Title says it all. Has anyone installed larger calipers/discs for improved braking?

I have an 85 GSL-SE, with a Dellorto and RacingBeat dual (long primary) exhaust, that I haven't driven in a while. I tuned it up, cleaned it up, and changed out the fluids. The car hauls ***, but brakes aren't worth a crap. I put in new brake pads and flushed the fluid, no difference. I already have SS brake lines and have re-built the calipers.

Any ideas?


Thanks-
Keith

 

they sell cross drilled and slotted rotors on ebay, they are zinc coated and good quality, look into that, also at cp racing they have a turbo ii brake upgrade wich changes our 1 piston caliper to a 4 piston caliper, i think you have to go 5 lug while your at it though..

 

you can keep the same old 4 lug patter with the cp racing kit too...

 

T2 brake rotors and callipers, 5 bolt(T2) or 4 bolt(base model) hub assemblies (including wheel bearings/seals/races), brake pads.

 

Define, "arent worth a crap"
Even bone stock brakes can lock up the tires at reasonable speeds,which means you have 100% of the possible braking power that those tires can provide.If you have wider/stickier tires,than theres an advantage to increasing the size of the brake rotors.
The stock brakes(especially the SE) can provide adequate braking with average tires.SS lines help feel and quality pads increase bite.The need to increase rotor size and calipers is only if the stockers are overheating and fading,such as autoX and road course racing.If your using the brakes a lot,the stock size rotors cant disperse the heat fast enough to prevent fade.Larger rotors have more mass and take longer to saturate with heat,since they can disperse the heat into the air better and are just more massive.
With a given set of tires,bigger brakes wont stop you faster than stock,they will just do it more times without fade,and will do it with less pedal effort.
For the record,my widebody has 12" front rotors from SelectMaz,and stock SE 10" rear rotors with a TII master,booster and prop valve.225-17 and 245-17 tires
It stops awesome and never fades....

 

I did an engine swap in my 1984 GSL, and with the extra power and a little over 100 pounds added weight, the brakes were just not adequate. I had a set of the 15 inch 5-bolt BBS alloys off a 1990 convertible, which are very light and so I decided to adapt the 2nd generatin 4 piston aluminum calipers and 11 inch discs. I also adapted the rear brakes. There is some engineering involved, and some machine work, but the braking is now very impressive, and these parts work very well with my original master cylinder.

Details and photos are shown at:

www.cardomain.com/ride/646433

Send me a PM if you want more photos, and I can put you in touch with my machinist if you are interested.

 

Thanks for the replies-

Is there a web site which outlines the TII upgrade? I might be interested in that, however I wasn't planing on changing wheels/bolt patterns. I'll do a search for the CP RAcing upgrade.

I was hoping to keep the cost low (direct swap with calipers/rotors only), but I do plan on getting back to Auto-Xing and just might splurge for a big brake kit.

steve84GS TII: The brakes are probably about right for stock if my memory serves me right. I do have quite large tires on her, so I think the brakes are just a bit overwhelmed when I mash on them. Fading doesn't seem to be a problem as I'm not holding on to the brakes for extended times, however, I do have to give considerable pressure to get good stops from mid speed. I think its just been so long since I had the car on the road, that I have been pampered with my daily driver's brakes. So I'm looking for good upgrades. Besides, the car is 20 years old, was taken off the street over ten years ago and was trailered to Auto-Xing events for another 6, and has been a garage ornament for over three if not four years now (I was smart enough to keep it started once a month- God does that stink up a garage!).

I'm amazed at how much knowledge I lost after not working on the car and staying up with the forums-

Thanks for everyones help.

 

If you want to stay with stock rotor size and bolt pattern to reduce costs, you can go with some cross-drilled brake rotors front and rear (on the SE, vented), to help with heat loss. This, combined with good quality pads and sticky tires will help your braking considerably.

As another poster mentioned above, if you're able to lock up the tires, your brakes are developing enough force and you need to get better tires if you want to maximize braking pressure. The comments about fade are dead on - as larger rotors/calipers will only allow you to make repeated stops at maximum force more frequently before you notice fading. Keep at it, and any brakes will fade with time.

