Yeah, I learned a long time ago that diy rebuilding calipers is not worth my time and effort. Too many times I had trouble sourcing the seals or once I got to doing it realized there was additional wear or damage that needed fixing. Easier to just replace and at couple hundred bucks a pair it's a no-brainer for me.

 

summit also has the rebuilt Brembo fronts but not the rears. but at least that is still available for now. I just consider this a hard lesson learned, powder coating brakes is not worth the trouble unless they are new or rebuilt already.

with a pro race brake brand you can send calipers to them for rebuilding. like AP. The prices here at summit are really negligible. I'm not avoiding $200 for a brake caliper. it's just I bought the used ones and thought I would rebuild them and the kits are scarce. so I think I'm just going to pick up the power stop rebuilds and send them the recently powder coated cores...

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I like those wheels, 19 pounds is good. When I got the konig's they were pretty tough to find in stock but I was able to find a few companies on ebay and fitment industries had them, you just gotta keep looking, everything is difficult to get these days. I got a set of seals for my akebono's from z1 and they were here in a few days. who did you order from? I havent used them yet if you need them....

 

thanks for the offer but I already ordered the power stop rebuilt rears. I burned some money in this situation but I'm still ahead versus new ones. wasn't Z1 charging about $30 for those kits?

while I was digging around in summit I came across similarly unlabeled brakes for another project for my daughter.... I'm building her a Hitman Mustang using a 2011 5.0 automatic. I found the '07 to '09 GT500 Brembos labeled as sport brakes... also rebuilt and powder coated. these are only $100 more than the GT set. so might as well....

 

while waiting on the rear brakes and the steering wheel hub, I decided to tackle a few other areas that I've been putting off for a long time. today I was going to wire up the gauges which already have sending units installed, but I got in the mood to deal with the hood once and for all.

nice when something works on the first try for a change with this car. I got these hood pins mounted to the radiator support and it's a perfect fit. they're a bit old school but they came with the hood. so now that the latch is removed the hood shuts nicely for the first time although I had to loosen and adjust the fender to fit. I think I'm going to do the same with the rear hatch. I don't like dealing with the electronic release.



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looks good, post some pics of the rear hatch, ive got one to install once the lexan comes in and I want to delete the electric latch too

 

For the rear hatch I routed the emergency release cable to behind driver's door so I can pop it without having to turn on power

 

that sounds like a great idea. I was toying with ideas for the hood release cable also, maybe rigging a lock mechanism separately from the latch. for a car that will never be used for an overnight trip, IE left in a motel parking lot, I don't see any reason to worry about the hood or hatch being locked.. I might eventually rig something, but right now I love the simple raise and lower and hood pins, and planning on doing the same with the rear. these pieces are so lightweight.

I wore my back out today but it was a fun day in the garage working on the seats again, and I finally got the harness fully mounted for the first time in this car. Time to relax....

 

looks good man! nice job. It sucks working on seats and harnesses, killer on the back. Prob hated that the most to be honest doing all the safety stuff. That kirk roll bar is a PIA as well.

 

Wow, this 8-into-1 exhaust makes the car sound like a F1 car! and it's an old school V8. I wonder if this could be done with a 350Z? The trick is equal length at the collector. Man, can you just imagine what a VQ would sound like with this setup?

 

sounds badass!

 

power stop rears arrived today from summit. thanks to @Dr Hoon for that excellent tip. these run more than the fronts, oddly, at $250 plus $90 core. The two I tried to rebuild were $170 used plus $150 for the powder coating... and no rebuild kits anywhere. so I'm at a loss but glad I don't have to rebuild them. hard lesson learned and money thrown away.... as you can see, the powder coating is the same quality on both so the power stop rebuilds are an excellent value.

