Brake rebuilding time. Lots o' questions!

[Willoughby Z]

removed < redundant>

Edited October 14, 2011 by Willoughby Z

[robftw]

From my experience here in NY most inspectors don't give a damn about the older cars, so they let a lot more things slide..

For instance on my car, i have SS lines routed throughout, i have no cat, No EGR, no charcoal can everything was removed. The car has MSA thermal coated exhaust + straight pipe going to a magnaflow race muffler The rear license plate light did not work, no horn whatsoever headlight switch was broken at the time and did not work, and THEY STILL PASSED IT.

[Captain Obvious]

I would be caught having to defend how my non-approved brake lines didn't contribute in any way to an accident

Unfortunate to think it might come to that, but yeah, that would be a tough sell.

[30 Ounce]

30ounce, I've been trying to contact Silver Mine Motors, without any success. Maybe you would know the answers to the questions I'm trying to ask them:

(1) Are the steel braided lines actually STAINLESS steel, or just steel?

(2) Will their standard braided lines fit OEM cylinders and calipers, or would those have to be custom fabricated?

Also...

(3) Is there any reason to think this might be a dodgy business, or is this guy pretty trustworthy?

Thanks!

Yes they are stainless steel. The fronts will fit as thay are the same fitting for the Toyota caliper as the Datsun one. The rears I don't know because mine have a banjo fitting for the Ford calipers so unless they have secific ones for the drums...

As for their lack of response I would say that they have been around for a long time and several members at hybridz have used them. I did my conversion 2 years ago and while it took a couple of weeks to get everything they always come through. I just ordered new rear brake lines (my fault for damaging them) and it took them 2 weeks to respond. I don't like the response times but they do have good prices.

[beermanpete]

Goodridge makes DOT approved steel braided brake lines. Here is a link to one vendor:

http://www.jdpmotorsports.com/goodridge-g-stop-brake-lines

[FastWoman]

Thanks, guys!

Well, my Saturn is fixed and back on the road. Yay! So now I've got the rear of my Z up on jack stands, and I'm tearing stuff apart to see where I stand and what I need.

The drums look great. The wear is within specs. They're the aluminum type. I've cleaned them up. Should I put a coat of black caliper paint on them or no? It's Duplicolor's 650F (?) ceramic paint. Would I screw up the heat dissipation with this paint? The only purpose for the paint would be cosmetic.

I still haven't found my hyrdaulic leak. The brake lines don't look bad, but they're probably a bit long in the tooth.

I'm still thinking about that Toyota dual piston front caliper conversion. I don't want to have to space out my wheels to accommodate the larger calipers, as I think my wheels will rub the fenders. Does anyone know whether I'd need to use the spacers with 15x7 Panasport rims? It looks like there's plenty of space between the OEM calipers and the rims.

[FastWoman]

I took a peek under the boots of the cylinders. The left looked fine. The right cylinder had tons of crap under both boots. I assume that's where my slow leak is. The thing is, though, I didn't see any oily residue in that area. There was lots of the usual rusty/dusty junk, but none of it appeared oily. There was one thing, though: I think the rusty/dusty stuff was a bit harder to brush away on the right side. So maybe there's my missing brake fluid. Sound logical?

Oh, and even though the lefthand cylinder appears fine, there's a lot more wear on the trailing shoe than on the leading one. The pistons seem to move freely, though.

The cylinders seem to be a bit different in age. The PO liked to replace one part at a time. I hate that.

Anyway, I've sprayed all the fittings with PBBlaster and will let them soak for a few days.

[FastWoman]

I heard from Silver Mine and got most of my questions answered. I was confusing the Stage 3 and Stage 4. No spacers needed on the Stage 3. They can make up custom lines for the OEM cylinders -- same price.

[FastWoman]

Well, I've finally gone with Russell Street Legal stainless braided hoses. These are an Edelbrock product, so I expect them to be of a good quality. Best of all, they're only about $89 for the set of 4, and they're DOT approved.

I've also read a number of reviews of AutoZone's Duralast brake calipers, and they've been very favorable. I asked my local AZ folks about the lifetime warranties on these rebuilds, and they say that while the warranty only covers manufacturing defects, IN PRACTICE they will exchange out any caliper, even if it dies from corrosion due to moisture in the brake fluid. They do this for customer loyalty and goodwill.

I also asked about the lifetime warranty on their brake pads. Both in theory and in practice, the pads are warranted not to wear. So when they wear down, no matter how much, I'm invited to bring them in and exchange them. The only caveat is that I can't wear them down to the metal, which would mean they couldn't refurb them. Then they won't exchange them. Sounds like a deal!

Total price for stainless lines, calipers, and pads, was around $175. I'll have them tomorrow.

BTW, I decided not to go with the Toyota caliper retrofit at this time, because that will throw my front and rear brakes out of proportion. It would be better, eventually, to upgrade all the brakes at the same time, perhaps when my drums wear out.

Here's what I still don't know: Is it OK to paint the drums? Does it interfere with heat dissipation? I'd be using black, ceramic, Duplicolor 650F paint -- for cosmetic reasons, of course.

Edited October 18, 2011 by FastWoman

[Jetaway]

Fastwoman,

I skipped over part of this thread because I got sorta busy doing my rear brakes;), so if it has been mentioned, forgive me.

I had a friend over, 1/2 for material help, 1/2 for moral support while I did the brakes. Maybe the anti-rattle springs in your hardware kit won't be as stiff as the one's that I had, or perhaps your latter model has a different design, or perhaps you have a grip of steel, but we found them a bear to install. Both John and I are on the small side, but, I mean, hell, we aren't wimps, and more bad words, expressions of pain, along with a greatly disproportionate amount of time and plotting was spent getting the little buggers on than any other part of the operation. Five days later, I'm not convinced the dent in my thumb caused by compressing the spring in has come out completely. Slight exaggeration, but not that much.

We got one on by brute strength, then took to jamming combinations of wood and steel behind the drum to hold in place the nail-like stud thing that secures the spring to the strut or the differential so all hands could be on deck. So to speak.

If there is such a thing as an anti-rattle spring installer tool, I sincerely recommend you look into buying or renting one. Or, barring that, scope out what kind of clamp or spring compressor could be used and if you don't have one, buy one.

Or, you know, find a true "son of the south.";) You'll probably want to reward him with some tea or lemonade afterwards.

Best O' Luck!

Chris

[beermanpete]

Snip...

Here's what I still don't know: Is it OK to paint the drums? Does it interfere with heat dissipation? I'd be using black, ceramic, Duplicolor 650F paint -- for cosmetic reasons, of course.

I wouldn't paint the drums. Mine have no indication they were painted by the factory. The affects on heat removal will depend on what type of paint you use, how well you prep the drums, and how well the paint adheres. If you ever get the brakes really hot the paint will likely burn off anyhow.

[mlc240z]

Jetaway,

There is a tool for this job.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WMR-W158C/

But I'm surprised it took that much force. I'm not that beefy but I usually just grip with a large pair of pliers and push in to compress. Then while holding the spring in, I can reach to the back and rotate the post with my free hand to engage the slotted washer.

I do these first before hooking up the return springs. The retainer helps to hold the shoes while I force the returns back on. Those are the ones that usually give more of a headache.