jimlab

You'd better. Your contemptible laziness is pissing me off.

artowar2

Hey Jim, here's a place with a price on front & rear drilled rotors:

http://www.japanparts.com/MazdaParts/RX-7FD3S/Brake.htm

How does that compare with the other quotes you've received?

jimlab

I was quoted $350 for both rear rotors, $460 for each rear caliper, $130 for each "dust cover" (I think those are the backing plates), and a couple other items that he couldn't translate the Japanese for.

dclin

iTrader: (4)

I like to see it as 'I undertake everything with thoughtful, indepth consideration'. Besides, you're really not in the position to talk about quick projects.

Ok, update. Basically the hold up is we're trying to decide who should purchase the OEM rotors so that exact measurements can be taken. If Roger cannot get Mazdaspeed/comp to loan him a set (he is a dealer, and does business with them), I'll have to step up and purchase the set. Ah well, I can always put it up on eBay.

The second hurdle is the pricing itself. Roger has the hats custom machined and, given that he already makes a big brake kit, he can already give us a rough idea of the price - in the $500 range. He's saying there is very little markup on his part already, and a structured GB will yield only little more discount. He says he'll try to make it interesting though.

As mentioned, I also contacted Precision Brake Company, and they indicated they can get universal Wilwood hats and machine it to '99 RZ spec. A rough quote is quite a bit lower then Mandevilles - about $350 (with GB price structure to be figured out later). Again, the problem is sourcing the rotors to take exact measurements.

A little concerned with the idea of machining a hat thinner though. I would think that a custom machined solution would be better, but if Precision brakes feels that machining a universal hat is Ok, I have to defer expert judgement to them. Anybody have an feedback on this, or any direct experience with Precision Brakes?

It also worth noting that Mandeville uses Coleman rotors, where as Precision Brake uses Wilwood. I do not know if these are the exact replacement rotors either company would use, but it does give a good idea how much replacements maybe:

Coleman rotors around $86 retail:

http://www.colemanracing.com/section/index.htp?id=383

Wilwood rotors around $40/rotor (could not find retail pricing):

http://www.precisionbrakescompany.co...ul_vented.html

As that one of the benefits of a two peice rotor is the ability to replace only the rotor part when needed (as opposed to the entire disk brake if one-peice), there is further, *future* savings going with the Precsion Brake/Wilwood set.

So, it boils down to this - does everyone want a custom solution (Mandeville), albeit more expensive; or the Precsion Brake solution, less expensive but with machined 'universal' hats?

I'll see if Roger has any other solutions that might lower his price any, on Monday. Meanwhiles - unless anybody has a set to loan - I'll order the '99 RS rotors on Monday as well. Any and all input encouraged.

artowar2

This could be great-- 2-piece rotors for my RS setup, with replacement rotors that are cheaper and a lot easier to get than the OEM rotors!!

You know that I'm in Daniel. And it's more important to me that it's stronger/more reliable/rebuildable than cheap.

jimlab

Daniel, I'd assume the RS rotors are identical, side to side, with the exception of any internal vanes. I would expect that it's sufficient to buy one of them for measurement purposes.

I believe I'd rather have Coleman rotors than Wilwood, not sure how anyone else feels about it. Would this kit include a pair of '99 RS rear calipers (obviously not at that price, but as part of a complete kit)?

And finally, can anyone confirm that the '02 Spirit R rotors/calipers are the same/different than the '99 RS/RZ rotors/calipers? I'm getting no solid answers from JT Imports, and it's been 4 months now...

foko

i have an old 99 rear rotor sitting around. it's well used. will that do for your measurements?

email me direct..... foko@attbi.com

i'm definitely in on a two piece solution. i too will have to defer to the brake experts as to what the appropriate approach is to the hat. obviously the lower price is preferable, all things being equal.

regards
fabian

dclin

iTrader: (4)

Hey guys,

I'm leaning towads the custom machined hat solution myself. Definitely like to save money, but brakes is one place I'm willing to spend more if we're getting a quality part. I'll be pushing Roger for more options to see if we can save more though, heh heh.

I'd like to set up the GB in several parts. One GB for either front or rear (or both) RZ/RS spec rotors, and another GB for front or rear (or both) RZ/RS spec brake caliper kits. This will allow for flexibility for what ever setup a person needs - if they have a front brake kit already, want to use Wilwood NDL calipers in the rear, etc. There will be options, such as cross drilling and/or slotting, etc.

As that Mazdacomp/speed no longer sells to the general public, some of us might need a dealer to help secure the RZ/RS calipers (and the related hardware). Roger is a dealer, so he can source them and hopefully get a nice price in the process.

BTW, I'm using the term RZ/RS brakes in a general form - basically what Manny and some others have. Has anybody figured out the difference, and if there is anything more special about the Spirit R brakes (other then the cross drilling and painted calipers?)

Thanks for the offer Foko, very generous of you! Another member has also already graciously offered to lend his front and rear rotors, and we are just waiting on Roger before committing them to the hands of Fedex.

More as it comes in...

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

Perhaps it has been covered,
But aren't the RS/RZ rear calipers basically the same as the 93-95's, except for different mounting to accomodate different diameter rotors?

IIRC, the RS/RZ rear rotors are the same thickness, just larger diameter, and the working components of the rear calipers (piston size, pad shape) are the same as well.

Wouldn't it be more economical to just fab extention brackets for the 93-95's to accomodate the newer rotors?

jimlab

That would make too much sense, Peter.

My rear calipers aren't in the greatest shape, so I wanted to replace them anyway. If that involves a bracket and a new set of '93-'95 calipers or '99+ calipers from Mazda matters little to me, except that I'd rather not add any more brackets to the brake system, if possible and it would be nice to have something made to fit, direct from the factory. I don't need more delay while someone figures out bracket sizing and road tests it.

