had a quick question, i know on the FC they have the 4 piston calipers as well as 2 piston ones from what i've heard. I have the 4 piston ones, wanted to get some hawk pads. Was on ebay and msg'd a seller if the pads would work but they didn't seem to have the answer, so wanted to ask here, anyone that is running hawk pads what part number would i go with to get the correct pads? any help would be much appreciated!


Also does anyone know of any rebuild kits for the calipers as well? mine are old and they don't seem to lock up well enough, starting to think they might need to be rebuilt

 

I used to run hawk pads HPS on all my cars because they were cheap and stopped well. I just recently rebuilt my front 4 pot calipers as well as rears, but went with ebc pads instead this time. I dont know what seller you talked to on Ebay and how you feel about them but I would get the hawk pads from Banzai Store they sell em cheap have all the info you need and ships pretty fast. As far as a rebuild kit, you can try mazdatrix.com, atkinsrotary.com or rockauto

 

Rock Auto

 

Juan at J-Auto is a hawk dealer and knows exactly which pads are meant for the rx7. He also sells the hardware and a bunch of other stuff specifically for our cars.

J-Auto

 

nice how do you like the ebc pads in comparison? i wanted hawks b/c i know they stop real well not sure how long they last though. Im on the banai store now and glad they actually say 4 piston and single piston that helps a lot!

and i'll check those sites too, appreciate your help!

 

was rebuilding them pretty straight forward? never done it before, a few weeks back i was just trying to find reman calipers but had no luck at all so looks like rebuild it is

 

It's very simple and straightforward...once you get the pistons out.

 

Rather then explanations, here's a video:

Don't split the caliper.

 

thanks, i do turn wrenches for hobby and work, but this will be my first time rebuilding calipers

 

just watched the video very much appreciate the link!
yea does look straight forward, already ordered the rebuild kit so i'll get on this next weekend and what do you mean "don't split the caliper" ?

 

appreciate that, prices don't look too bad either. Was looking up some reviews looks like a lot of ppl don't like the hawk hps compared to the stoptech might get stoptech but i haven't used either yet

 

The caliper consists of 2 units bolted together, so don't remove those bolts and split the caliper.
I use crocus cloth on the bores/pistons to clean them up, a lot of brake clean and brake fluid.

 

oh gotcha, yea i won't do that, i'll follow exactly as the guy did in the video.

 

Out of curiosity, what are the issues with splitting the caliper? It looks like the four o'ring size seals in the one pic would be for the passages from one side to the other. Torn threads?

 

Mazda Factory Service Manual:
Caution
Do not loosen or remove the caliper bridge bolts

I wrote in bold, not as to yell, but that's how it's seen in the FSM.

 

While the fsm states not to split them, I, and many others, have done so plenty of times with no ill effects. Pretty much required if you plan on powdercoating the calipers.

 

True dat.

However, in the olden days Sumitomo didn't want you splitting calipers because they used stretch to spec (i.e., non-reusable bolts) and the o-rings were difficult, if not impossible, to source.
Unless there is a compelling reason, like heating the powdercoat, splitting the caliper is simply not necessary.

 

Well, at this point in the cars life, I highly doubt any reman caliper hasn’t been split.

 

I'm surprised to hear that.
Under normal circumstances I don't see why the caliper would be split during the reman process.

 

I definitely appreciate the feedback, links, help and parts suggestions!

caliper rebuilt kit got in, ended up getting the stop tech pads and a few other odds and ends, will be getting to work this week coming up!

 

Well this explains why my passenger front wheel never had any brake dust on it haha.
driver side wasn't as bad, this (pass side) one was a bit worse, those two i had to soak for a bit before they would even come out, eventually got them out, cleaned them up real well and put them back together earlier this afternoon