I am currently in the process of upgrading the braking system and suspension on my 1991 Vert. The vehicle is strictly a street use pleasure vehicle. I was thinking of going with a Rotora Big Brake kit and Tein Coilovers. Does anyone have any better suggestions on brakes and coilovers that I should consider? Are these good? Are they crap? What are better ones for my use? Thanks guys...

 

I don't have any input to give on either of those, but do check out my thread on my convertible project... It might help you with some ideas...

Everyone has their opinions on coilovers, make sure you get decent spring rates 6/8k or if you go higher be ready for it...

 

stock brakes are fine for the street, put some nice pads and high quality rotor blanks on there with fresh fluid and you'll get good use out of them. Good call on coilovers. Not sure on brand but they will improve the handling if they are properly setup.

 

Why does a street use/pleasure vehicle need a big brake kit?

 

Or coilovers?

 

Big brake kits are like lift kits on 4x4s. For 99.9% of trucks so equipped driving thru sprinkler runoff is the closest they'll ever come to "needing" that kind of ground clearance. Big brakes are heavy and they add mass in the worst possible way; rotating, unsprung weight. And with big, usually heavy wheels, they look great. But slow with bad handling!

The verts already have the nice brakes so a more effective upgrade IMHO would be to pull the calipers apart, have them powder-coated in the color you want and then rebuild them.

Stainless steel brake lines are also a good idea for better braking performance especially if your lines are 20 years old.

When you buy pads I strongly suggest getting low dusting ones for your use case. The track-oriented high performance pads will leave your wheels filthy all the time. You'll lose a bit of 10/10ths braking performance but your car will look great instead of neglected and dirty.

If you need new rotors you can get some that have a nice silver plating on them. Along with the coated calipers, you'll get 95% of the visual effect of the big brake kit with none of the unsprung, rotating weight.

And finally, if you are still NA automatic, your poor little car doesnt have the power to haul around those big brakes! So use the money for a Tii swap instead. Your smile will thank you!

 

Yeah, I am reading this thread and thinking that you should be fine where you are at unless you are wanting to go with some serious modification, and since this is your cruise/street weapon car then not really much you can do without changing that.

 

For a convertible that is strictly a street/pleasure vehicle I wouldn't do much. The brakes should be re-freshened with a good fluid change, new rotors if you need them, maybe some SS brake lines and I personally would choose Hawk HPS pads (or HP+ if you can take a little more dust and the chewing up of rotors). For the suspension, I would go a set of KYB AGX shocks (or similar), lowering springs (Eibach, RB), and sway bars (Eibach, RB, ST).

That's it, and you'll get just as much fun for a whole lot less money.