No, things haven't changed.

Jason has the best price on the AP Racing 13.0" front kit that I know of... $2,300 or thereabouts. That was the group purchase price for N-tech a year ago, normally ~$2,700, and M2 wants almost $2,800 for their "version".

 

I personally believe there is a pretty nice profit margin when it comes to *most* of the 'big brake kits' out there. Don't one want to get too much into it, but I've come to the conclusion that some of the RX7 specific vendors are protective of their product lines, and are not too happy to entertain a brake solution that might cannibalize their existing line....

 

Update: Nick/N-tech sent me an email yesterday saying he's submitted the engineering drawings to his source. We'll give him a couple more days, then we'll go from there.

 

Does anybody know anything about the ABS ring teeth being on the rear brake rotor? Nick says this is one of the issues he's working on...(?) I could have sworn the ABS teeth is on the hub, but I don't have the '99 brakes myself.

In the email I got from him today, he's ruled out doing front 2 piece rotors, saying "it's not cost effective". (??) I know there are at least a few that want 2 piece rotors to replace their 4 corner '99 spec brakes, so if he can't/is not willing to do this, we will have to go with the Precision Brake solution for this GB.

 

DC, yes your thinking is correct. The ABS ring is on the hub, not the disc!

Dan

 

Nick must be confused. I double checked my rear rotors and found no evidence of ABS teeth, nor any place to mount a ring of teeth. There are some radial ribs from the casting-- maybe he was confused by those.

 

Well these have now come off the daily beater, and just need to get the bells and mounting brackets made up.

Then I guess I will have to sort something out on the rear. So I will be following this with great interest.



Dan

 

dclin/artowar,
I doubt Nick is confusing the issue. I'd bet there is an issue with milling a hat that will clear the ABS ring (teeth) on the hub. The FD rear rotor is kinda deep and if you notice most AL hats for two piece rotors are shollow or have an angled X/section. Can't have an AL hat with any 90deg angles(?).
My thoughts,
Crispy
-will be dissappointed if I can't get 2 piece rears.

 

No, he specifically said that the rotor has ABS teeth, and that he was debating leaving the ABS teeth off (and therefore disable ABS). I debated copying his email over here, but...

Anyways, I'll see if he has prices for me by Monday or Tuesday. I'm tired of this dragging out like this, and I'm sure some of you guys are too.

 

The ABS ring in the rear is on the axle, not the hub... so it's on the inside of the knuckle, and there's no way that the hat could interfere with it. Even the sensor pickup should be well out of the way.

Here's a picture of what I'm talking about...

 

Max's pics of the rear hub assembly was brought to my attention by a forum member:

http://www.maxcooper.com/rx7/how-to/...ear/index.html (a bit over half way down the page)

The ABS ring is clearly on the otherside of the hub carrier. I'm willing to bet that even the ABS sensor is not close enough to be of concern, as far as clearance.

No matter who we go with though - before final products ship - clearances and fitment will be double checked. We will likely have to ask the assistance of those with '99 spec brakes (one with a OE caliper, and one with the Wilwood caliper) somewhere during this process.

One of the reasons I wanted to stay with a RX7 vendor (like Mandevill and N-Tech) was because they are familiar with the RX7. I'll need to get with Nick again, but his email was very specific about the ABS ring. I can't imagine Nick is not familiar with the brakes on the RX7 myself...

 

Jim: I'm a slow @ss typist - you beat me to it.

edit: stupid speling misteaks

 

Here's a picture looking at the rear suspension arrangement from the front. Note the 10mm bolt just to the outside of the ABS ring (blue arrow). The ABS sensor has a very low profile tab which attaches to the rear knuckle using that bolt, while the bulk of the sensor is inboard of the knuckle, mounted directly over the sensor ring.



Bottom line, it is physically impossible for the ABS ring or sensor to interfere with ANY rotor or caliper combination because the caliper mounts on the opposite (rear) side of the knuckle and the rotor obviously can't come anywhere near the mounting location of the sensor without interfering with the knuckle itself.

 

Okay, now if someone demands it, I may be persuaded to get off my butt, dig a rotor out of the garage, take a pic of the backside, then upload it here. But I think that jimlab's pix have done a nice job of showing the ABS "teeth".

That's one damn clean CYM-- was that from Mark Valskis? I remember that he used to wash the underside of his car...

 

He prepped and painted the complete underside of the car and replaced all the aluminum suspension components front and rear, including new hubs/wheel bearings, shocks, sway bars, and brakes... and then sold it all to Carlos Iglesias.

 

i gave the underside of my car a mudbath at the buttonwillow "spa" last time i was there


fabian

 

We are a distributor for all Mackin Products. I can price out the rotors for you and try and get some specs if interested. That's for Project Mu.

Rishie

 

I see my guess on the ABS ring issue has been taken care of. Picture tells a thousand words. I am pleased it is not an issue and I am mystified what Nick might be talking about. Anywho...so what's the next step fellas?
Crispy

 

Thanks Rishie - so Project Mu has 2 piece '99 spec RZ rotors now? Another concern is the availability of replacement rotors - can Mackin give assurances that they will keep at least a reasonable supply of replacements?

Please get prices as soon as you can - thanks!

 

I still want to get prices from Nick, and clear up what he is talking about. We've got two sets of prices now, and a third (or even a fourth, if Rishie can find out if the Project Mu's are available in RZ spec) would give us a good set of options to go with.

 

Rishie, do you think you can confirm thru your sources whether or not Project Mu makes a 2 piece rotor for the RZ/RS spec brakes?

As expected, the knuckleheads at Mackin could not tell me anything other then the part numbers listed in the '03 Project Mu catalog. They only show US spec 2 piece rotors, but cannot say whether RZ/RS 2 piece rotors are/will be available.

-----

N-Tech has retracted thier statement that the ABS ring is on the rotor. They say they have not played with stock cars for awhiles. No prices yet.

-----

I have asked Jason/RX7 store to supply GB pricing on the front and rear RZ/RS calipers and related hardware.

 

Neither have I, but I know where all the parts are on the car...

Can we get a caliper GB going seperately from the rotor GB? I'd like to get something out of the way, at least, and then I can paint my calipers while we're figuring out what to do with the rotors.

Would pads be included in this GB? Do the calipers come with all required backing plates and retaining springs, etc.?

Thanks!

 

I didn't want to say anything more then I did.

Yes, it should be seperate. I was thinking the 2 piece rotor GB would be thru a brake vendor (it's looking more and more like Precision at this point), and the caliper GB would be thru a business that already had ties to Mazdacomp, or can source Mazda parts easier (and for less). At this point, it would be easier to just go thru Jason, as long as he can provide cut-throat pricing.

Both GBs (or actually one GB for the rotors, and 2 GBs for the calipers/hardware, front and rear sets respectively) would occur at the same time, since they are related.

I sent the parts list (the word doc somewhere in the big thread on big brakes,I'll find the word attachment and repost here for everyone to look at)) to Jason, and we will double check to make sure all parts needed are included. It would obviously suck if we had to scramble for more parts after the fact.

 

I didnt read through the whole thread but was wondering if these would work on a s4/s5 TII?? Sry if this is a stupid question just wondering.

 

The 2 piece rotors *may* bolt up, but then you *may* need custom brackets made to relocate either the stock calipers or aftermarket ones.

Then again, I have heard of FD front calipers on FCs (and actually know a guy down the street with an FD with FC calipers, due to a previous owner - I'm helping him change his alternator tomorrow and will take pics so you FC guys can ID), so who knows? Any FC guys want to volunteer to see if it will work?