Fiat 850 rear brakes

[ramona300]

Couple of weeks ago at the track I felt there could have been a bit more braking effort from the rear brakes. Front brakes are Tokico calipers and adequate but the rear is stock drums with stock pads that are down a bit. I'm keeping the drums because they are lighter than discs. Is there rear brake shoes available that would improve performance?

 

[myredracer]

IIRC, an upgrade back in the day was to use the aluminum drums off a Multipla because they dissipate heat better. I do have a couple but shipping cost to Australia is a killer as you know. Maybe you could take the shoes to a specialist shop to get relined with better material?

 

[ramona300]

IIRC, an upgrade back in the day was to use the aluminum drums off a Multipla because they dissipate heat better. I do have a couple but shipping cost to Australia is a killer as you know. Maybe you could take the shoes to a specialist shop to get relined with better material?

Thanks Gil, I saw those aluminium drums somewhere at $300 each. I think I will just find some up market shoes from Europe somewhere.

 

[Jeff Stich]

Is there rear brake shoes available that would improve performance?

Back in the day, Ferodo & a couple other companies used to make a "performance" set of brake shoes for the 850 with a more aggressive compound. Unfortunately, most had asbestos as part of that compound, so you won't find many of those listed for sale nowadays. As Gil noted, you can take a set of old shoes & have them relined to a modern/improved spec of your choice.

Or if you're feeling adventurous, you might try out various Brembo, Ferodo, Ate or Metelli offerings like these:

https://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/car-brands/spare-parts-fiat/850-coupe/5062/10131/brake-shoes.html

As for using different drums, you could try a pair of Fiat 600 Sedan alloy rear drums (instead of 600 Multipla). These can be modified (drilled on the sides) for a little better cooling/venting.

 

[myredracer]

The drums I have turn out to be off my '58 600 as in photo. I've had so much "stuff" for so long, it gets harder to remember offhand exactly what some is.

Just remembered why Multipla drums were a good upgrade. They're large in dia. at 220 mm versus 185 mm for a 600. You'd also need the Multipla backing plates and shoes. Being Multipla-specific, I can see why it'd all be a lot more $$.

The 600 ones being aluminum and lighter (guessing) = faster around the track on an 850!