of Bendix ceramic pads from Amazon and they were the right size for the caliper. But they were a little too thick. I couldn't spread the caliper far apart enough for the pads to drop in around the disc, so I ended up having to sand about 1/8" off each pad. After that, they've worked great:

Despite how it looks in this photo, they're just about 3 and 5/8" wide:

EmpiRearPad03

Here's the link to the pads on Amazon, but any auto parts store should have something in that size.

 

Attachments

Images (2)
  • EmpiRearCaliper03
  • EmpiRearPad03

@Sacto Mitch, wow you're awesome. I don't think I was ever going to come across all that great information without your help. And yes, that definitely looks like the pads. So you had to take a whole 1/8" off huh? How did you make sure you kept a perfectly flush surface? I need to do some research on these and see if there's anyway to tell the difference in pad depth between the difference brands. If I dig up anything helpful I'll post back here for future reference.

@Sacto Mitch - I just wanted to say thank you for sharing this info with me. I tried doing some research on pad thickness to determine if there were D610 pads that may fit without any alterations, but couldn't make any real progress. Found that Centric makes some nice ceramic pads for both the 2 pin Rabbits and the D610s, so picked up both of those. I did have to sand about 1/8" off of the rears in order to get them to fit. After flushing the system and bedding these guys in, I'm super happy. Whisper quiet (like, pin-drop quiet) and bring the car to quick, soft stop.

Never would have figured all that out if not for you, so thank you, kind sir.

@Stan Galat - I suppose that would tidy things up a bit! After re-reading this I have no idea why I mentioned Rabbit pads, they're KG pads. Guess I was over-excited.

Front Calipers: EMPI 98-1150-B

Accept the 2-pin VW KARMANN GHIA Pads w/ no alerations. Double-check you're purchasing the 2-pin pads.

(Search for 1972 VOLKSWAGEN KARMANN GHIA front disc brake pads)

I used CENTRIC 10500300 Posi-Quiet; Ceramic



Left Rear Caliper: EMPI 22-6123-B
Right Rear Caliper: EMPI 22-6124-B

Accept the generic D610 pads. Assuming different brands have different pad thickness, YMMV. @Sacto Mitch and I both had to sand approx. 1/8" from the pad depth in order to get these to accommodate the EMPI 22-2843-7 rotors.

(Search for 2007 Ford Taurus rear disc brake pads)

I used CENTRIC 10506100 Posi-Quiet; Ceramic

Last edited by JR_1979
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