Front and Rear Willwood kit from WagensWest

Has any body used or even heard of the brake upgrade for an NA 944 from Wagenswest? I searched around this forum a bit and didn't find anything. They claim they fit on any NA 944 from 83-86 and come with 4 calipers for the front and rear, pads, adapters, and fittings for about $1000. I've been debating going with this or the LS430 swap but am having a hard time finding someone with the adapters for the LS430 calipers for my 1985.5 NA. Also I don't know what i would do for the rears if i went for the LS430 front calipers. Let me know if im just being dumb and everyone already knows about these. This is my first post here.

https://www.wagenswest.com/product/porsche-944-wilwood-caliper-kit-front-rear

Also it looks like they sell just the adapter brackets separately.

https://www.wagenswest.com/product/944-front-disk-brake-wilwood-adapter-bracket-pair

Those look very nice! Price seem to be ok too. I personally have done 2 different brake upgrades.

ls430...pulled from a junk yard and had a guy I know machine the adapters based in the caliper and Robs(xschop) diagram. charged me $50 to do so. He also made the centering rings.These are 4 Pot.

The second and current iteration is the Audi A7/ Porsche Cayenne Brembo 18z 6Pot. These are pretty Huge. I purchased them from a junk yard as well and a guy from this forum sells...the adapters and centering rings. Stops really good...I have no issues...my rear brakes are s2 and work well no need for additional changes. His adapters are FOR EARLY CARS.

i run the ls430 calipers and i wouldnt recommend it. after a lot of screwing around they do work well, however pad choice is almost non existent (only option is carbotech). im running the rx7 front calipers on the rear, wouldnt go that way again either as the piston volume is too large.

that caliper upgrade kit looks good for a bolt on upgrade. the downside is its not a big brake upgrade, its just a caliper swap.

sharkey wrote:i run the ls430 calipers and i wouldnt recommend it. after a lot of screwing around they do work well, however pad choice is almost non existent (only option is carbotech). im running the rx7 front calipers on the rear, wouldnt go that way again either as the piston volume is too large.

that caliper upgrade kit looks good for a bolt on upgrade. the downside is its not a big brake upgrade, its just a caliper swap.

Would the wagenswest kit still improve braking? I know the stock na brakes are tiny.

I purchased and recently received just the adapter sets from wagenswest. I bought the calipers separately. They do include the hardware and the npt adapter to use the stock brake lines. I've only got the rears mounted up, as they note on their website it does require some removal of material from the calipers to fit properly.

I am installing them on an early 944, I did not have to trim the trailing arm mount at all, only the rear caliper.

I won't have the fronts installed for some time as I am finishing up motor mounts, etc prior to test fitting my engine.

For what it's worth the adapters fit perfectly and look like they will do the trick.

I have the wagons west kit they didn't ship it out for a month until I called them then they said "oh yes it was scheduled to go out today." They brake really well I would say they make a firmer pedal than the stock calipers (mine had good seals on the NA brakes and I reused my stainless lines). Under hard braking I can easily lock up all 4 tires so tires are definitely my braking limitation now. The weight difference between the wildwoods and stock brakes is insane. They fit under my 15in PDs though its a little tight in the back as far as wheel clearance. The backs required trimming with their adapter bracket to clear the notch on the back of the hub on my 924S idk if thats for all of them or just my S but its worth mentioning. The rear calipers fit perfect once the bracket with considerably shaved the pad contact on the back is perfect. The front is a little smaller than the stock pads I think but the added clamping force makes the brakes feel like they brake harder. I haven't gotten tons of heat into them via track use but at autocross they did fine no fade or spongy pedal. Probably won't be able to use them on the track until after my LS conversion. Im curious to see how they work with the added power.

Yeah same here. What has sold this kit in particular is the pad options available. Although they might over heat quickly on track. This might be too small for 350+ hp. I keep jumping back and forth between trying to figure out the ls430 calipers or just go with this. I would be running 285 wide 18" rubber so I'm not worried about fitting them under the wheels.

If you decide to go with ls430 calipers, I have adapters for the early 944. You will have to machine a step in your hubs for the boxster s rotors and have some centering rings made.

Don't forget about the 18z calipers along with 350mm Rotors as an option.  They stop on a dime,with no issues.
I Painted the calipers and replaced logo.

Red944ls1 wrote:Don't forget about the 18z calipers along with 350mm Rotors as an option.  They stop on a dime,with no issues.
I Painted the calipers and replaced logo.  

Based on your experience, which do you think is the better option?

I’ve heard mixed reviews on the ls430. I bought the centering rings off of Superman but don’t know what to do about the adapters - do you know where you saw Xschops’ diagram?

The 18z sounds intriguing but have you only seen adapters for early cars?

Let me know if anyone has a lead on where i can get adapters front and rear, and centering rings for the LS 430 front calps and RX7 rear calps. Or even a diagram because the old xschop thread doesnt have the picture and more.

I've got a set of early 944 adapters for the front calipers (ls430) you'd have to get centering rings and your hubs need a step machined in them to use boxster s rotors if your adapting to an early 944

spence wrote:I've got a set of early 944 adapters for the front calipers (ls430) you'd have to get centering rings and your hubs need a step machined in them to use boxster s rotors if your adapting to an early 944

Will those work with my 1985.5? If so how much would you sell them for? Also I would still need adapters for RX7 calps for the rear. I have no idea where I can get those. Also what do you mean by machining the hubs? I was under the impression with the adapters and centering rings its mosly bolt on.

Yes, they'll work for 85.5, that's what mine is. There's a step in the boxster s rotor that needs to machined in the hub. I ended up getting custom hubs made

spence wrote:Yes, they'll work for 85.5, that's what mine is. There's a step in the boxster s rotor that needs to machined in the hub. I ended up getting custom hubs made

Did you you still need the adapters in addition to getting the hubs machined?

Yes, you need both the adapters and the step machined in the hub

spence wrote:https://944hybrids.forumotion.com/t7-ls430-big-brake-swap

Gotcha, thanks, you don’t have the specs on the adapters by any chance? Seems pretty straightforward but it seems like everyone is kind of stuck on that piece since xschop isn’t really active anymore.

I'd have to dig thru my pc at home.... I might have drawings

https://944hybrids.forumotion.com/t308-rx7-caliper-swap

There's a drawing for the rx7 caliper adapter in that thread

spence wrote:

Thanks man this is exactly what I was looking for!

Bump. Looking for more info on 18Z on late model 944.