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glad to see you stuck with the Z build, nice progress. I have my akebono set for sale if your interested, I'll make you a good deal from what I have seen, the large size of the akebono's helps with heat over the brembos, but I think the stock brembo are more than adequate for your application. I'll have to make a thread one of these days of my progress from a garage queen to a gutted track car. How are those brake ducts holding up? Do you have the specs on what you used to make those, thats something def. on the list to do.
glad to see you stuck with the Z build, nice progress. I have my akebono set for sale if your interested, I'll make you a good deal from what I have seen, the large size of the akebono's helps with heat over the brembos, but I think the stock brembo are more than adequate for your application. I'll have to make a thread one of these days of my progress from a garage queen to a gutted track car. How are those brake ducts holding up? Do you have the specs on what you used to make those, thats something def. on the list to do.
Sure, I'm interested in your Akebonos! Condition? Front & rears? Price? Send a PM if you don't want to talk publicly.
I left the brake ducting on the old dust shields because it wasn't worth taking apart the front hubs. In fact, I'm feeling so lazy I didn't even swap the rear Brembo dust shields, either, just bent the **** out of the stockers to make them fit. I'm feeling very "get er done" these days vs any OCD tendencies... maybe due to garage fatigue. Two full days every weekend for 2 months. I enjoy it but also like with these Brembos, instead of delaying xx weeks to get them stripped/blasted/re-coated, I just threw them on. Will do it later...
Also, I probably don't heat my brakes enough to need air ducting with the way I drive, street + hpde.
ball joints look new. Where did you buy from? The ones I got keep ripping at the boots.
@Bak3rme I just noticed that Z1 is now offering new LCAs and CRs with optional solid bushings pre-installed. of course I know that doesn't help with the hub ball joint but it's g2k.
I just contacted Fortune Auto and custom ordered a set of 500s for my BMW Z3. that suspension is very different from our Z's. after spending a couple of days talking back and forth we settled on 10K front 12k rear. These cars need stronger rear springs.
This is throwing my plans off a bit but I couldn't resist the discount. But that money was supposed to go toward the 350Z body work and paint... lol
Last edited by Aeneas137; Nov 30, 2022 at 08:50 AM.
Damn, I dumped the diff again trying to get it installed, almost broke the breather vent AGAIN. really pissing me off now. It was hard getting it off also! I'm just going to drop the subframe. All I can figure is the solid subframe bushings have caused it to sit higher than normal and that's why I'm having such a hell of a time here. with the coilovers I don't need the subframe mounted so high (resulting in a lowered rear end) so I need to install some of the spacers that came with the kit.
Not a big update due to the cold weather but I did get the rear diff and subframe reinstalled after much cursing. The inner subframe mounts for some reason don't allow the nut to go on cleanly even though the outer (rear) nuts went on the studs just fine. I tried using nuts from the other car and they also wouldn't go on cleanly. as far as I know this subframe was only removed once by me last year and I didn't strip anything so I don't know WTH is going on but if I ever have to remove the subframe again those studs will have to be rethreaded by a machine shop. it looks to me like a Nissan error.
I removed the brembo calipers and taken them to a shop to get them media blasted and powder coated because the shitty gold G2 paint was driving me crazy lol.
on a related note I impulsively bought a pair of front Akebono sport calipers. NOS used but never installed. I'm going to get the brackets, hardware, and rotors from Z1. I'm not sure which will end up staying on the car but I thought they were so damn cheap that I couldn't pass them up. original Nissan reds. this way I'll be able to try out both and keep the ones I want. The brembo rotors are 12.8" so on that aspect alone I suspect the 14" akabono's will win the day. but size isn't everything...
I got started on the roll bar. it's an older Kirk but in great shape. it's a PITA for fitment so I removed the cross diagonal bar and sanded down the welds. I'll get some light sandpaper to go over the whole thing and then primer and spray paint it red to go with the black/red interior.
I'm really dragging my feet though because of the cold weather putting in only a couple hours per weekend but there's really no hurry...
Last edited by Aeneas137; Dec 31, 2022 at 03:29 PM.
Still too cold to motivate me despite the garage calling to me... I live in N. CA but it's still only 37° this am. once I start using my muscles I warm up quickly and even take off the hoodie but cuts, whacks, and bangs hurt twice as much... 😆 and the profanity increases proportionally.
I bought a pair of Nissan Akebono front calipers for a price too good to pass up since they came with SS lines and they are new afaict. I've also got the Brembo calipers in the powder coating shop. I intend to put the brembos back on the '03 to restore the track edition specs as I am planning on selling the car.
