300z brake swap q's / other misc q's

[Spinlock]

I've had my 97 240 for some time now, and only recently have I finally gotten serious about doing work on it. I've never done any work on cars, but I've wanted to for a long while now, and don't intend to immediately try to strap a turbo on it or anything, and I've got friends and neighbors who can help / bail me out when the time comes. I've been neck deep in the FSM, forums, articles, and wiki's for a while now.

As my brakes are bad (dead), I'd like my first real piece of work to be the 300zx brake upgrade. My 240 is a 4 lug base model, and I'm not sure if my wheels are gonna clear the calipers or not. I've seen the thread / article ( zerothread/223218 ), particularly this picture:My wheels look more like the ones on the right, but that's labeled S13, and those appear to be 5 lug. I'm trying to find a pic of my wheels, but they look like those would from the front - spokey, not 5 solid bars. Boy do I sound technical.

Anyway, I wondering this because I'd assume it'd be cheaper to stay 4 lug and possibly get spacers and drill the rotors than to have to get new hubs, new wheels, and new tires. Am I correct? I'd also prefer it look as close to stock as possible (I know, the calipers are obviously gonna look different). I'm also a little lost on how much this is going to cost. I've looked for auto yards in the area, and the only large one I've seen apparently has the wrong number listed, so I really have no idea how much things are likely to cost. Further, my rear brakes are particularly bad, so I was hoping to swap those too, but most of the guides I see only really deal with the front ones. I saw one lamenting the involvement of the e-brake. Anyone have any insight on this?

I guess I'm just asking for general advice. Base 240 4 lug wants 300zx brakes front and back. How much $ am I in for? I can put down four digits for this, but hell if it's that much how much does one of those entry level full aftermarket kits cost? Would it be more worthwhile to find some 17" 350z rims with tires and use them with the Z brakes? How much would that cost? Anyone in Jacksonville know of any good auto yards?

Also, what are some other things I should upgrade next? After brakes I plan on going ape**** on the suspension setup, replacing all the ****ed up bushings and whatnot with components that I really don't understand that well but hear work better. I don't have the list on me, but I jotted down a bunch of stuff from c-tune and cusco. After that I'd like new shocks - I've heard the Tein Flex setup is pretty nice and seems to suit my wishes, but I've also heard it called ricer crap and that you can get better performance with a more hand picked shock / spring combo. I don't know, that's why I'm asking :P I don't want an unstable high horsepower death sled, I want a nice, responsive, precise, ideally balanced, car.

Anyway, any comments or advice is welcome. Thanks!

[Clawhammer]

I can't tell you if your wheels are going to clear.

I can tell you that you can buy new rotors drilled for 4 lug pretty cheap. You're gonna need conversion brake lines, and you're gonna want the brake master cylinder too. As far as the rear goes it's pretty easy, you're just changing ebrake type, and your stock cables won't work as is. You've found an artilce on that though so you're good, the rest of the rear brake swap is like the front, and very easy.

Aftermarket brake upgrades are very pricey. Very. 350Z wheels are 5 lug, so staying 4 lug won't work.

You've got A LOT more reSEARCHING to do.

[Spinlock]

I know I need the master cylinder and new brake lines. So that means $85 x2 for the lines, already up to $200. About how much will the cylinder, calipers, and rotors be from a junkyard? Plus if I recall like $20 x2 for rebuild kits for the calipers.

And so staying 4 lug is the way to go? How much for the drilling? And I can pretty much assume my wheels won't clear, so how much for spacers? I've seen them on ebay for like 20 bucks with a frightening amount of empty space, and I've seen $90 pairs from TC Sportline or somebody. How thick / strong do they need to be, and about how big should they be? None of the articles I've seen seem to mention this (the 240sxtech brake swap article is broken, btw :P)

[Clawhammer]

You'd have to measure to see with the spacers.

Umm, It's like 100 dollars for a full set of conversion stainless steel brake lines from most of our sponsors here on NICO. I got mine through SPL parts.

For the rotors, check out another sponor, phase2motortrend.

The rebuild kits may not be necessary, but definitely recommended. Good luck finding the brakes at a junkyard. You might be better off searching forums, ebay, and such.

And look at my S13 in my sig, I converted to 5 lug. I'm pretty sure I'm not endorsing 4 lug.

[White Comet]

yeah teh z32 brake swap is pretty involved if u havent really done much w/ a car before. if ur worried about clearing ur wheel and u dont wanna mess w/ the ebrake and stuff just get the q45 brake upgrades, thats what im doing, and it'll stop very impressively

[positron1]

The Definitive 300ZX Brake Swap! http://importnut.net/300zxbrakeswap.htmS13 300ZX Rear Brake Install zerothread?id=277821The rear Z32 brake conversion is really not that hard if you've done some other things to a car before but if you're new to working on a car I wouldn't recommend this as your first hands-on project.

[White Comet]

The rear Z32 brake conversion is really not that hard if you've done some other things to a car before but if you're new to working on a car I wouldn't recommend this as your first hands-on project.

i agree, if u have a basic idea though, it wont be too bad

[Bronze MFP]

having gone through a rear 300z brake swap before, i doubt i'd do it again on another project. not unless i could get some r33 ebrake cables.

i'd say do the fronts, drive the car for a while and see if the rears are worth all the headaches.

+1 for the difinative 300zx brake swap guide. very good info on that page. it was what I used for my swap.