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Revision as of 06:42, 26 January 2008

This article focuses on advanced brakes, requiring machining.

For general brake improvements, see Brake Swaps

1 Front Brakes
2 Rear Disc Brakes

Front Brakes

Using Z-car or 280ZX struts

Z means 240Z, 260Z or 280Z (Nissan chassis code S30). The 280ZX (S130) came later.

See 280ZX Strut Swap for details. This section will focus on even better brake choices, after you've got the Z or ZX struts.

Rotor Comparo

240/260/280Z: 272 mm (10.7") non-ventilated
280ZX rotors: 254 mm (10.0") ventilated, 18 mm thick, fit Z-car struts
300ZX rotors: 274 mm (10.8") ventilated, 22 mm thick, don't fit 280ZX struts

All the Z and ZX 4-bolt hubs will allow interchange of any rotor onto any hub as far as being able to be physically bolted together. In other words, any Z or ZX 4-bolt hub will accept any other Z or ZX brake rotor as far as physically bolting them together. However the rotor thickness and offset are more important. Also any Z or ZX 4 bolt hub will also fit onto the Z spindle too, with the only difference being a very slight displacement of inside seal (the wheel bearings are the same).

300ZX calipers are wider, heavier, and had a different bolt spacing than did the 280ZX or Z calipers, even though the piston and pad area on these calipers was no bigger than the piston and pad area on the 280ZX caliper.

Apparently the stock non-ventilated rotor is close to overheating on a 2800 pound Z-car, but may be fine on a light 1200.

It seems the 280ZX strut lets you use a 1" smaller wheel?

Adventurous swapsters: notice that 1981 Toyota Cressida caliper bolts to the Z-car strut and has slightly smaller piston and pads. What size rotor does the Cressida have?

Ventilated 300ZX Rotor on Z Strut

Use 280ZX caliper. as 300ZX calipers don't bolt on, having the bolt spacing farther apart.

The caliper has the bolt threads. So drill out the Z-car strut to fit them and put bolts through the strut holes into the caliper
Use a spacer on the caliper bolts to center the caliper over the rotor. Use early 240Z hubs. A thick .160" washer, is placed between the caliper and the strut. If using newer hubs, which are thicker, it won't be a bolt on, but probably you'd have to machine the hub.
Machine the larger 300ZX rotor down to reduce diamter by about 1/4 inch (it should just come past the brake pads)

reference: Z Home

MK63 Racing Brakes

Fits Z-car Struts and B310 large (13" wheel) struts. See Strut Swaps.

These were the FIA brake calipers, offered in the Nissan 'Sports Option' parts lists in Japan, and through Datsun Competition in the USA. They were fitted to most of the works 240Z and 260Z rally cars, most of the works circuit racing 432R and 240ZR race cars, as well as many of Skyline, Sunny and Violet race cars.

Approximately 50% more pad area than stock 240Z brakes
Require removal of the backing plate. Complete bolt-on.

Feral used 261 mm diameter or even 253 mm rotors.
early S110 rear discs and calipers were small and very light and fit under 13's. The discs were same as R31 skyline...discs and calipers came on an E-PS110 Z20E powered with FS5w71B & HB 38

rear axle. It had an SX badge on the rear hatch.

Nismo MK63 Sumitomo 4 pot calipers

89.9 bolt spacing
Has four 41.3 mm pistons
Caliper repair kit 41120-68225 fixes all seals for one caliper
Replacement piston 41124-68200

MK63 Solid Rotor

For stock 240Z solid rotor, and stock 240Z strut. Available from Courtesy Nissan $700 USD

41000-E7201 FIA Caliper RH
41010-E7201 FIA Caliper LH
99996-E7050 Install kit (hoses, fittings, bolts, washers)
41060-RS610 M59S Compound Brake Pads
41060-R1120 M2800 compound Brake Pads

For B310, you may need to change the hub.

MK63 Ventilated Rotor

For 20mm thick ventilated rotors

Calipers (41001-A1281 RH, 41011-A1281 LH)
Rotor 40206-N3120 vented
Installation Kit 99996-E7051, which includes:
- Caliper bolts (4 needed) 41250-RR610, M12X1.25X31.5
- Hose Gasket 46237-A4600 (6 needed) $0.38 ea. from B310
- Hose bolt 41128-F1800 (2), M10x1.0x26.5
- Brake hoses 41205-F1800 RH, 41215-F1800 LH
  Hoses from Nissan President?
Rotor Fixing Bolt (8) 01111-00312, $2.22 ea. from B310
102 mm brake pads, 15mm total thick including backing plate

Needed for 240z up to 7/73

40202-N3426

Needed for B310 strut

Hub 40202-A0127 from Datsun 810 (2 needed) $168.65 ea.

Pads

- 41060-A1281 M59S compound
- 41060-A1282 DS11 compound
- 41060-F0225 M33S compound
- 41060-E4622 M2800 compound

Photos - MK63

Wilwood Dynalite Calipers on 280zx Struts

Perhaps the most effective braking system you can get on a 1200 / 120Y / B-210 etc... ( at least as good as the FIA brakes at a much lower cost. ) It's an upgrade that will last the life of the vehicle.

This upgrade requires all the work done to swap in the 280zx struts in addition to a custom caliper adapter.

Some people have mentioned that some Wilwood calipers do not have dust seals and as such may not be road worthy in some places ( Australia for one! ) I've been looking for an answer to that question. Dynalite calipers don't have dust seals and allegedly don't need them, Dynapro calipers MAY have dust seals, but I can't verify that.

Benefits:

1. Significantly lighter than 280zx calipers. ( any unsprung weight savings are good on those heavy strut assemblies )
2. 4 pistons
3. Wide range of pads from street to severe duty race pads without spending any more than regular pads.
4. Many people consider the Wilwood caliper to be more reliable than the OEM calipers, not needing rebuilds for years.
5. No machining of brake disks to fit them. Once you have them installed all service parts are regular off the shelve parts.

Disadvantages:

1. Lack of dust seals may be a problem if you need to get upgrades engineered.
2. If used on a track car, you'll be put in a class with much more powerful cars.
3. 14" or larger wheels needed.
- Some wheels may require spacers, 14" 280zx and 280zx Turbo wheels have a different offset, so non-turbo wheels may not need spacers.
- 280zx Turbo wheels may also need a little bit of grinding to clear the caliper, and even then the space between the caliper and wheel spokes may be extremely small, also the nut that holds the caliper to the adapter will have a very small amount of clearance to the brake disk.

4. Installation will require removing splash guards from disks, which may cause problems if the upgrade needs to be engineered.

Installation Notes:

Installation of these calipers is fairly easy. You need to source an adapter to attach the brakes to 280zx struts, look around on 280ZX sites or check ebay. If you're going to this length, you'll want to get some stainless steel flex brake lines, and the proper adapters for them. Also make sure to retain or replace the flex hose support on the strut or you could have engineering issues. The adapter I used in my install required some very thin profile special nuts to attach the caliper to the adapter plate, so keeping a set of spares on hand would be a very good idea.

Service kits are available for a very reasonable price ( about $10 USD )
Adapter plates should run about $100 - 200 USD
Wilwood calipers aren't that expensive... About $130 - 150 USD per caliper vs. $50 USD for an average 280zx caliper. vs $700 USD! for the Nismo MK63 Sumitomo 4 pot calipers

Rear Disc Brakes

The stock rear brakes are fairly good, a large (for such a light car) 8" x 1.75 brake shoe. Make sure the brakes and clean and adjusted correctly. Using a performance pad will improve it.

But for coolness sake... read the article Rear Disc Brakes.

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Brake Upgrades