Rear Disc Conversion

[2fiddyz]

You can still get it but just go Direct from Arizona ZCar its the same kit.

Im sure its not the same kit, as Dave at ArizonaZcar.com does not sell his kit to any other suppliers, he designs the entire system and has every part made to complete the conversion, everything is perfect I have 2 Zcars with his Wilwood kit and they both rock the house. heres a few photos. BTW thats his new coilover kit and Chromoly rear control arms and billet mustache bar if you look close. Oh those are behind 9inch wide 17's on the rear

http://img214.echo.cx/img214/8520/cimg34166zy.jpg

Front brakes behind wheel

http://img136.echo.cx/img136/940/cimg34239io.jpg

rear brakes behind wheel

http://img56.echo.cx/img56/9864/cimg34181zp.jpg

front long shot

http://img159.echo.cx/img159/2995/cimg35074go.jpg

[ChrisA]

That's a nice looking setup on a nice looking Z. Can you tell us what year? Welcome to the club by the way.

Chris

[jmortensen]

Eric Chapman made a conversion kit for the early Zcar for disc brakes. I researched this heavily and was able to talk with him on the phone. The following are notes from a conversation that I had with him.

Questions for Eric Chapman’s Rear Disc Setup:

What is included in the kit?

2 brackets and bolts that hold calipers to bracket

What else will I need to purchase?

280zx – 79 thru 81 calipers, rotors, & master cylinder (240z not compatible but, not strong enough)

What year discs to use?

See above

How do they fit? Over the existing spindle?

Bolt right on spindle.

Take drum brake cover off.

His bracket bolts on to brake cover 4-bolt pattern. Use lock-tite.

Remount spindle.

Will my existing system remain unharmed and unmodified?

yea

What calipers to buy? Year? Nissan wants $350/ea

Get ‘em from junkyard. Try to find some that are good looking shape. Minimal rust. Look at dust seal. If it’s good, get it. If it’s leaking, don’t do it.

Toyota 4-piston calipers?

Too much brake for the rear. Not compatible. It will make your rear-end lock up.

How does the emergency brake connect?

Connects up just fine.

Flip cables at junction to shorten them.

Doesn’t affect operation.

Do I have to modify master cylinder?

No, get 280zx unit

Nopi auto parts (turbo mag) huge import place 800-277-6674

Tell ‘em z-car club

Do I have to modify hydraulic braking system at all?

Remove the pressure switch under the master cylinder.

Any modifications by me such as welding or sawing required?

no

Do you have any recommendations for part manufacturers?

Wheel bearings

Buy stock

SKF are good too

NSK are very very good… add more balls to bearing.

Brake pads

Call Nopi

Lucas Gurling (maybe called Axis now)

I decided to remain stock. If you have a lot of cash and time this might be a good conversion. But, I didn't want to mess with my master cylinder or deal with braking issues. Of course, I did a whole new restoration, so I wanted to put my money in other places.

[m]

I guess I'm a little late for this thread :stupid: but I did have the setup you were talking about so long ago Mike. This was Eric's setup that was sold under the name ZQuip. There was a write up about it in Z-Car Magazine's very first issue. Used 79-81 Calipers and rotors. The kit did indeed include the caliper brackets and the bolts. The bracket was a circle, didn't need to be. You could easily cut part of the bracket away and bolt it up with 3 bolts and it would be fine. I realized this later, but at the time when it was installed I pulled the stub axle to mount the bracket. On mine the rears worked great with the stock front calipers, but when I went to 4x4 calipers I couldn't get any rear braking. The big 79-81 calipers are supposed to be more reliable than the later 82-83 calipers, and I never had any trouble with mine in the 8 years I had them on the car. I ran it with a 240SX ebrake cable and removed the front bell crank and attached the ebrake handle directly to the cable end.

This setup worked fine, just couldn't handle the hard braking I was doing on slicks, so I ended up with the JSK/Wilwood brakes, very similar to 2fiddyZ's.

[waynekarnes]

i believe i bought that set up from jmortensen ... back in june or july of ought four ...

it's still boxed up in my garage, i never opened it ... haven't gotten around to installing it after having the rug yanked out from under me when the body shop was sold right in the middle of body and paint ... i have been wasting my money and time engineering on the fly ... getting that taurus 2 spd fan installed ...

i figure on installing the rear discs once i get the z running again ... mostly for the oh wow factor ... and i'm tired of messing with rear drums.

as most know, there really is no reason to install rear discs on the 240z. the stock drums and the green shoes work fine.

discs just cool off faster, thus less brake fade with multiple panic stops, or very spirited mountain driving ...

no reason for cross drilled or slotted discs ... the high temps that occur under the extreme torture of the race track causes the pads to out gas when they get hot. 99% of street cars will not reach those temps. the slots or cross drilled holes are to release those gases, so the pads make contact with the rotors. vented rotors are the ones, if one stood a quarter on edge, all those ridges .... if it were a brake rotor ... those ridges would be the vents. yes, they do help to cool the rotors.

