Definitive 986 base to 986S brake swap
 

Hi folks,

There are a lot of topics on how to swap 986 base brakes to 986S and the information seems to vary drastically from one to the other.

Some say it's a whole ordeal requiring swapping rear carriers and e-brakes, others seem to indicate similarly. While yet others say it's just the special rotor required for the rear.

The other threads are all littered with "but why would you do this, spec boxster runs base calipers blah blah".

I'm in need of brakes. While I'm in there, I want them to be pretty too (call me a ricer, but I'm anal about the aesthetics of my vehicle) and the base brakes look pretty tiny with my Carerra ii wheels. I was going to powdercoat all four points, but the cost + cost/pain of rebuilding them makes the S brakes look like a comparably priced option. So why not? Do it once, and nicely, and go all out while I'm in there.

Can anyone definitively speak to the entire parts list required to make this happen?

Fronts are a bolt on swap.

Rears require changing the rear carriers and e brake assemblies in order for them to fit.

Heya, do you have part numbers for the assemblies by chance? Trying to figure out how the ebrake and hubs look, if they're multiple pieces, etc.

Take a look here:

https://www.porsche.com/all/media/pdf/originalparts/usa/986_USA_KATALOG.pdf

Section 501-00 is for the rear carriers, 603-05 for the e-brake.

If you have the S brakes you can also then go bigger to circa 338-340 using a bigger disc and caliper spacer kit.

Are these carriers compatible with the base axles or would it require special axles?

Also, dimensionally-speaking, do we know the reason why the s calipers don't fit the base carriers?

Is this something I can whip up a bracket for?

It is because the S uses an entirely different e brake assembly, which will not fit on the base carriers. In order to make it work, you would need to fabricate an entirely new rotor with a different inside diameter for the base e brake. No such rotor currently exists, and would cost a fortune to make.

Do we have any comparative photos of the S and base rears, I am wondering if an adapter would work to use the S e brake assembly with the base carriers and am somewhat handy in Solidworks.

I understand that the base and the S rears are nearly identically sized, but pricing out the cost of the rebuild, the rebuild kit, sticker, powdercoating cost, etc, it's actually more economical to buy the S rears since they are pretty damn cheap -- plus then you wouldn't be running mismatched part numbers across the car.

I bought my S fronts for ~$525, but could have gotten all 4 S calipers for ~600.

I think you're going down a rabbit hole that you don't need to. As you found out the rear rotors and calipers are basically the same size between a base and S. The only big benefit to switching to the rear S uprights/carriers is that the S hub bearing is much bigger and the upright/carrier is beefier. There's no real benefit in braking or looks. The problem with switching to the larger S uprights is that you lose ABS because the base CV joint is smaller and the sensor can't read the toner ring on the axle. It might be possible to take the toner ring off a S axle and install it on the smaller base axle.

I bought just front S calipers and will be getting front S rotors for my base '02. I do track days, and I sometimes am able to get a bit of fade when really pushing it. I figured going to the rear S brakes just wasn't worth the trouble, since the front swap is really straightforward.