 

@Escobar I don't remember where you mentioned the Koenig Hypergrams but a fellow came by today to do a trade, his bronze 18x10.5 hypergrams for my red RPF1s. I test fit one of his wheels on the front of the Z and was able to crawl under and observe the clearance.

these wheels have a +25 offset. The fitment looked really really good at the fender and I love the wheels!! on the inside, there was about 3mm clearance to the control arm, very very tight. but plenty of clearance at the Akebono caliper. so this wheel would work great with a very small spacer.

he spent a long time test fitting my black set of RPF1s because they still had old NT-01 tires. he ended up wanting the black wheels even though they are very track worn. they looked better on his white G37 than the red wheels.

I looked up these hypergrams and damn they're only $1,200. 19 lb each. I'm going to buy a new set if the trade doesn't work out with this fellow.. he had to go home and figure out if he's going to roll his rear fenders or something. he loved my wheels but the rear would rub without some sort of adjustment.

I'm surprised by the price of these wheels because the Titan 7s I was considering are twice that price and if you're just looking at weight, they're the same. they might not be as strong if they take an impact. The RPF-1s, one of the wheels I have was damaged and I had a local shop repair it. and the hypergrams are the same sort of rotary forging as the RPF1 so I'm thinking they would be fine.

I'll either buy this used set for $900 when the dude gets his new wheels or I'll just buy some new ones for $1,200 and either way I'm saving a lot. If I can sell off these three sets of RPF1s then I'll actually be in the green.

 

yea man they are dirt cheap and super lightweight. I have a few sets, they are great track wheels.

 

I'm thinking 285/35s rear, and for the fronts I was thinking of trying the 255/40s I already have but these 245/40s that came with the wheels are severely stretched so idk about 255s. I mean yeah I can save some money but I think 265 is the minimum width without stretch. I just might have to put 275/35s on the front even though I'm not crazy about that width, I just really hate stretch. I would have much preferred 9.5s for the front but this was a set. I mean, worst case is I could buy a pair of 9.5's but I don't think it'll come to that.

 

im not a fan of stretch either, I run 275 square with no issues. I found when I ran a staggered setup I fought understeer. Running square you can rotate the tires and get more life out of them too. But at the price point of he konigs you can pickup a set of 9.5 and run a smaller width.

 

My Cayman came with 19x8.5F with 235s, 19x11R with 295s. you would think with huge rear wheels and super light front end that understeer would be the thing, but the car oversteered badly. Porsche community loves their giant rear wheels. so when I put the T7 T-S5s on, I drew them in, 18x9.5 255 F, 18x10.5 275 R, only 20 mm apart versus 60 as it was before. you'll have to learn any new platform but I think the Cayman benefits from some stagger increasing the rear grip. it is so perfect imo that its forgiving of my amateur driving. no big surprises. just very consistent handling.

and the reason I love the Cayman so much is that it's a totally different driving experience from the Z and that's teaching me a lot. I love the differences. both are similar in weight and distribution but the Z has a more forward COG..

The Z is fun and drama free. The Cayman is equally fun but bitchy.. you know what? it reminds me of Carla Jean in this scene (my favorite film):

 

I bet the cayman being mid engine does make a big difference compared to the Z, Thats crazy it had that big of a wheel stagger.

 

do you have your rear anti-sway bar on minimum setting? I've heard that helps with understeer. this build hasn't seen any track time yet but I've got the Hotchkiss bars now, front at max and rear at min. some of the comp guys just disconnect the rear links.

damn, I'm in the garage right now Matter of fact, and need to get these cars moved out! I love the Z3 to death, it is a blast to drive, but I'm not going to screw it up for track and I just don't need it. and the donor 350Z won't take much to get it back together. rear diff, brakes, that's about it. I need to get these things sold off to make room!

I highly recommend this approach by the way! buy a couple of different cheap cars that are out of your comfort zone and give them a try. 2 years ago when I had the GT500, I would have never imagined buying a Porsche. it was way beyond my awareness even. back then I didn't even have a Z yet! what I did know was the 3800 lb POS Shelby pissed me off every time I drove it. exploring these different makes and models has been unbelievably fun. and at the end of the day, you get all your money back. I think it's incredibly valuable for one's mechanical skills as well as driving.