Installed a Chase Bays ABS Delete and also went with their SS lines (I've heard it's better to go with one vendor for fittings and lines) and I regret both. I should have done more research and gone with that forum member who sells ABS delete kits on Ebay but Chase Bays seemed more readily available.

The TL;DR here is don't buy these two Chase Bays products for the FD. And at least for the SS lines, go with Stoptech. I'm open to suggestions for the ABS Delete kit

• ABS Delete
  • No clear instructions
  • The pictures on their website of customer installs shows the incorrect orientation (front and rear from the MC switched)
  • Could be my own installation but puts the prop valve in a VERY awkward place.
  • Was difficult to bend the lines to install. The lines came with pre-bent fittings but I had no idea what the actual orientation should have been to make it all work. I tried several iterations and the pictured one was the best I could. come up with.

ABS Delete is garbage

• SS Lines
  • Complete garbage and not made for the FD at all
  • The OEM female fitting on the lines (chassis to line) is NOT just a hex, it's got a half round section so it can be kind of keyed into the brackets on the chassis and on your strut. The Chase Bays lines have just a straight Hex female fitting and not only that, they're missing the middle bracket so the line can be attached to the strut tower. I honestly doubt they're even the right length but I didn't bother lining them up once I saw how little effort they made for this "chassis specific" item
  • I've sent an email in requesting a return. I don't expect them to honor it (it's been over 2 months since i bought these things) but I would have hoped to at least receive an email saying as much. Just radio silence, so not great on the customer service as well.
  • Figured out you have to start a support chat with them but got the return process going at least. They said they would also waive the 15% restocking fee for items over 30 days from the buy time since the issue was fitment.
  • Stoptech lines have the right fittings and are similarly, if not cheaper, priced than the Chase bays lines. DO NOT BUY THESE.

 

I have the chase bay brake lines and was impressed by them. I like the design that they are not keyed in. You do not need the support bracket with them, because they are the correct length. They run straight from the hard line on the chassis to the caliber, which I like better because it gives less leak/failure points along the line, vice having the intermediate hard lines the stock calibers have. Sorry you don't like yours.

 

Eh I can't agree with you there. Sure, you can always choose to not use the brackets but they should at the very least support the option to be mounted using stock brackets...the hex makes it so they won't seat fully and you will have to use zipties or something to secure them. I've got my fair share of zipties holding the car together but for a part that's several hundred dollars and supposed to be chassis specific, it's not the level of finish I'd expect

 

also got a chase bays kit and feel the same. trash....
one of the lines was leaking at the crimp on install...
the lack of instructions makes for a lot of guess work. its in not way obvious how it installs..
the communication is crap and even when i finally got through they didnt even know how to install it. i followed the instructions they sent via email and then explained to them it simply doesnt work and then they corrected themselves like "oh, it actually goes like this....". this mistake was not a typo on their part.

the whole kit is just not nice.... at all. and its really expensive. i paid the premium thinking that it would be worth it because its from chase bays..... sike

 

Do you actually have instructions for their ABS Delete kit? Care to share with me? My brakes work right now but I really would like my prop valve to be in a better place and not directly in line with my dipstick so I'm not changing my bias on accident everytime I check my oil.

 

No real instructions outside of a hard to follow email chain but this image should help

 

Huh... so this is where the confusion is for me as well. Isn't the front port (on the driver's side of the MC) the rear brake line, and the rear port (on the passenger side of the MC) the front brakes? So you would need the Y banjo on the passenger side?
From the picture it looks like they only have a single banjo on it.

I'm assuming it matters, but maybe it doesnt? I think all the proportioning gets done at the ABS pump and via the hardline splitter that goes to the rear brakes so maybe it doesn't matter...

 

The front port is rear brakes yes. this is the image i sent them and then they added the arrows and text. its wrong though because after i followed this and let them know it still didnt work... this was the response.
so i sent a video detailing the response and they said this
More importantly, your prop valve is mounted on the outboard side of the bracket and it should be the inboard. Thats your dip stick issue there.

Full Detail Automotive down in Tampa will be releasing their abs delete kit later this month and its pure sex. You already have that so its a little too late but its a million times better than what chase bays has going on.