I also want rear rotors that match my front rotors, or I'll sell my fronts and buy new ones to match the rear. They also have to be bigger in diameter to fill out my rear wheels, as well as to increase swept area. As far as my rear calipers are concerned, they have to retain the parking brake (OEM) and they have to be red, either directly from Mazda or afterwards. Again, makes no difference to me, although I'd rather not have to paint them if I can avoid it. I really don't need any more projects, either.

The easiest solution was the '02 Spirit-R cross drilled rotors (they're close enough) and red calipers, but the price that I was quoted is ridiculous, so here I am. If someone can get me '02 Spirit-R parts at a reasonable price, that's great. If someone is going to be able to make aftermarket rotors at a reasonable price and get '99-spec rear calipers at a better cost, that's fine too. I just want some rear brakes.

dclin

iTrader: (4)

Update: Making arrangements to get the rotors into the hands of Roger - he'll be at Road Atlanta this weekend and will be working on other projects after that, but he says he'll be able to sit down and work this out after that - about ten days from now. Hopefully the rotors will arrive by then, and we'll have firm numbers.

Coulthard Fan

dclin: If no one is able to get this info, and Jesse at JT has not been successful in getting back to Jim with any details, let me know and I will see if I can have my co-workers in Tokyo call Mazda in Hiroshima directly. They have done this for me in the past when I picked up the 99 Type RZ turbos, but it is a favor I don't like to pull too often.

From the translated Mazda Japan webpages I have not been able to discern any details about differences in the specs of the Spirit R brakes compared to the Type RS/RZ brakes. Rather, it appears that by an omission of such details (which the Japanese mfg's typically love to talk about) that the Spirit R brake$ are only different in that the caliper$ are painted red and the rotor$ are cro$$ drilled. For this reason I concluded that they are not worth purchasing, as you would be better off painting a set of RZ calipers yourself (if you cared about that) and purchasing RZ rotor blanks and having them slotted or drilled (again if you cared).

With this group buy about to start, it seems like a better option (than the Spirit R's) for getting improved braking performance would be getting Type RS/RZ calipers and Mandeville's 2 piece rotors (slotted).

dclin

iTrader: (4)

Thanks Coulthard Fan, yeah - we'll likely just go with the RS/RZ brakes as oppose to the Spirit Rs. I'll talk to Roger about including powder coating as an option for those that order the RS/RZ calipers as well.

ptrhahn: The bracket idea is a good one, and one that Roger essentially already does for the front '93 calipers along with custom 13" hats. For the sake of getting this going though, we'll just go with the RS/RZ calipers for this buy. Because I'm trying to design alot of flexibility into the buy (you are not forced to buy every component in the kit), you can decide if you want custom made brackets for the rear '93 calipers and just order the rotors.


Oh, and the rotors are on their way to Roger now, thanks to one of our forum members.

Node

iTrader: (1)

Anyone have information on the blue mazdaspeed brake kit?

jimlab

Thanks for keeping on top of this, Daniel. One less thing that I have to worry about driving.

I'll take RS/RZ calipers powdercoated red and rotors, whenever they're available. Are the rotors going to be drilled, slottled, drilled and slotted, or "plain"?

My front rotors look like this, for better or for worse...

dclin

iTrader: (4)

My schedule will be freeing up considerably after this weekend, so should be spending 'quality' phone time with Roger starting Monday. Should have something solid by sometime this coming week.

Roger offers slotted, drilled, or both as an option for his current front 2 peice rotors. His slotting actually looks exactly like your pic above - 4 slots IIRC. Can't find the slotted rotor pic, but here is the front rotors plain (again, this is his 13" rotor for his modified '93 calipers, from Robinette's site):



I'll talk to him to see if other slot and drill patterns for those that want to match their 'other-brand' front big brake kits. I'm **** when it comes to make sure things match, though we'll likely want to keep things simple hehe.

jimlab

I guess the picture above was closer than I though. Here's an actual picture of my rotors and calipers...

laujesse

iTrader: (19)

I dont have any of the spirit R brakes yet but they cant be any bigger than the RZ's because they wouldnt fit in the same wheels...

I have a set of the RZ's and I am looking into a set of aftermarket sloted rotors for them.

vosko

iTrader: (4)

i'm interested in this also

SPOautos

Can anyone confirm for me if the 99/00 RZ/RS pads will in fact fit on 93-95 brakes? I'm fixing to buy some pads for my 93-95 brakes and have heard that the 99/00 pads a outstanding and one of the best all around street/track pads you can get. I understand they are pretty expensive though so I want to double check and just confirm that they will in fact work on my 93-95 without any headaches

What do you guys think???

STEPHEN

artowar

iTrader: (1)

I'm definitely in

SPOautos, try sending a PM to SleepR1. He should know.

SPOautos

Yea, I know but he turned his PM's off a week or so ago cause he gets to many.

I've seen him post about how good they are and this is why I'm wanting them. I know he mentioned they should work but I wanted to see if anyone else has actually tried it? I dont think Manny has actaully tried it...could be wrong though

STEPHEN

ptrhahn

iTrader: (9)

Please PM me whenever the details of this deal are firm...

xfeastonarsex

iTrader: (5)

Those are the rims I want to get for the maita!

maxcooper

I'm still in for a pair of rear rotors, too. I would prefer 8 slots to match my fronts, but four will do if that's what's available.



I don't have a strong preference either way about the custom hats or customized standard hats, but I would like them to be hub centric so they don't have any chance of being installed off center. I would assume that both solutions would be hub centric. Black anodized is my color preference.

-Max