1st Generation Specific (1979-1985) 1979-1985 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections

Big Wilwood Brakes for the FB

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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 04:35 PM
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Big Wilwood Brakes for the FB

I picked up these calipers and the adjustable proportioning valve today and plan on using them on my FB. I sure hope I don't have to go to 17" wheels just to be able to fit them, I'd like to go 16's max. The rotors will be be ~12.5" diameter x 1.25". The calipers are 4 pot with 1.75" pistons.

Anyone here put some big all brakes on the front of their FB before? Did you get away with using the stock master cylinder?
Attached Thumbnails Big Wilwood Brakes for the FB-brakes.jpg  
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 04:49 PM
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Cool. I put Wilwoods on my old FD...they were nice. I think you should clear with a 16" wheel. My FD kit had 13" rotors and I was able to run the stock 16" wheels. I would try using the stock master...if you have too much pedal travel then you might need a master with a larger bore, but I doubt you will.
What are you going to do for mounting brackets? How about the rotors, are they for GSL-SE spindles? Cool project.
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 05:15 PM
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Mounting brackets, I'll have to make up something.
Rotors/spindles, I bud has a similar setup that he used to run on his 82 supra/celica that I'll try to fit up. *fingers crossed*

I don't know if I'll get to this project before spring because of all the other stuff I'm doing to the car right now. I'm just trying to gather info and see if anyone has tried to put calipers this big on their FB before.

Good to know that your's cleared with 13" rotors and the stock wheels!
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 05:24 PM
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the 2 kits i know of have 13" rotors and they say you need 17" rims to not hit the brakes
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 05:58 PM
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sold the FD...kept the FB
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Here is a link to the brake kit that I used on my FD....it's the second one down the page.
It was a tight fit, but it fit.

http://www.m2performance.com/pwheels.htm
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 08:03 PM
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My 12" setup with TII calipers JUST cleared my 15's so I would guess you could get by with 16's.Maybe even 15's,depending on what hits you could shave a little high spot off the calipers.

4 piston calipers require more fluid displacement that our singles.Id just swap in a TII master and prop valve like I did.Itll be setup for the multiple pistons,be closer ratioed to the larger brakes up front,and its not too hard to bolt in.I even used a TII vacuum booster.It all just barely clears the clutch master,but she stops like a brick wall.
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 08:41 PM
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FD Racer- The brakes on that FD look awsome! Thanks for posting the link. I have a question though. In the pic you can see there is a bead of orange silicone around the hard line that connects the two halves of the caliper together, what's that for? My calipers have that also.

Steve- Good to hear yours clear with 15's. Do you know how much bigger the bore size is on the T2 master compared to the gsl-se one?
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 09:50 PM
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TII is 23.81MM bore
1st gen is 20.64MM bore
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Old Feb 19, 2005 | 10:31 PM
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Awsome, I'll keep that in mind.
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 05:21 PM
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Originally Posted by steve84GS TII
My 12" setup with TII calipers JUST cleared my 15's so I would guess you could get by with 16's.Maybe even 15's,depending on what hits you could shave a little high spot off the calipers..
I don't see why you couldn't use 15's (with the right offset). All FC 5 Lug brakes are the same, and the Vert wheels are only 15s'. It what my car will be
wearing real soon.

Originally Posted by steve84GS TII
4 piston calipers require more fluid displacement that our singles.Id just swap in a TII master and prop valve like I did.Itll be setup for the multiple pistons,be closer ratioed to the larger brakes up front,and its not too hard to bolt in.I even used a TII vacuum booster.It all just barely clears the clutch master,but she stops like a brick wall.
Steve, I am putting the TII brakes up front and some Aerospace components 12 inch brakes in the rear of my car.

Are you saying a stock TII master, prop, and vacuum booster are bolt in?
Or did you have to do some fabbing for it?
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Old Feb 20, 2005 | 08:15 PM
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Stock FC big brakes are only 10.9" diameter.They'll clear 15's no problem.

If you run 12.5"-13" brakes,that means the calipers will sit about 3/4 to1" furthur out towards the wheel.My 12" rotors had my TII calipers within about 1/8" of my old 15" Centerlines.Offset wont really make much difference unless your choosen wheels have ribs or steps on the inner hoop and the offset pushes the protrusions away from the calipers.None of that can really be determined until you buy the wheels and bolt them up....unless you just play it safe and go bigger with the wheel diameter.