I bought the adapters and rotors from Z1 and wanted to compare them (it's the nerd in me). The Akebono rotors are shockingly heavy but also huge. here is how they look stacked with the brembo rotors on the front wheel hub.
here they are on the workbench with the OEMs on top just for comparison. I know you all know these are bigger than stock, I just like to see the difference.
+15 lbs added to the front rotating mass over the brembos. without even measuring the calipers... those I suspect will be closer in weight but I could guess 2 lbs each... The Akebono pistons are only about 1/8 in larger than the Brembo pistons but there is better cooling and larger pad area. I'm thinking it's a fair estimate +20 lbs front for the AKs (over Brembo weight).
The obvious solution imo is to go with the AKs and lighter 2-piece rotors. stock rears are fine until I find a good set of used rear AKs.
Long story short, I saved a lot of money versus buying the wilwood 6-pistons. I can equip both cars nicely and saved a couple grand. I want to wear out these rotors first before buying the light ones so at least one year on them. they were 1/3 the price so I don't regret it even though they are heavy. I'm shaving about 100 lbs with the CF hood / hatch. and my skill isn't up to utilizing weight savings yet.
Last edited by Aeneas137; Jan 21, 2023 at 07:53 AM.
I actually looked at selling my akebono and switching to wilwood 6 piston and saving some weight but I decided to just run the 2 piece rotors and keep what I have. The extra size of the akebono calipers help with heat and they work great with the DTC 70 pads so Im just gonna stick. Id upgrade to them once you wear out the steel ones, its a nice weight savings on turn in.
The DTC pads are pretty serious race pads. I go on mountain drives regularly in the Sierra Nevada area and the old 49 gold run on off-track weekends, and all the side roads up and down I-80 in the Auburn area, not to mention runs up to Mt. Lassen which is fun if you don't get stuck behind a convoy of RVs. I'm just wondering if I can get away with running DTCs full time or if I should swap pads at the track since this car rarely sees any traffic. I might rarely drive it to work just for fun and usually have to drive 50 mi for the nearest tech inspection. (another reason I haven't been using NASA as often--I mean really, why does a DE car need tech? and the last time I went to this shop, the owner came out, looked at my Cayman while holding open the door, nodded, and walked back inside to sign my form--but I'm going OT here...).
I think you definitely could run the DTC pads if you wanted, they just make a bit more brake dust and cost more than HP+ pads or whatever. The akebono's are pretty easy to swap so its up to you. As far as a tech inspection, I have never done one, just fill out the form and hand to them. They dont even look at it. total waste of time and money. The lady at NASA SE at Rockingham checked to see if my brake lights worked and then walked away. Didnt check my car or helmet or anything haha
Thanks for your advice.
I'm looking at all of these pads for comparison. Since all I've run the past two years is HP+, any of these will be better I'm sure, but they should be at least civilized on the street which is why I'm leery of high-torque high-temp pads.
DTC 60 or 70
Carbotech XP8 or XP10
G-LOC R8 or R10
That's no problem since it won't be a daily 😂 maybe a monthly?
I have nothing but trivial updates here but even the small stuff adds up. still waiting on the powder coating of a few things and I sanded and painted the Kirk roll bar myself and I think it turned out great. three coats of primer, four coats of paint, and it's a bit of a dark red it's called red pepper.
I got the Enkei RPF1 wheels back from the powder coating shop. The Brembo calipers needed a redo on one of them so they still have them but the wheels turned out great. I chose this color because I'm going to have the car painted white to match the Cayman. and the hood and hatch are CF so it's not going to be a huge paint job.
Last edited by Aeneas137; Feb 7, 2023 at 03:21 PM.
been fighting with the roll bar to get it to fit and it's not cooperating. seems like this Kirk is a p i t a but it saved me from buying another one so I'm dealing with it. I did a test fit of the seat with helmet on and with the sliders removed the stock Corbeau brackets leave barely enough room and I'm 6 ft tall. it'll work without the sliders but I'll have to get used to it.
I'm 5'11" but with a long torso and I had to mount my seat without sliders on lowest setting and remove seat padding to be comfortable. Still the inside rear mirror view is a bit low, I'm actually gonna ask the windshield installer to move the mirror mount a bit for better alignment.
the kirk racing bar is a pain, its not a bolt in at all. I had to use ratchet straps to pull mine back and fight with it too and my interior is totally gutted.
from what I have seen, the large size of the akebono's helps with heat over the brembos, but I think the stock brembo are more than adequate for your application. I'll have to make a thread one of these days of my progress from a garage queen to a gutted track car. How are those brake ducts holding up? Do you have the specs on what you used to make those, thats something def. on the list to do.
