anunbreakable1

Hello all I picked up my first Z a few months back haven't had any time, or funds to bring her back to life but now it seems that can be a reality.

I have a few other projects I need to post up in the other parts of the forum however this one is all about the brakes!

I believe I have the 03 Enthusiast model, and was thinking about picking up the WilWood BBK from ebay. They are 13' however I was wondering what the difference between the 13', and 14' is aside from a bigger diameter. Would a 14' rotor fit? http://www.ebay.com/itm/WILWOOD-DISC-BRAKE-KIT-FITS-03-08-NISSAN-350-Z-03-07-G-35-13-ROTORS-RED-CALIPER-/291131019173?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43c8c2cfa5&vxp=mtr
On to the master cylinder should I replace it along with the kit? I'm not sure if it looks good enough to keep, or just get a whole new one just cause?

I would appreciate any help at all because this is my first ever car that I'm actually investing money into.... and because I don't know even a fraction as much as you folks here.

travlee

iTrader: (8)

you could do the akebono kit for cheaper than that.... and you know it would fit

and .... is your rotor really cracked? you driving on that?

pet peeve..... your wheel cap does not line up properly with spokes

SQuaLZ

$3 grand is a lot of money to spend on brakes for a 12 year old car IMO.

I would recommend checking out stock brake upgrades, or upgrading to the 06+ oem brakes, or even maybe stock Brembos or 370Z Akebonos.

Another thing, is what are you going to do with the car? Is it just a daily driver? Do you plan on tracking it? That also will sway what you should do.

SQuaLZ

Drilled rotors FTMFL!

That is why I only got slotted with my Akebono kit.

travlee

iTrader: (8)

i have drilled on my Z06, but they came with it

SQuaLZ

When I was doing research before I bought the Akebono kit, I read a lot about nightmares with drilled rotors being prone to crack under high heat conditions. Since I Auto-X and plan on doing some HPDE this year I wanted to play it safe and just go with the slotted rotors for the kit. I am sure it also has to do with the quality of the rotor. If you get a drilled rotor from a reputable manufacturer I am sure they are fine, but if you get cheap Chinese rotors I am sure they are very prone to cracking.

travlee

iTrader: (8)

he might be at the minimal specs for the thickness also.... no telling

YorkshireBeast

The 14' discs should fit. That said you need to consider to what level you are upgrading/restoring your Z.
If its going racing big spend is fine, but if she is to be a quick road car then spending lots of $$$ on your brakes isn't really necessary.

My personal take on the street car slant would be to simply fit a stock Brembo system (same size). They'll deliver more than enough stopping power for public roads (if kept well).

On the master cylinder - give it a clean while you have the system loose, replace if you find any damage/wear internally, but otherwise there's no need to.

Just my 2 cents, good luck getting bringing your lady back to life man!!

anunbreakable1

Thank you Trav. Yes they are really that cracked, and the whole about maybe 10-15 miles I've driven the car so far have been absolutley nerve wracking. The wheels however aren't going to be on the car much long anyway. Not a big fan of 20', but for 4 grand I couldn't let the car slide by

anunbreakable1

Thank you Squalz I am looking to track the car every so often, but not heavy on it because once I get this baby up, and going she will be my daily driver.... and I drive alot. Had a 13 BRZ had it for about a year and a half and almost had 40,000 miles on her. and with the rotors I'm only going slotted. These came with the car, and I see first hand the results of drilled.

anunbreakable1

Thank you YorkshireBeast! The overall goal of the car is to keep her road legal, and somewhat manageable throughout the day. This will be my daily driver once I get her up, and going so. A little bit of get up, and go is deffinetly a bonus, but I'm mostly trying to just get her working reliably right now as I have more work to put in on her such as the radiator (She overheats just sitting idle), front bumper, and headlights.

SQuaLZ

If it is going to be a daily I highly recommend looking into Akebono. Great price and it still has the daily drivability. Some of these BBK are not fun for daily driving. They are loud, give sensitive brake pedals, and are expensive to replace parts such as pads and rotors.

Here are a few options I think you should look into:

http://www.z1motorsports.com/350_g35...oducts_id=2240

http://www.z1motorsports.com/350_g35...oducts_id=4626

travlee

iTrader: (8)

dang those wilwoods are more expensive than the brakes on my Z06 !! i have seen somewhere where someone did put corvette brakes on a 350

http://www.c5racer.com/catalog/c5-c6...FYY_aQod2ZkAiA

anunbreakable1

Squalz..You sir. Just saved me more than gieco ever would/could. Thank you so much! I've been stressing about these brakes since the rear is the one that's cracked the most, and the caliper is sticking to it.

I know this isn't the place for it, but since you pointed me in an awesome direction any suggestions on a radiator? I think that, and the fans are completely shot since I had it idling for a few minutes, and radiator fluid began gushing out the reserve... : (

anunbreakable1

Lol They are pricey, but I'm a n00b, and thought these were the best option. Thank god for this site though : ) You guy's are awesome thank you

terrasmak

iTrader: (8)

TCE brakes, I would have to look if he is still a vendor on here. He is a Willwood supplier, great customer support. If you decide to do the kit, call, talk and order from him. Then you will also have an established supplier for replacement parts as required

SQuaLZ

No problem.

Regarding your radiator problem, was the car overheating? Did you add coolant to the system? Maybe you overfilled the coolant system.

I am unsure about the 350Z, but on my Sentra I have 2 fans. 1 kicks on when needed, and the other only kicks on when the A/C is on. Are both never turning on?

turboed350z

3k for a bbk? on a street car? 100% waste of money. most think bbk offer more stopping power, reality is, they offer like 5 extra feet for the big bad boys. if i remember correctly the different between stock braking distance and stock brembos were like 1.5 feet in an emergency brake. bbk is more track oriented and the purpose of a bbk is for better cooling not for better braking. save your money and invest in soime quality tires, and replace the stock brakes with oem replacement.

kilogram

iTrader: (1)

You can get a set of rear rotors and pads from Rockauto for $50 shipped to put on the car while you figure out what you want to do so you're not driving on cracked rotors. In fact, that's probably what you should do. Seriously, is $50 and half an hour of your time worth some peace of mind? Sure it is.

FWIW too, you can peen the holes on drilled rotors to help prevent cracking. Drilled rotors aren't really necessary these days, but some people like the look. If you're gonna do it, peen each hole (put a large ball bearing on the hole and whack it with a hammer) to compress the surface around the holes. Carroll Smith goes over this in Engineer to Win. You're better off with blanks, but if you just have to have the drilled look, there are measures you can take to prevent cracking.

anunbreakable1

Yes we noticed both fans weren't turning on after leaving the car running at a gas station, and came back out to see radiator fluid everywhere which I'm guessing boiled over out of the reserve.

With these akebono's is there anything besides the wheels being 18' required? For instance on carid they have the regular, and brembo package options so even though they aren't brembo's do I need to pick the option since they are technically larger? And if this was a very stupid question I apologize. I'll be the first to admit I'm garbage at this since this is my first time modding a car in anyway.