The stock FC "sport" brake master and vucuum booster is basically a bolt in.I did have to shave a little bit off the clutch master to clear the bigger booster.And I had to use 2 of the aluminum spacers behind the booster to push the unit out to accept the pushrod and my 1st gen hardlines.The pro. valve was a simple bolt in.Over all,no real fab work,just a little massaging.....heres some pics.





Last edited by steve84GS TII; Feb 20, 2005 at 08:18 PM.
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Old May 3, 2005 | 08:27 AM
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I hate to bring up this sorta old post, but I wanted to see how the brake swap went.

There are TONS of topics on brake swaps but none that really talk about wheel bearings and hubs.

I understand the stock FB (GS in my case) rotors and hubs are one piece (I think), so what can fit on the suspension? How about wheel bearings and such?

Thanks in advance for any info...
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Old May 3, 2005 | 08:01 PM
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You will need to use the 83-85 model front struts as they have a larger outer bearing. The hub and rotor are one piece, so you need to ditch that and get a custom two-piece made out of steel - this consists of the hub "hat", and the rotor which bolts to the hat.

Then you need to fabricate mounts for the calipers. You absolutely cannot use the existing brake master cylinder, it's far too small - you need a 15/16" or 1" setup at least.

The standard 3/16" brake lines are fine however.
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Old May 4, 2005 | 01:06 AM
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Last edited by RotaryRevn; May 4, 2005 at 01:10 AM.
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Old May 4, 2005 | 01:46 AM
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hey steve84gst2 what rotors are you running? I see you still got the 4 bolt..... is it the gsl-se pattern or the 12a? or basically where can I buy? LOL

ps... car looks great!
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Old May 4, 2005 | 01:53 AM
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Steve has the kit from Selectmaz, he posted info on it on some older posts.
12" Selectmaz front rotors and TII calipers
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Old May 4, 2005 | 10:49 AM
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Originally Posted by Jon_Valjean
You will need to use the 83-85 model front struts as they have a larger outer bearing. The hub and rotor are one piece, so you need to ditch that and get a custom two-piece made out of steel - this consists of the hub "hat", and the rotor which bolts to the hat.

Then you need to fabricate mounts for the calipers. You absolutely cannot use the existing brake master cylinder, it's far too small - you need a 15/16" or 1" setup at least.

The standard 3/16" brake lines are fine however.
That sounds almost TOO easy. My car is an '85 so I presumably have the suspension necessary...There's nothing funky involved with the wheel bearings or anything? I just need a hub and hat machined and mated to rotors of my choosing?

I could basically get ANY rotor then...and any caliper...making a bracket doesn't seem too difficult.

Am I missing something? LOL.

Last edited by Dysfnctnl85; May 4, 2005 at 10:52 AM.
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Old May 5, 2005 | 06:55 AM
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Ttt
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Old May 5, 2005 | 12:40 PM
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Okay so here is what I need. if i buy the big brake kit on the link and i make some custom fab hub hats the rotors will bolt right on to the spindle? right? so what I understand is that all the rotors for the RX7's have the same boar for the spindle and bearings? right?
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Old May 5, 2005 | 06:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Dysfnctnl85
That sounds almost TOO easy. My car is an '85 so I presumably have the suspension necessary...There's nothing funky involved with the wheel bearings or anything? I just need a hub and hat machined and mated to rotors of my choosing?

I could basically get ANY rotor then...and any caliper...making a bracket doesn't seem too difficult.

Am I missing something? LOL.
Yes, your suspension and spindle size should be fine. Once you have the hub hat machined up, you can use any rotor that is designed to be used with the hat.

In my case, I needed to have the hub machined to accept different bearings because the original Mazda ones aren't available in this part of the world, and are quite expensive.

You can use any caliper you like, provided it's suitable for the rotor and the bracket you make. I'm not sure what regulations you have in your area, but it's certainly something that needs to be certified by an approved agency in this country.
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Old May 5, 2005 | 06:44 PM
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Originally Posted by thekyl
Okay so here is what I need. if i buy the big brake kit on the link and i make some custom fab hub hats the rotors will bolt right on to the spindle? right? so what I understand is that all the rotors for the RX7's have the same boar for the spindle and bearings? right?
79-83 have a smaller outer bearing size than the 84-85 models, but yeah, the rest of your post sounds about right.
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Old May 5, 2005 | 11:57 PM
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Thanks very much for the help and information, I'm going to start this ASAP!
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Old May 6, 2005 | 01:57 AM
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Don't forget to take before and after pictures - the difference is quite dramatic!
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Old May 10, 2005 | 01:05 AM
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Hummm cant waite me and my buddy will be machining up some break rotors just for big break conversion's we will let everyone know how much they are and what bolt patterns will be available.
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