A Break From Noobs and Not Running Problems

[DevilMB3017]

Break, brake...get it? I agree, it's a bad joke. Oh well...I figured the KA-T forum could use something different then "How's This Setup?" or "What's Wrong" for a change...

Here's how I'm stopping the power of my KA-T...



Just one pic. More pics to come later. Retained 4-lug of course, but it's hard to be a sleeper with brakes like that...

300ZX 30mm aluminium calipers, 350Z Track Rotors, vented/slotted/drilled, with custom brakets to move the calipers properly. Those suckers are 12.75" across. Forget paying ~$1,000 bucks for Wilwoods or Stoptechs, these bad boys are great. Finish off with street Hawk HPS pads, and we're set.

The rear brakes are still stock calipers, but with Hawk HPS pads and matching drilled/slotted rotors, nice and clean like the fronts.

What do you guys think?

[C-Kwik]

I say A+ for putting it together. I'm curious to know if any of the pad is hanging off the edge of the rotor. Personally though, I'd probably try and get a hold of the 350 Calipers and being able to use more of the avilable swept area.

[DevilMB3017]

None of the pad is really off the rotor, that's why I have the brackets. There is however some rotor surface that isn't in contact with the pads.

Thanks for the A+ though C-Kwik.

There isn't too much room left there in the wheel...

[WDRacing]

I think I'm just gonna drill my stock rotors, get stainless lines and use Hawk pads. I'm cheap...I know I'm interested to see how well you'rs turns out though. I know my stock S14 brakes were kinda scary compared to my Miata, Celica and Skyline.

*EDIT*Thanks for the "brake"

WD

[DevilMB3017]

It stops insanely quicker then stock brakes, of course. They're locking up a bit, but I should really get a new BMC to clear that up. The stock 15/16" is soft until it starts heating up a bit. A 1" or 17/16" will take care of that, but that's more money, lol.

This wasn't really *that* bad...I did the whole setup for roughly $~750 and I'm sure it could be even cheaper if you tried. I've been trying to not cheap out on anything with this car and have been building it slowly for about two and a half years now.

My fan clutch just took a dump on me, so it looks like some electric fans are going in shortly. I overheat over 45-50 MPH, at any RPM. Any RPM under 45ish MPH and I'm fine...

[WDRacing]

If you want cheap and functional you can use a set of used electric fans from a Ford Taurus. They are like $30 used.

[BMAR240SX]

I still have not seen those fan's installed 240

[nelson8708]

very nice. That puts my 11" q45 rotor to shame. I love my q45 setup. Really helps when slowing down from high speeds. The pedal feel is still close to stock. Maybe a 1/2" more travel before the pedal gets stiff over stock.

[240 GTR]

looks just like my car, except i'm 5 lug and left the letters unpainted.

looks good though

[krazydriver]

looks good.I was out for some "spirited" boost driving the other day, and realized my brakes aren't quite cutting it. Looked at the q45 setups, z32 everything. (found out about the EVO brembo setup:yummy ) but it gets to be a money issue with some of those.

but it looks like you pulled that together for a decent price. to you!

[DevilMB3017]

Thanks for the compliments guys

I know the brakes kind of take away the "sleeper" look, but I feel like a 5-lug S13 is really serious work for some reason. Probably the rears.

The price was slotted between Q45s and full blown Stoptechs/Rotoras/Wilwoods. Stopping power is also inbetween, and pads are plentiful and easy to find, as are rotors. That was the easiest choice to me.

The letters on my calipers will be sanded down, I just wanted to wait a couple days for the rest of the paint to dry before sanding/polishing.

And WD: My FAL fans with thermostat and fan shroud are already ordered from SPLParts. I want ZERO problems next year when I seriously start to see track time. I already know the motor/turbo takes a beating...heh However, this means no more car parts till about October, just before NicoFEST VIR. I'm going to a radiator and hoses then, and get an alignment, and see how I do the Redline Timeattack

[480sx]

Very nice

I plan on getting my z32 30mm's installed eventually, its on my to do list.

So why did you go with the 350 track rotors instead of the 300zx rotors?Also, take some pics of the custom bracket id like to see what you did.

[DevilMB3017]

SPLParts/PunkRacing/and some more all make the brackets. I didn't acutally make them, sorry if I made it sound that way...

