I am going to replace the rotors and pads on my 86 244 (scraped and warped...) how do I know if I have girling or ATE Calipers? did all 244s of this year have vented aka slotted rotors (as opposed to solid)? I have decided on EBC Greenstuff pads as I have them on the back of the car and really like them, any suggestions on rotor brands? does it really matter for this application?

Almost certainly you have Girling fronts and ATE rear calipers.

There are many different brands of rotors -- and it does make a difference in the longevity of the rotors. They have to resist warping and wearing down too quickly.

Personally, I only use rotors that are made from Brembo stock. You should see their name "Brembo" imprinted on the edge of the rotor, along with their part nos.: "VO905" for fronts, and "VO906" for rears. In contrast, I've heard awful things about no-name rotors -- obviously their metallurgy is sub-par.

You can use ordinary Brembos, but I prefer to buy them machined with slots (not cross-drilled) to let gases escape and slightly shave the pad -- I really haven't observed any rapid pad wear despite this added feature, though.

Of course, this slotting and cadmium plating (next paragraph) adds to the cost, obviously.

If you use your car every day, year-round, you can ignore this paragraph. But if you have a car that sits for periods of time:
1) you're away on business for long periods;
2) or like me, you have a car that you mainly use in good weather (spring to fall) and only on clear days in the winter (i.e., you don't use it in snow/salt), and have another car that you save mostly as a winter "beater" (for the aforementioned snow/salt);
then you might want to use rotors that are also cadmium plated. I used to be plagued with "rust spots" (they follow the imprint of the pads) that form on the rotors when they sit for long periods and cause very annoying rough spots on the rotors that feel like warpage. Now that I use cadmium plating, no rusts spots form no matter how long the car has to sit and wait out bad weather.

thanks a lot. and i would imagine all front rotors are vented?

By '86 (maybe by '84), all 240 fronts were vented rotors.

But FYI, in the earlier '80's, it varied, mostly by model (e.g., DL v. GL, and sedan v. wagon, with wagons and GL getting the priority) -- for example, over that time period, I owned an '83 and '84 (both DLs), the older had solids and the newer had vented -- perhaps that was the transition time to universal front vented?

Your 1986 will certainly have vented front rotors (provided your brakes are original). The early 200 series cars did have solid front rotors though. Vented front rotors were introduced for the 1978 242GT (at least in Europe), and I believe all models got them in 1980.

If you need any hints on replacing them, have a look here:
http://home.no.net/ebrox/Brakes.htm

Erling.
--
My 240 Page

I had bought, brand new, a '73 164, and later a used '75 164, and they both had vented fronts, so it was introduced at least as early as that (can't say how much earlier).

re: "...I believe all models got them in 1980...."

As for their application on 240s, I had '78 and '80 wagons (DL), and an '83 sedan (also a DL), and they all had solid fronts -- my first 240 with vented fronts was an '84 sedan (DL).

Thanks guys. This will be the second time I have done the brakes on this car it has just been a while and I forgot what some of the parts look like. as a note...I will never again buy the advance auto brand pads...lifetime guarantee my ass....the pads last it's the rotors that they destroy.