FX35 Brakes?
 

Yesterday I was helping my brother put some fresh pads and rotors on an FX35 he'd picked up. I noticed at the time that the front calipers had dual pistons. Has anyone tried fitting these things to a Z? I haven't seen any threads.

Comparing 07 FX35 to 07 Z the rotors are the same diameter just different thicknesses. So if the calipers fit it would just get you slightly better fade resistance at the cost of heavier rotating assembly. It also could change brake bias if the piston area is different.

Looks like the pads are probably identical too.

I think most people just want to go with larger brakes or lighter brakes. If your unhappy with your current brakes look into upgrading pads or to the later calipers if you have a 03 or early 04.

07 FX35 - Centric 12042092, 320mm dia, 34mm thick, 26.3lbs
07 Z - Centric 12042080, 320mm dia, 28.1mm thick, 22.5lbs
07 Z Brembo - Centric 12542076, 324mm dia, 30mm thick, 20.5lbs

07 FX35 pads - centric posi quiet 10508881 (maybe different hardware kit?)
07 Z pads - centric posi quiet 10508880

Probably the same caliper but a slightly different mount to allow a wider rotor

Thanks for the specs Rancor. My Z was an 05 pre-facelift model. I recall the front calipers being a large diameter single piston setup. My braking is alright, nothing exciting and I'd mod them if BBK's werent so damned costly. For a grand I'd sooner do suspension lol. Maybe I'll look into 07 calipers. Didn't know they changed.

So I did the conversion and put in a bigger brake booster. Funny, it turns out that the updated calipers are the same as the ones used by the FX35. Anyway I decided to have a little fun with powder coating!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....fb914cd60c.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....7134253b7b.jpg

Thread Closeout
 

Closeout

Well after a couple months of this adventure I finally closed out this conversion. So for anyone else out there with an 03-05 non-Brembo Z, here're the details for the project.

Used calipers off eBay: $75 ___________________FX35 calipers should be the same.(I used calipers off of a Z)
New updated brake booster: $90 ______________ For OEM replacement. MAKE SURE that you're buying one that will match your master cylinder. Enthusiast model masters are smaller.
Large bottle of brake fluid:$15_________________Get DOT 4. It's more viscous than 3+4 fluid.
Brake rebuild kit: $3 x 2= $6___________________Just do it..
New Pads : $40
New Stoptech vented-slotted rotors: $250 ________Why? See below

Total: $476

Notes: DO NOT do this without a power bleeder. You're going to let a lot of air into the system when replacing the calipers and booster. It took me a few weeks of bleed sessions and driving to get full braking back.
I powder coated and decaled all 4 calipers for some pop. Also a a labor intensive project. If you want to put caliper paint on yours, prep them carefully with aircraft stripper.
That stuff will melt your gloves.

Results: Even when cold, braking is instantly more responsive. This update project was painful to pioneer but very worth it. And at 480 bucks, it's half the cost of buying used Brembos. Plus my calipers pop with
the added color. Good luck.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....91ac718292.jpg
Finished product

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....4b91ad44ad.jpg
The new discs are larger. Pads are 40 bucks. Don't waste new pads on old discs.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/my350z....e5e0f53a4e.jpg
The old discs are DBA's . Not bad, but Stoptech's internal vent design is better for moving air.

I'd imagine an FX35 has more weight and momentum to stop in a braking scenario vs. a z ... so it makes sense in my head that the front calipers are beefier. Any insight on the rear brakes? I'd imagine those weren't as big?

nice write-up btw

So aside from powder coating, I didn't actually change anything on the rears. But considering that there's less weight on the rears under heavy breaking I kinda doubt that it's worth the trouble. I'll mod the notes to allow spacing. But FX35's are an educated guess considering Nissan's parts bin. There's also that dust shield. So whatever you were to do in back, you'd need to ether stay with the oem sized disk or remove the shield.