I vote for hard anodizing as well, for the above reasons that I and others have stated, in addition to the fact that I don't want to wait longer to receive them while a new process (which may or may not be successful) is developed.

So vote early and often for HARD ANODIZED.

 

Just voted:

Hard Anodize Red

 

I like that.

My vote:
[/QUOTE]

 

I have a serious question about the different coatings: which one allows for the best heat transfer? IOW which process has the best thermal conductivity, and provides the least thermal insulation? Thin anodizing? Powdercoating? I want the coating that keeps my calipers/pistons/fluid cooler.

It seems to me at this level of performance the heat transfer issue would drive the coating choice - color considerations would be a distant second...

 

I can't imagine the powdercoating would be good for thermal transfer.....

 

Interesting question. A quick round table with some of the other ME's around me, including a heat transfer engineer, and we all feel that the differences in this environment would be neglegible.

The predominate source of transfer is likely going to be conduction through the mounting brackets etc. The coatings would effect radiation however they are so thin, and the general surface area of the part so small, that little if any effects from radiation would be realized.

Perhaps RB has seen or measured something else, but I'd be very surprised to see temperature differences related to coatings that would affect fluid boiling or other performance matters.

 

It's been years since I thought about heat transfer, but I think forced convection would far outweigh the other two modes. Regardless, I don't think you'd see a noticeable difference in brake fluid temp.
On to the voting...

HARD ANODIZED

Honestly, I do not see this as a subject worthy of debate. These are track brakes, so function > form.
They will be subject to frequent pad changes, extreme temperature, brake fluid, nasty brake dust, etc... Give me something with the greatest resistance to this harsh environment. Hue or gloss vs. satin is a minute concern when weighed against the performance factors. It will all look used in short time anyhow.

Lastly, I am strongly against putting the liquid finish on critical path. I'm eager to try these baby's out! I'd rather not wait another month to find out if it works or see the development rushed.

 

Just want to add a positive comment to the thread... Got my rear kit the other day and it looks GREAT! Thanks to Howard, Racing Brake for making this happen and Rishie for getting me my kit ASAP.

I'll be out on the track with it the 24th... can't wait to see how it goes!

 

Voted hard anodized grey. Warren, would you consider offering the calipers in a 'raw' finish for those that would like to have some other color (or finish) that they could be responsible for themselves? Maybe give them the difference in savings?

 

Voted:



(Now, where is the vote for six pistons?!? )

-ch

 

Grey and black - no brainer

 

+1, Couldn't take a chance the red may look pink in my eyes. Howard's pictures were not convincing enough to me.

Luigi

 

I spoke to Ray Crowe the other day, and the reman rear calipers that Mazda sells come in a greenish finish. I doubt it'll match the hard anodize greenish/grey, but who knows......I'm probably going to vote anodized black.

 

My '99-spec rears came with a greenish finish that looked fairly similar to that gray anodized finish. So little of the rear caliper actually shows that it's not that big a deal if it doesn't match perfectly.

 

Jim, I'm diggin' the new avatar and user text

 

Howard . . .

:-) neil

 

Neil, Warren stated that you would need 17s or larger on the RB forum.

 

Where was that ?

I looked here:

http://forums.racingbrake.com/showth...p?t=118&page=2

and found only this:

"We think you will need 17" wheel minimum to fit the BBKs."



I also looked here ( https://www.rx7club.com/racingbrake-com-177/cant-wait-650613/ ) and found nothing definitive.

I'm still waiting for Howard's assessment, as he thinks he Alcons would clear with a little filing, perhaps the RB are the same . . .

:-) neil

 

^Sorry, I thought I had remembered a more definitive statement on there.

It is highly unlikely they will fit. I've seen the OEM '99 rear brakes under the factory 16" wheels and there is no more than a couple of millimeters of space AFTER you have ground down the calipers for clearance. Considering the rear RB kit is even larger in diameter than the OEM, I can just about guarantee you that it won't fit front or rear.

 

If the clearance issue is with the caliper's width, I have 16-inch Supra wheels that may work (I have four (4) 16x8 and four (4) 16x9).

If it's with the diameter, then I'm SOL . . .

Still waiting for Howard's report . . .

:-) neil

 

I was referring to the 16" wheel diameter, Neil. With the stock wheels and the 99 rear brakes there is no room to move the caliper further outward like the RB kit does. The "fins" that are ground down are on the outside of the caliper so that it clears the stock wheels. Hope that made sense. If I had Photoshop on this PC, I'd highlight them for you.

you might want to try measuring the inner diameter of the FD and Supra wheels where the hub and brakes reside to see if its the same.

You really like 16" wheels, don't you.

 

'99 RZ rear brakes are a little larger than the stock FD '93-95 brakes I believe. I had to grind the calipers down a little ('99 RZ) to get the necessary clearance to run 16x8 stock FD rims out back (for drag racing).

Curious if the stock 16x8 FD rims can still be used out back. Would like to still run a drag tire out back from time to time.

 

RE: the 'greenish' grey anodized finish

Got off the phone with Steve earlier today, and he says the 'green' in the anodized grey is very slight. It's barely noticeable, and only in particular angles of bright light. I personally wouldn't worry too much about matching an exact grey, since the front and rear brakes are on opposite ends of the car after all.

 

Product request:

I'm posting this here, as that this seems to be the place with the most interest in what I had in mind. I've been thinking about this for awhile now, and since we apparently have a brake manufacturing company that responds to requests; how about an aluminum replacement caliper for the rear?

What I mean is an (almost) exact replacement for the caliper body. Sure, there have been brackets which allow for aftermarket calipers, but they don't provide for an ebrake solution. Why not pattern a new caliper, but based on the design of the OEM caliper instead?

The idea is to produce an aluminum caliper body that one could take brackets, ebrake levers, and piston assemblies/ seals off the cast iron caliper and transfer it to the new aluminum caliper.

This would:

1) Retain the ebrake
2) Reduce engineering
3) Reduce cost (since we would be reusing parts of the old caliper)
4) Not throw balance off

Further more, improvements (other than the assumed, lower weight) could be designed in, such as wider rotors. Because of the way the rotor rings are mounted, we could pick for anything in Racing Brakes current stock, such as these: http://www.racingbrake.com/SUPRA_FRO...216-08-311.htm (basically the same diameter @12.7", but 1.1" thick). If the thicker rotor isn't neccessary in the rear, than we could keep the current rotor ring specs to keep costs down.

While the FD is not available in large quantities here in the states, there is a market in Japan; I'm sure there are plenty of Japanese FD enthusiasts that have racked their brains for a rear brake solution just as we have. Frankly, the only thing 'family car' about the FD are the rear brakes. I would love a chiseled, billet aluminum caliper in the rear (that retains the ebrake).

I don't propose that we put a halt to the current GB to wait for something like this, but would love to see this as an option later.

 

They look like a pretty close match.