if one uses the 280zx master, there should be no reason to remove any residual valves ... the zx's have rear discs. if using the stock 240z master, yes you need to remove that check valve at the master. either way, you will also have to remove the check valve at the rear of the 240z. it would be a good idea to install a proportioning valve, so the rears don't lock before the fronts ... too much rear bias, rear wheels lock up and want to swing around past the front of the car ... once you get the hang of it, probably be loads of fun. i would imagine the first 5 or 6 times, til you got used to it, you'd be on the side of the road, cleaning your thong out ...

i wonder if after over a year of sitting if the calipers are still good ??? i'm thinking they should be fine.

here's what info i still have from mike squared aka brokebolt

happy hunting, wayne

Big rear brake conversion

240sx 4 x 4 1/2 lugs

79-81 280zx master 15/16

89-98 240sx calipers and hangers

84-85 300zx rear rotors 4x4 1/2 lug pattern

86-80 FWD maxima rear dust shields and hub brackets both bored, cut and welded with correct offset.

rear axles must be removed to install brackets

make brake cable extenders

Small rear brake conversion

79-81 280zx master 15/16

82-53 280zx rear calipers and hangers

82-83 280zx rear rotors

86-89 FWD maxima rear dust shields and hub brackets ... cut and welded with correct off set

OR 80-84 nissan 810, maxima sedan rear brackets that have floating dust shield

rear axle must be removed to install bracket

Big rear brake conversion 280zx

79-81 280zx master 15/16

82-83 280zx calipers and hangers

84-85 300zx rear rotors 4 x 4 1/2 lugs

86-89 FWD maxima rear dust shields and hub brackets ... bored cut and welded with correct off set

bone stock small rear brake conversion Maxima 4x4 1/2 lugs

79-81 280zx master 15/16

79-81 280zx rear calipers and hangers

79-81 280zx rotors 4x4 1/2 lugs

80-84 810, maxima sedan rear brackets that have screw on dust shields

rear axles must be pulled on all to install brackets

[jmortensen]

i wonder if after over a year of sitting if the calipers are still good ??? i'm thinking they should be fine.

I'm sure they'll be fine.

[waynekarnes]

thanks J ... that's my thinking too ...

[auxilary]

Here's a nice detailed thread of why not to use 280zx rear disk conversion:

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=82790&highlight=rear+disk+rebuild

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=69575&highlight=280zx+caliper+adjustment

apparently for constant periodic readjustment required, some failures...food for thought

[jmortensen]

Just to clarify Alex, that's the LATER style 82-83. Early style doesn't have those problems, but the caliper is much bigger and heavier and the pads are actually smaller.

Also of interest, if you look at the later ZX caliper vs 240SX caliper looks damn near identical to me. Haven't heard of a bunch of frozen SX calipers yet...

[The Rototiller]

Im sure its not the same kit, as Dave at ArizonaZcar.com does not sell his kit to any other suppliers, he designs the entire system and has every part made to complete the conversion, everything is perfect I have 2 Zcars with his Wilwood kit and they both rock the house. heres a few photos. BTW thats his new coilover kit and Chromoly rear control arms and billet mustache bar if you look close. Oh those are behind 9inch wide 17's on the rear

http://img214.echo.cx/img214/8520/cimg34166zy.jpg

Front brakes behind wheel

http://img136.echo.cx/img136/940/cimg34239io.jpg

rear brakes behind wheel

http://img56.echo.cx/img56/9864/cimg34181zp.jpg

front long shot

http://img159.echo.cx/img159/2995/cimg35074go.jpg

what brand rims are those? what size tires are those front and rear? nice looking car by the way

[PROJECTRB240SX]

They Look To Be 5zigen Fn01rc Off Of A S14 240sx/silvia.

[2fiddyz]

PROJECTRB240SX

They Look To Be 5zigen Fn01rc Off Of A S14 240sx/silvia.

They are FN01RC's 17x8 25mm in front and 17x9 35mm in the rear.

Since they are aftermarket and different widths and offsets I dont think you can say they really came off of an "S" body. I bought them new. Great price for the weight. I am very happy with them.

That's a nice looking setup on a nice looking Z. Can you tell us what year? Welcome to the club by the way.

Oh and its a 4 of 1971 manufacture date, and Thanks

waynekarnes

as most know, there really is no reason to install rear discs on the 240z. the stock drums and the green shoes work fine.

Until you have more than 3 times the rear wheel horsepower the car came with stock. I have probably more than 450 RWHP with my current setup at 21 PSI. You shoulda seen the look on the GSXR1000's owners face when I beat him in a roll on from 40-140, hell I was even surprised.