Here's my install of the stainless lines, KVR cross-drilled rotors (drilled to avoid the internal vanes), and Hawk HP+ pads - I have no complaints other than the occasional noise from the pads before they heat up.



Since I live in the AZ desert - every little bit helps to retain as much performance as possible in 110-115deg F airtemp; the asphalt temps can often be as high as 150-16F, and the oil actually leaks out of the asphalt making for slick surfaces. At these temps, everything gets soft and gooey. HTH,

 

I have yet to run out of stock 12A brakes.

I really think that most people simply aren't pushign the pedal hard enough... I can't get the brakes to fade, and it *will* lock the front wheels (not the rears, since rear discs suck monkey-butt) at about 65-70mph, if you put enough leg into it. And they're fairly well modulateable, too.

edit: Hell even my Nissan has stock solid rotors and I have no problems with 'em, other than running out of brake assist because of the too-small vacuum can The pads have never faded, but the rotors are kind of a purple/blue color now....

 

Check out these links:

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/there-comes-time-when-zoom-zoom-must-stop-298428/

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/ultimate-1st-gen-brakes-teaser-pix-416794/

 

How about just a better quality brake pad and good fluid? I would try that before spending a ton of money. If you have good pads(not auto parts store premiums) and still want more then you have some good leads here. Otherwise these brakes work pretty well in racing situations(until you crack rotors!) and regularly haul these cars down from over 100mph.

 

Steve Hit it on the head. Stock SE Brakes with good pads, master and fluid will be MORE than Enough for almost any 1st gen.

That being said, I did upgrade to TII brakes up from with the CP racing kit.

 

Hi,
I have an 84 gslse and I was thinking about doing a 5-bolt brake conversion.
I have found a 2nd gen with the 5 bolt rotors in a bone yard and I was wondering exactly what I would need to get off of the car to do the conversion. I'm probably going to need the whole rear diff but I'm not sure what I would need off of the front.

Thanks
Adam

 

RESPEED has the solution

https://www.rx7club.com/group-buy-center-69/first-generation-big-brake-kit-respeed-461164/

 

I want to run 22" wheels and put VERY large spacers to get the wheels outside the well completely (thinking 12" custom). This would give the RX-7 a formula one race car look. It would also allow me to run a much larger brake. Has anyone else done this?

 

^^ are you serious, man that would look like some deranged rc car and just funny espically if those 22s have spinners somone should photo shop that just for ***** and giggles

 

It's time to sell your 7 to someone who will appreciate it and not bastardize it. I'm generally reasonably polite, but are you ******* nuts?

 

Ah yeah, what he said

 

This guy must be smoking weed , or he's full of **** !

 

do you have any idea what that will do to your suspension geomertry? seriously guy....

 

cp racing or brembo

 

Teddy, where have you been, CP Racing is no longer selling to the public, afaik, and I would never do business with them again if they were.

ReSpeed is currently the best source for brake upgrades and outstanding customer service.

 

i run Hawk HP+ pads, ATE Super Blue fluid, stainless steel/Teflon lines and my brakes are absolutely awesome. i think these cars have one of the best braking systems out there. i can't think of any recent times when i felt my brakes were inadequate on the Rx-7. my MR2 Turbo was a different story.

that said, i'll probably getting in a Gen II master/booster assembly to top my system off.

 

Keith, for a daily driver I have a GSL-SE with stock brakes, and I also have a heavily modified road racer with big rotors and calipers. My stock GSL-SE brakes work very well. If yours requires a lot of pedal pressure, then either your pads are way to hard of a compound, or your power brake booster is not assisting like it should. Since you put new pads in, then you know what compound pad you put in.

 

I'm using the REspeed kit, TII 4 piston reman calipers, Hawk HPS pads, Earls SS braided lines.

Here is a picture showing what they look like through the front rims. Please ignore the fact that the lugs are rusty, they have since been changed.