I went with the 350Z track rotors because they're bigger to be honest. I doubt they help much in stopping power considering the pad doesn't really touch the very inside of the rotor.

It leaves some room to upgrade to bigger calipers again later if I *really* need to, like the 350Z Track ed. Brembos, with truly custom brackets...

[boznuttz]

A larger surface area and metal mass can help keep with cooling. It would take more heat to generate similar temperatures in different masses of metal.

[nelson8708]

since the caliper is further from the center of the rotor it has a little more leverage...that should help a little bit as well.

[WDRacing]

And WD: My FAL fans with thermostat and fan shroud are already ordered from SPLParts. I want ZERO problems next year when I seriously start to see track time. I already know the motor/turbo takes a beating...heh However, this means no more car parts till about October, just before NicoFEST VIR. I'm going to a radiator and hoses then, and get an alignment, and see how I do the Redline Timeattack

Oh...if you're gonna see track time then you definitly don't wanna cheap out on the cooling side. I'd suggest draining out the anitfreeze and running 100% distilled water.

WD

[eazye2000]

Oh...if you're gonna see track time then you definitly don't wanna cheap out on the cooling side. I'd suggest draining out the anitfreeze and running 100% distilled water.

WD

100% Distilled Water and Water Wetter FTMFW !!!!

Just don't use any coolant/antifreeze with that combo. It kills the Water Wetter.

[DevilMB3017]

Well, thanks guys for justifying my oversized brakes

And WD, I will be running distilled water/water wetter at the track, but the car is also going to be totally streetable.

I was running :58 seconds at NicoFEST Carlisle by the end of the weekend. Their rental 'Vette was right around there. The pro-drift cars were hitting about :56 in auto-x.

Not bad for a car that had a stock cooling system, stock brakes, and just coilovers.

The brakes and a couple suspension tweaks should shave a second off that.

[WDRacing]

Definitly...since brake fade is huge on the stock units once they get heated at all.

[jt15833]

is it a bad idea to run 100% distilled + water wetter on a daily driven year round car?

I was going to do 70/30 + water wetter but you say the coolant negates the water wetter?

[DevilMB3017]

In a daily driver, it probably isn't the best idea.

You're better off running 50% coolant and 50% distilled water...

[C-Kwik]

None of the pad is really off the rotor, that's why I have the brackets. There is however some rotor surface that isn't in contact with the pads.

I asked because calipers are generally built around a certain rotor diameter. Moving to a larger diameter rotor while moving a caliper out could end up with a pad that hangs off the edge of the rotor slightly. Depends on many factors, but I was simply curious.

The area of the rotor not in contact with the pad was what I was referring to by swept area.

since the caliper is further from the center of the rotor it has a little more leverage...that should help a little bit as well.

Additional brake torque can be a bad thing if the balance of brake torque between the front and rear brakes becomes poor. It can make for longer braking distances. Minor compromises to achieve better heat capacity can be acceptable if heat capacity is an issue, but I'd try my best to overall brake bias the same as stock.

[DevilMB3017]

Additional brake torque can be a bad thing if the balance of brake torque between the front and rear brakes becomes poor. It can make for longer braking distances. Minor compromises to achieve better heat capacity can be acceptable if heat capacity is an issue, but I'd try my best to overall brake bias the same as stock.

This is why sooner or later I will be going to a differnet master cylinder. The S13 BMC isn't giving enough fluid to the fronts for this much braking power...I just can't decide between 1" or 17/16". I'm probably going to go 1".

[C-Kwik]

You could do it the right way and do some calculations to determine the best choice of M/C. You might need to confirm if the M/C going in will change the clamping force being applied to the rear as well...

[DevilMB3017]

C-Kwik, you wouldn't happen to have any links to some math I could look, would you?

It's easy to find ignition maps and such, but finding basic brake calculations and their explanations is proving a bit more difficult.

I do believe the different BMC will change the rear force, which is why I'm struggling to choose between the 1" and 17/16". They both were used in different Z32 300ZXs with the same front calipers I have, but also with bigger rears. Also a different brake booster was used, but I'm less worried about that.

I'm leaning more towards the 1" because that should allow more fluid to the front then currently, but keep the bias close enough...