What are some good brakes?

I need to replace the rotors on my early '85 944- they make that "thudthudthudthud" whenever I slow down because of uneven wear, and they are old and thin, so I dont want to refinish them. I have no idea what to do, where I should buy them, or from whom, and I was curious if I should maybe convert them to 944 turbo or 944S or S2 or something. Any helpful hints, advice, or suggestions would be great!

OEM style rotors - fronts = $40 each, rears = $60 each and pads are $30 for the front and $25 for the rear; brake caliper hardware kits are about $45 for front or rear, and caliper rebuild kits are $15 for front or rear (all prices came from http://www.vertexauto.com)

944S had the same brakes as the 944. Converting to a 944S2 or 951 brake setup will probably be more trouble than you're willing to deal with (ie cost alot more than just replacing rotor and pads). To convert your car to these specs, first of all you'll have to get 16" wheels, and if yours are the stock wheels, they are 15", and thus will not accomadate the size of the 951 or S2 braking systems. A conversion would also require new calipers (~$200 on ebay for all 4) the proper rotors ($290 for all 4 OEM, $410 for cross-drilled), pads will cost about the same as the ones listed above.

Unless you plan to increase the HP/TQ of your engine substantially, then I would recommend you just replace the rotors and pads with the standard equipment, as they are more than sufficient for the power that the stock engine produces.

I believe (not confirmed myself) that the 951 brakes wont bolt on to the standard spindles. I was told that the spindles, hub and strut need to be changed as well.

In regards to aeronatica86: Thanks a lot...I do plan on doing some upgrades myself, but in the far future. I'd be willing to spend some of the $ involved for the converssion, but maybe not for the 16's ($$$). But thanks a lot for your tips.

Also (I feel so stupid), but I have no knowledge about suspension whatsoever. I have no idea what spindles, hubs, or struts are. Do you guys know of any good sites that have good learning material on suspension and related equipment? Any info is great, nothing is too elementary, or too advanced for that matter! Thanks a ton.

Don't be discouraged by the thought of having to buy new wheels; it will help in more ways that just being able to upgrade the brakes. With larger (diameter) wheels you will have to put on lower profile tires (ie smaller side-wall) and these tires, in high speed rated form (ZR, WR etc) will have a stiffer side-wall which will also serve to improve the handling characteristics of your car. Also, if you stick with Porsche wheels (which I highly recommend you do) you will also be getting a larger width, thus you can put on larger tires giving you more traction for future power upgrades.

Don't be too discouraged at the price either. Look on E-bay or check out a local Porsche swap-meet. Go to some PCA (Porsche Club of America) events and see what you can find. You could probably pick up a decent set of used rims for $500, much less than buying new (if you do, make sure you take them to a good shop and make sure they are straight...)

Spindles/hub - essentially the part that the rotor connects to....strut (shock absorber type thing with a big spring on it) and A-arms are connected to the hub; rotor attaches to hub; not sure when he's says spindle if he means the threaded bits that the rotor actually attaches to, or the part that passes through the middle of the hub that the wheel/rotor move around...hmm that whole thing might just have confused you more.... try http://www.chris-longhurst.com/carbibles/index.html?menu.html&suspension_bible.html it might help a bit

Also, thanks for the correction 83-944, thats some interesting info. I haven't heard of this personally, so unfortunately I can neither confirm nor deny this...maybe a mechanic on the forum might be able to shead some light on the issue....

Yes you would need turbo spindles to make turbo brakes work. The caliper mounting points are different. I have heard that there is a company making adapters but I have not been able to find them.
A spindle is like the back bone of the front suspension. It suppports the hub(which the rotor attaches to) by the wheel bearings, the bottom of the strut attaches to the top of the spindle. and the ball joint attaches to the bottom of the spindle