Turbo II brake help. Almost there.
 

I am in the midst of a Turbo II brake upgrade on my FC, and I have run into a couple snags (one of which was caused thanks to RockAuto sending me the wrong parts...). Hoping some of you in here who have gone through this process already, or who are a bit more knowledgeable than I can help me out.

Attachment 621717

First issue I'm having is with the front calipers. The brake lines I have are very short, and will not support a full range of motion in the steering if they are screwed in to the existing hard line location. The car is used for drifting, and has modified steering knuckles, however it doesn't even seem like I could complete a turn if I were to still have the stock steering angle without stretching the line because these are so short.

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I've tried looking for why this is because every kit of brake lines I see for the 4-piston calipers look just like the ones I have for the front. I've seen pictures of people who have their hard lines that run all the way down to the area I have circled, and I don't know whether that is from factory on 5-lug cars, or if that is custom fabricated.

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Another issue I have run into is with my passenger side rear caliper. It is stuck to the bracket and can not be removed. I had no issues with the driver side bracket. The passenger caliper will not slide off of the top stud like it should. I removed the cap from it and tried loosening the hex key that was under the cap, but it would not budge. I also tried letting it sit in penetrating oil for a couple days, re-applying more twice a day or so, and still won't brake loose. You can see the scaring on the caliper from where I got frustrated and hit it with a hammer, as well as scratches on the outer brake pad from where I smashed the caliper down over it. When I do that though, there is too much pressure on the pad which would cause the brakes to drag if I left it like that.

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Last problem I think I may have solved myself, but I just wanted to get a second opinion. The front calipers I purchased did not come with any fittings on them. This would not work seeing as how the brake lines I have are a female-to-female style hose.

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I purchased a handful of these male to male fittings with the right thread pitch to screw into both the line, and the caliper. I am fully aware that they say not to use them on a automotive braking system, but if they pass fluid I'm fine with them. As stated earlier, the car is built for drifting and will never be driven on the street. I also do not have a roll cage, therefore my series rules dictate that I can not be on course with other cars so nobody else's car is in jeopardy other than my own if these fail and I lose braking power.

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Any information that can be provided would help greatly. I've been back and forth with this car for about a week and a half now (mostly hassling with RockAuto because they keep sending me the wrong s**t...) and would really like to just get it knocked out. As can be seen from the pictures I am very close to completing the conversion. All I need is the front brake line situation sorted, and the rear passenger caliper to fit properly and I will be done and ready to test the system. The power booster, and master cylinder went on without a hitch. Anybody who is familiar with the Lone Star Drift series here in Texas knows that we love to procrastinate finishing our cars for the last minute, and this is a prime example of that. I've only got a couple weeks to get the car ready to drive before the next practice event.

Brake lines attach to calipers with banjo bolts... I'm not sure what the sent you, but it is not what you need.

there is another small hardline that the soft line connects to, they are still available from mazda. I would imagine you could get a longer hose made locally as well from a hose/hydraulic shop

the other caliper im thinking you have a stuck piston

The calipers were sent to me with nothing on them. I'm aware of what they are supposed to have, however a banjo bolt would have to go through the end of the hose like in this picture.

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If you look at the front brake lines in my picture there is no option for a banjo bolt to go through them. The fittings I purchased thread into the female end of the lines, as well as into the caliper where the banjo bolt would normally go. There is a hole through the middle of the fitting in order for the fluid to be able to pass through.

That is awesome! I'll look up that hard line extension and grab a couple of those. Maybe see if they still sell the correct fittings for the front calipers to pass fluid as well.

As for the rear caliper, the piston can move in and out freely, it is the top stud that my finger is touching in this picture that I'm referring to.

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When I try to slide the whole caliper off of this stud, which it should be able to do quite easily just like I did on the other side, it will not budge. It will not move backwards (away from me if I were to be looking at it) to slide off, nor will it move any farther forward (towards me if I were to be looking straight at it) which is what it needs to do in order to slide easily over the outer brake pad. I have a tool to screw the piston in and out and it moves freely both directions.

Time for some heat and persuasion on that rear caliper. As for the front lines, I've never seen it done with a male to male adaptor, if I had to guess there is a reason they use banjo bolts... but maybe someone here can clarify.

1. There are no banjo bolts on the front lines. There aren't supposed to be. There is a small hardline that goes from the caliper to the brake line near the strut.

You can see in this picture (sorry, it's a bad one) where the line is connected to the hardline near the strut:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_...2/IMAG3721.jpg

2. That pin needs to be able to slide back and forth for the brakes to work, that's how it clamps down on both sides of the brake pads. I would try to get a new caliper... I wouldn't use that one, it obviously has issues.

The part numbers you need are:
FB05-43-710B
FB05-43-720B

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...d63fc9366c.gif

Exactly right on the front. And if I could at least get the caliper off in the rear it would be beneficial. The caliper functions fine, and the stud is attached to the bracket. Worst case I'll get a whole new caliper and bracket, but if I can save both these ones or maybe just replace the bracket and save the caliper that would be great.

Also thank you for those part numbers.

Really no banjo? Guess I didn't pay attention years ago when I did my brakes lol.

Eage8 and Rob are both correct there are no banjos on the front only the back(the hardlines come with a male threaded fitting on each end) if you are trying to replace the pads you do not need to remove the top half of that caliber off, you can replace the pads just by "opening" the top if you want to replace the caliper remove the caliper bolts(x2) from the inside(the head is inside the hub facing out towards the lugnuts) the bolt you're having a hard time with does not remove the caliper
GL

I know the caliper does not need to be removed. The issue with it is a bit hard to explain without being able to see it in person. The issue is not the ability to put the brake pads on or off, it is that the top pin that the caliper swings on is stuck to the caliper. It can swing up and down, but has no range of motion back and forth. Therefore if it were to be assembled as is, the brake pad would constantly have pressure on it, and would drag the rotor face even when I'm not applying brake pressure.

Get the brake lines from a front sliding caliper instead of the fixed caliper one. It reaches and you don't need a hard line

I have these sitting in my cabinet

Update: Got home from work today and decided to see if I could save the rear caliper before I eat the cost of a new one with a bracket. After a good 30 minutes of going to town with a torch and hammer, I broke the caliper. As dejecting as it sounds, I'm just happy I broke it today rather than later on in the week so that when I order a new one, it will get here before next week.