the brake swap thread

[JaredP]

Alright, looking to get a collection of all the popular "brake swaps" for the s-chassis. A place where everyone can comment on how certain swaps feel and for what power levels the brakes are good for. This is for all swaps, either from other cars, or aftermarket (willwood) calipers with hardware/rotor setups that work. Also including front/rear balanced setups and pictures to show wheel clearance (and for those of us who like that minimal caliper>wheel clearance). i did a search, but all the information is spread out, i thought it would be nice to have it all in one place.

First off, lets get technical and describe how a brake system works, and get a basis for upgrading. For those in for a read: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/Win...principle.html

This is how our brake system works, and how we must look at upgrading it. The brake pedal/brake booster offers a leverage advantage of force on the master cylinder. With this, and the principles of hydraulic fluids, we are able to put tremendous forces on the brake pads. Simply put, the larger the caliper pistons, the more force you can output on the pads (given the same size master cylinder). With the same point, the larger a master cylinder bore, the greater input force is required to have the same output. It is generally recommended to go to a larger master cylinder if you upgrade the brakes, to get rid of that "soft" feeling in the pedal.

Master Cylinder Options:
stock bmc bore is 15/16".

1. Z32: so far the only BMC I know that is direct replacement. Either 1" or 1 1/16" bore.

1. Z32/skyline gtst brakes
-front calipers: bolt on
-rear calipers: bolt on
-z32 rotors/pads (26 or 30mm depending on caliper in the front). have 5 lug or redrill to 4 lug if needed
-brake lines: lots of variations of swap brake lines are available online
special notes: z33 track rotors can be used in front with an adapter plate, z32 2+2 ebrake lines supposedly reach stock location with rerouting, can also use extensions found on ebay or make some yourself like this:



2. Evo/sti brembo brakes
Front: 04 STi Brembo calipers / Evo rotors
Rear: 04 STi Brembo calipers / Evo rotors
Brake lines: Brembo brake lines for STi Brembos
notes: rear caliper/ebrake. brembo calipers on your z32 setup:
http://zilvia.net/f/tech-talk/93748-...ml#post1342840
note about sti rears:
http://zilvia.net/f/tech-talk/93748-...ml#post2057367

front calipers need adapter bracket:



mounted picture (17" wheel)


3. sentra se-r vspec brembo fronts
-work well with z32 rear
-bolt right up to front
-sentra rotors redrilled

anyone with different brake setups, post what you got, pics, how it feels. lets try to keep the general chat to a min and post up brake setups!