ftjandra's big front brake install

[Lex]

Sorry to hear about the tranny Is this the build one with the plate support and LSD? What happenned?

[ftjandra]

What about the holes drilled into the caliper? Just used calipers to measure them out? Essentially how did you know where to drill them?

You're making this look easy

Oh yeah, the caliper. The bolt-circle radius of the stock bolt holes is essentially perfect (off by 1mm), that's why Justin could use one of them for his install. Hard to explain, but basically you need to imagine a circle running through the Wilwood holes and make two new holes that are 120mm apart (spacing of stock ear). Maybe a pic will make it clear. Wilwood holes in white, new holes to be drilled in red. I just used a drill press.



--Ferdi

[ftjandra]

Sorry to hear about the tranny Is this the build one with the plate support and LSD? What happenned?

Yup, it was the one with the support plate and Quaife. I was just accelerating in 4th and BAM! This was only on 15psi too.

--Ferdi

[Lex]

Thanks for the diagram, that certainly helps.

Where's a good place to order the rotors and calipers?

I guess you will be dissecting the tranny to see what happened. Really too bad, I thought that support place would resolve the issues we see.

[ftjandra]

Thanks for the diagram, that certainly helps.

Where's a good place to order the rotors and calipers?

I guess you will be dissecting the tranny to see what happened. Really too bad, I thought that support place would resolve the issues we see.

The calipers I got from Carshop Inc. for $137.95ea + shipping.

The rotors are from Goodwin Racing for $249.00ea + shipping.

I should have the tranny out and apart by the end of the weekend. Hopefully, the Quaife is OK.

--Ferdi

[sube]

looks good ferdi..... im personally not to fond of wilwood calipers & the lack of dust seals but, its very impressive none the less

Times two, I had Wilwoods for a while on the Subaru, worst experience ever, bastard things leaked constantly where the two halves join, I rebuilt them 3 times in one year, and they still leaked. At the end of a year they were leaking at the pistons, because of the lack of dust seals the bores were all scratched to hell. There is absolutely no warranty on these things either. There is a disclaimer that they are strictly for off road use. I had to have 2 front rims refinished because the brake fluid eat through the clear coat and and damaged the polished lip.

Pat.

[Georonimo]

The calipers I got from Carshop Inc. for $137.95ea + shipping.

The rotors are from Goodwin Racing for $249.00ea + shipping.

--Ferdi

You're the man!

Could you provide us with a part number for that rotor assembly? I really like this setup since you don't have to mess with the spindle much and no bracketry (extra weight/more stuff to fail) is required. The only thing I would do differently is have a peice of aluminum stock pressed into the original caliper holes to give the mounting bolts a little more support and a way of distributing the load to the rest of the caliper.

Is there a version of these calipers available with dust seals? And lastly, would you willing to test fit a wheel for clearance if I sent it to you?

[Georonimo]

double post

[ftjandra]

You're the man!

Could you provide us with a part number for that rotor assembly? I really like this setup since you don't have to mess with the spindle much and no bracketry (extra weight/more stuff to fail) is required. The only thing I would do differently is have a peice of aluminum stock pressed into the original caliper holes to give the mounting bolts a little more support and a way of distributing the load to the rest of the caliper.

Is there a version of these calipers available with dust seals? And lastly, would you willing to test fit a wheel for clearance if I sent it to you?

The link I gave to Goodwin Racing is the exact rotor assembly I ordered made by DBA. It's part of Goodwin's version 4 big brake kit for the Miata (version 3 used a Racing Brake rotor).

I was thinking about welding the original holes shut, but I don't think it's a problem. I guess I could still press in a pin, but they would have to be sized perfectly. But, right now the bolts fit very snugly into the new holes I drilled. There is absolutely no movement side-to-side of the caliper even when the bolts are not completely tight.

Wilwood does have some models that have dust seals, but they all use a different mounting style requiring a Wilwood bracket to be attached to the stock ears and then the caliper attached to the bracket. I didn't like having an extra bracket and I could not find one that 'fit' as good as this one. Plus, a lot of Miata guys run the Wilwood calipers and I have not read about them having any/many issues.

The Dynapro caliper I used and the Forged Billet Dynalite that Justin and Mike used are interchangeable (the Dynapro is an upgrade for the Dynalite), but I used the Dynapro because the Dynalite doesn't have 'flat' ears; the area where the bolt holes are is raised. You can see what I mean in this pic. It would have made my method of re-drilling the holes impossible without first flattening that area.



I also like the clip that holds the pads in better. I think for the Dynalite you have to get a new cotter pin every time you change pads. The Dynalite also has some sort of bottom pad supports that may or may not interfere with the stock ears (requiring even more trimming).

Sure, I can test fit a wheel, or I can do some measurements for you. What wheel are you trying to fit?

--Ferdi

[Georonimo]

I guess it would have helped if I actually clicked the link.

I currently have 94 escort GT wheels on my car but I'm playing with a set of 15x7 BBS wheels that have a 41mm offset (same size as your wheels I believe) with an 8mm spacer for a total offset of 33mm. The appear to have a ton of room for a larger caliper but the only way to know for sure is to measure/test fit.

Measurements would be great. I suppose that would be just a little easier than shipping a wheel back and forth.

Thanks!

[bam]

Wow great write up. I thinkeveryone has been looking like info for this for a while. Do they make a solid rotor version of that size disk and offset for us street guys? I don't do track time and the two peice rotor is overkill for me.

[Lex]

Ferdi, I can't see the pictures in this thread anymore. Just letting you know as it's a great resource.

[ftjandra]

Ferdi, I can't see the pictures in this thread anymore. Just letting you know as it's a great resource.

Hmm, I wonder what happened. I'll look into it once I get my car back together (today!).

--Ferdi

[pauls323]

i dont see any pics

[worldhazard]

I'm really curioius as to how this all works.. but i'm quite a visual person... and the pics don't show up on the first post.. if there are any that is...