fitting upgraded brakes

Fitting 300zx brakes.

Matt S of Sileighty fame advertised some disks and calipers from a z32 300zx. The disks were already drilled for 200sx fitment, and they came with some brand new red stuff pads.

I ordered some braided hoses from apex performance parts. These goodridge items come with the correct fittings to connect the odd parts together.

I also bought some AP racing dot 5.1 brake fluid.

I had never played around with brakes before so it was with some trepidation that i started unscrewing the wheel nuts.

I loosened the nuts on both sides before jacking the car up, to reduce the difficulty of uncracking the wheelnuts.

The trolley jack held the car up while i fitted axle stands under the chassis rail that runs down the length of the car on each side.

With the car firmly off the ground and the trolley jack just let down enough to put the load on the axle stands it was time to remove the wheels.

On the back of the calipers there are 2 19mm bolts connecting to the carriers. These were undone, after much swearing and physical abuse, by using a breaker bar.

Next I undid the clip which holds the brake pipe to the suspension and a similar clip on the bodywork up in the wheel arch. Then using a 10mm spanner undid the brakeline on the nearside this came off easily but on the offside it took a lot more encouragement and wd40 !

This leaves us with loose calipers and brake fluid dripping from the newly opened joint. Some newspaper or a can might be an idea here as it is nasty stuff which can remove paint.

I was lucky and someone had obviously already changed the disks as the silly little screw that often welds itself in place wasn't there so the disks just pulled straight off.

Now the hub looks rather bare with just the dust shield left on the back.

A test fit of the new disks showed me the amount of rubbing on the shield and where it obscured the calipers location. In the end a test drive revealed that in my case it was best to remove them so after putting the lot together it was promptly removed and cut off with an angle grinder.

When bolting the new calipers in it makes life a bit easier if you use the caliper with the bleed nipple at the top on each side, for bleeding them later.

The goodridge  hoses screw straight into the caliper and the other end is connected in the wheel arch with a 10mm spanner. Then the clip was replaced in the wheelarch connection point to firm it all up. The mounting on the suspension was ignored as the braided lines have no fitting at this point.

The disk being already drilled made this a quick job. But the caliper needs to be on the disk before you fit it.

The 19mm bolts are then replaced and tightened, the hub should now rotate without snagging too much on the unbled brakes.

I also fitted the new pads at this point. I just pulled out the locking wire and the pins slid out easily the old pads removed and push the pistons back in with a spanner levering against the disk, it is worth putting a couple of wheel nuts on at this point to stop the disk moving about as you lever the pistons back in.

Copper slip was then smeared on the back of the pads and the shims put onto the back with further copper slip added to them. The pads were then slid back into position and the whole lot pinned back in.

Time to bleed them,

With the new brake fluid i needed to flush the whole system rather than simply top up so starting with the caliper furthest from the master cylinder (near side rear)the brakes were flushed and then bled.over a litre was pushed out in all before signs of fresh fluid became apparent. To do the rears i also removed the wheels for easier access.

Bleeding brakes is a two man job requiring someone to sit in the car while you open and close the bleed nipple, for those who don't know, you open the nipple,push the brake pedal and hold then still holding the pedal down you do the nipple back up then raise the pedal. This is done over and over until all air bubbles are removed and the pedal feels firm.

It is easy to make a brake bleeder with some silicone hose and an old bottle. You need to weigh the end in tge bottle down so it is under the surface of the fluid in case you pull fluid back in.

Put the wheels back on and go for a drive to make sure it is all ok.

Hope this helps. I was amazed how easy it was. But they do keep you alive so if you are not sure then pay someone who is your life could well depend on it.