Hi All,

Found myself reading through quite a lot of techo stuff on this site and loved it. Had to join.

Own a fairly clean coupe with some go-fast gear: A15, high comp., twin 45s, electronic ignition, etc. Sunny 4 speed, 4.11 ute diff.

Currently in the workshop having new axle seals & bearings fitted, plus extension housing bushes (another source of driveline vibration which, left unattended like the front uni joints,
can pole vault you into the stratosphere)

Running 200B struts with 1200 spring seats and 10" vents with Hilux 4 spot calipers up front. Had to run 15's. It's a bit of tight fit, but does the job and looks the goods - not that you
need to do too much to make the 1200s look the business.

All up a good combination, but doesn't stop too well in the wet. Anyone running this combo know of a cure? do i just need backing plates? if so, what out of?

Cheers.

Great to hear you're as enthusiastic as the rest of us! Re: your brake situation Bob Cooper in NZ rallys a twelvie coupe and I believe it had the hilux caliper set up. Contact him at
rcooper@xtra.co.nz - he's happy to help. Is there a reason why you guys don't use the original brakes for the 10" discs? I have Bluebird 10" fronts that I want to put in my race
coupe - are the calipers any good? Cheers.

Hey! Great to see another member.

Since your in Sydney, will u be making it out to the Eastern Creek Drags on Wed 22nd March? I think a few others from this club will be
in there datto's.

As for your brake prob. Wot is the exact prob?

Davo

Your setup is very similar to mine except I use 200B solid rotors with Commodore calipers.
Yours is probably better if correctly setup.
Mine stops beautifully in the wet.
I know this because I completed an hour long endurance race in the wet in 1992.

Do the front or rear lockup first?
I suspect the front/rear bias is not correct.
Get a professional brake specialist to set the bias, not just backyarders like us.

If you had a big fat heavy V6 up front like the US mob seem to do, then that would be the most likely problem.
Heavy engines equal bad handling.
But you have the nice light revy A15.

Also check the state of the springs and shocks.
If the shocks are too loose or too tight then braking suffers.
Tired springs and rubbers could also cause it.
Worn parts in any of the suspension will give bad brakes, bad steering and a bad ride.

"teretonga" asks why we don't use the standard callipers.
Its just like having a kid wear daddy's shoes - too small.
The 1200 is beautifully balanced (suspension wise) but was not designed to go fast.
Hence it has tiny little brake pads.
Fast cars need VERY VERY VERY GOOD brakes otherwise you become VERY VERY VERY DEAD.

Here's another tip: a 200SX LSD will fit into your ute diff housing (but not coupe/sedan housing). With 140HP (flywheel) and semi slicks I can't spin the wheels - it just
shoots off over the horizon instead of wasting power.

- Wayne S.

Appreciate your comments Wayne. I was asking about the standard Bluebird/200B calipers - are they way too small? Why when going to 10" are you guys using Hilux and
Commodore calipers? Many thanks, Ian.

Here's some more specs re the brake setup.

The discs are 10" vents from an '85 Magna and have been redrilled to bolt onto the 200B strut.

The calipers on a Hilux are 4 spot, cast iron and weigh a tonne, but bolt straight up to the 200B strut. Apparently there are two types of Hilux calipers. The first with pistons all the smae
size, the other with different diameter pistons. Don't use the latter.

Standard Bluebird /Stanza / Commodore / 200B Calipers on 10" solids are also a good combination. Use the Girling / Girlock type calipers as opposed to the caliper which looks like the
standard 1200. They have a full alloy casing and much larger swept area on the pads. The mountings on the strut for the calipers are also different, so best to buy as a unit. The struts
(1600, 180B, 200B, Stanza) come in two sizes. I used Stanza struts (longer) in my old coupe and had to cut the springs down quite a lot to get a decent ride height, which was a big compromise
in comfort. Made a huge differnece in the braking dept. though.

The springs in mine are Pedders lowered variable rate sitting on top of the 1200 seats which were welded onto the 200B strut. Shocks are Koni Reds which have been set to medium.

The lower control arm is a hybrid 1200/200B as the ball joints on the 1200 are slightly smaller and don't mesh up to the 200B strut. Early 1600 control arms do the job, but are as rare as.

The master cylinder was originally a 3/4" but after the pedal went right to the floor and locked up the backs, we opted for a 15/16" out of a 280ZX. This, along with a fixed bias valve, has
resolved most of the problem. The brake booster's a 120Y jobbie and the pads are standard items. The only mods to the rear brakes are 240K wheel cylinders which have larger piston diameter
over standard.

With a 20mm Pedders swaybar, all bushings are Nolathane with the exception of the lower inners which are rubber. The castor is currently set at 0, so some adjustable rods are next on the hit
list. I plan to dial in 3 degrees positive which will make a world of difference to turn in and stablity. The down side is having to trim the front guards for clearance and slightly heavier
steering. The steering box has also just been reconditioned.

A 200SX limo, eh Wayne? Where can I get one? How much are they? Do any mods need to be made to the axles, diff housing etc? Or does it bolt stright in? Sounds like wicked setup!

"Errrnstak" - I had a similar dilema with my Webers not that long ago - wouldn't idle, would chew through the juice and bucketed out smoke. Sounds as if your float levels are all wrong and
the carbs may be out of balance. Are you getting a lot of black/blue smoke? A Quick way to balance out twins is to unhook a spark lead with the motor running. The motor should idle a bit
less, but not stall. If nothing happens there's too much bias on the other carb. When the motor drops the same amount of revs on each cylinder, you're pretty close to the mark. It's a bit
crude but may help. Check your ATF fluid levels in the SU's and make sure the pistons are sliding freely and aren't sticking when opening the throttle. If push comes to shove, get your car
dynoed. It's a bit pricey, but you'll be glad you did.

Davo, unfortunately down in Melb. all week so won't be able to make it to the strip. Good luck to all attending. Hope the ca18det launches into the 11s - look forward to reading all about it.

Later

Bluebird/200B callipers are "okay".
But since we are messing around with the whole brakes thing and it is equally difficult to put in hilux,bluebird,200B or commodore callipers, then why not go for the
better ones designed for stopping big heavy and fast cars.

More stop for the same hassle.
And better pads are available for the commodore for cheaper prices.
However, the 4 spot spot Hilux calliper is technically better than the commodore calliper.

- Wayne S.

My diff was done at SSS Automotive (Gilba, New South Wales, Australia) about 10 years ago.
I am not sure of all the details because it was actually done for the previous owner.
You will have to ask SSS for the details.

I do know that it uses the 1200 ute housing because the ute housing is bigger (to fit the bigger heavy duty 3rd
member).
I have a string suspicion that the ute actually uses the H165 as standard.
The nose of the ute housing sticks out more than the sedan/coupe, so you need to shorten the tailshaft.

The Nismo manual recommends changing the standard H145 3rd member to a H165.
I think the H165 is from the Silvia/180SX/200SX or possibly the 200B or Bluebird but my Nismo manual is incomplete.
It appears to use standard sized 1200 axles (Nismo lists various shims and seals for the conversion but make no
mention of axles).
The 1990 price for a H165 was $1400.00 .

There was a LSD H145 listed by Nismo but
a) Nismo thinks it is not strong enough (hence the 165)
b) rare as hen's teeth.

But man, oh man, do I love that LSD.

- Wayne S.

What size rims are need to use the Hilux calipers/vented 10in discs?

14x6 is a good rim size for this I used to have 13x6 in mine but and to file a bit off calliper and space the rim out a bit :( with about 2mm clearance 14's would be better unless
you can get some 13x7 with descent offset.