 

Got it, I guess it doesn't technically matter which port goes to the front or rear brakes. I don't believe our MCs are stepped and we don't have separate reservoirs so I suppose they're interchangeable.
I'll keep an eye out for that Full Detail kit, it's not a horrible job and I don't mind installing something with a bit better engineering put into it

 

I still don't understand the point of eliminating ABS on a street driven car. It's an awesome safety feature that improves braking overall in all weather conditions.
But you guys are welcome to do whatever you want with your cars...

 

Its for looks in most cases. Its why I delete it. Realistically, ask someone when the last time they engaged the abs..... 9.5/10 times they will say never. Of course its that 0.5 time where it could be the difference between a crash and not lol.

A nice tidy presentable engine bay is what I'm after. It also frees a lot of real estate for other things to make better use of that space. For those that sport their sport cars im sure abs is a great thing to have but for the rest of us that cruise our sports cars, the odds of abs actually being used are very low

 

Isn't ABS faster on track as well? In all the old Best Motoring videos it seems that the cars without ABS are a lot harder to drive, and end up being slower around the track.

 

Modern ABS, yes. The ABS strategies that essentially was developed in 90-91 (to be available on a 93 that one could pick up in 92) no.

I have a much better time driving an FD without ABS on the track than with. Street is ultimately arguable depending on driver skill level.


That said you wouldn't see me disabling modern ABS on a sports car.

 

For me personally, deleting abs was for a couple reasons:

-I locked up very badly last time on track and before the lock up, I have actually NEVER felt the ABS going off. I'm not sure if it's the combination of aggressive track pads and tires or some issue with my system, but I felt like it wasn't working in the first place.
The car will mostly be tracked (although driven to and from track on the street)
I would honestly prefer an ABS system in place, braking is arguably the hardest part of HPDE and while I want to minimize the mistakes I can make, ultimately, learning how to threshold brake would only help me become a better driver even if my times (and tires) suffer in the short term.
I've looked into the M3 ABS system install thats come up recently as well as the Bosch system. The bosch system is prohibitively expensive and im not sure if i have the know how for the m60 install.

-kind of dumb but after my rebuild, I could never seat the main engine harness grommet in the hole fully. So removing the ABS pump was always in the works to do just that, I guess it was just convenient to leave it off afterwards haha

 

Another small point of interest is that depend on how **** your sanctioning body is/however and by whoever your tech inspector was taught, you may be flagged for those two Aluminum AN fittings. I'm aware that there are plenty of aluminum parts/distro blocks/etc in many brake systems however after building plenty of cars and being harassed by plenty of tech inspectors the prevailing wisdom is: 'No aluminum fittings on the brake system plumbing.' and I take that to mean AN to NPT adapters as well.

I'm sure someone can come along and point out all the flaws in that logic as well as mention that the ferules and olives in many of these steel fittings are, in fact, aluminum however I'm just pointing out the hoops I've had to jump through in SCCA and VARA depending on the inspector. NASA and others may be totally fine with it.

 

Our ABS delete kit will be for sale later this month. We are currently working on packaging and an install video. There's a good chance you may like it better than what you currently have

 

Mine is a track car, and I run a fully-manual brake kit because of that. I rarely street it (technically, it is street legal where I am), but I would not have done the brake setup if I intended it to be a primarily street car - I would have kept the ABS.

 

Thats dope. glad I read this (3 years later). I will look for your guidance when its time to do mine with the many options you have available.

 

manual brakes on my dual purpose FD are one of my favorite mods. since 2005. i hated the ABS on track as it limited braking.

going slow real fast is almost as much fun as going fast fast.

good move FDAUTO.

 

I've never understood removing ABS from a street car. ABS is a great, safe option for a street car. No way would I eliminate that for a street car. Track only or race car is a different story.

 

people delete air bags in favor of style..... but ABS is where they draw the line lol its all about personal preference. it doesn't always have to make sense

 

LOL good point ^^

We each value different things in different ways

 

"people delete air bags in favor of style..... but ABS is where they draw the line"

 

I've obviously upgraded my ABS, but the OEM was not working anymore, and you can't really get parts or even find anyone to do diagnostics or work on it anymore.

 

Can't speak to S6 or S7 but series 8 ABS is pretty good on track, I get frustrated with ABS and stability control in a lot of cars and was certainly used to driving cars and bikes without ABS, traction of stability control.