Today I upgraded my touring model brakes (a.k.a. Altima brakes) to Track Model Brembos that I recently purchased from a guy in Canada. There was quite a bit of damage in shipping, so I had to have the rotors turned, and replace the original steel brake lines. The calipers are pretty chipped up too, but I don't have the time or the money to have those repainted properly right now.

OK, so to the upgrade...

First, this turned out to be easier than I had imagined for a couple of reasons: no caliper adaptor plate, no emergency brake kluding, it all just fit like a glove.

At each wheel....

I started by replacing the steel brake lines that came on the Brembos with Stop-Tech stainless steel flexible lines. These use banjo bolts to attach to the calipers, just like the 'Altima' lines.

Next I removed the OE brake system by first removing the brake line retainer bolts from their brakets and then the caliper from the spindle assembly and the rotor from the wheel studs, leaving the brake line attached for the moment.

Then I mounted the new rotor and the new caliper.

Finally, I unclipped the flex-to-fixed brake line coupling point, and swapped the brake lines quickly to minimize fluid leakage.

I repeated this procedure for all four brakes, without any real problems. then performed a standard bleeding procedure. The whole think took me about 6 hours without any assistance (except for bleeding, where my wife is getting used to reading her book while pumping the brake pedal.

Here are pictures of the procedure...
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAtHDZw1cNnDQ

 

nice! i'm thinking of getting some Track Brembo's too on my Z. How much did it cost?? [if u don't mind]

 

I paid $2100 which would have been a pretty good deal if the parts had not gotten damaged in shipping. As it is, after the rotors were turned, and the brake lines replaced, it cost quite a bit more.

If you find a set I'd spend some time with the seller making sure that it would get packaged adequately for the shipping type. UPS/FEDEX can drop a package as far as 6 ft., while freight carriers are a bit more careful, since it's all handled by hand, not sorting machines.....

I've seen prices on this board (based on milage) from $2100-$2500.

 

roark, thanks for your informative post. I, too, will have mine installed soon.
Sad about all the shipping damage, I'd be pissed but you seem to be a good sport about it. I think I know who you bought those from...but I finally ended up buying my set from another guy that was posting here but was local to me. Buyer beware, though. The seller may advertise condition/mileage than actual.
But anyway, how do you like them? Big improvement? I bet the brembos are much heavier, did you weight them by any chance?

 

the brembos are lighter than the stock brake system, correct me if i am wrong, i am saying this from the top of my head when i was installing them

 

No, the brembo system (rotors and calipers) weighs about 120 lbs. based on the shipping label and the weight of the packing. The stock system (I just put it on a scale) was just under 100 lbs.

Yes, these parts did get a bit banged up, and I did have to pay a bit more than expected to get rotors turned and new lines, but at least the brakes had not seen a lot of track time and the rotors had worn less than a mm. each, so they were not abused.

I have noticed that now the brake pedal has a bit more travel than with the 'Altima' brakes. I had a buddy, who owns a track model and also owns/operates "Tidewater Z Auto Service," drive it tonight and he feels it is just like his. I plan to re-bleed just in case, but this seems normal.

Have others who have added big-brake kits noticed longer brake pedal travel?

 

Be very aware that Brembo front rotors have an OEM thickness of 1.18", and a minimum wear thickness of 1.11"! They won't take but .07" of wear before being tossed.

 

Actually it's worse than that:

30 mm (1.181") new - 28.4mm (1.118") minimum = 1.6mm (0.692") max. wear.

Better get that micrometer out and check'em!

 

How did you work the issue of the dust shields? As I understand the non-track dust shields are too small to accomadate the track rotors?

Major

 

Simple,

I removed them. The front dust covers could have stayed, but since I actually track the car, the dust shields just trap heat. I'd rather clean a bit of brakedust on my rims and calipers, then rebuild a melted down brake system

 

Spoken like a TRUE track junkie!

BTW, if your rotors are trash, think about the 2 piece Stoptech rotors........cheaper than OEM, and good enough for the Grand-Am racers!

 

Front dust shields are the same. The rears are about $120.

 

Better to just cut off or remove the rears (I did the tin snip method). The rear dust shields trap too much heat. I remember smoking the rear pads on my second test drive (glad I didn't buy that car).

 

It's the nature of BBK's. The cailpers take more fluid because they have 4 pistons instead of 2 in front and 2 instead of 1 in back. if it really bothers you you can swap in a Q45 master cylinder and it will tighten back up because it moves more fluid with a larger piston.
Gary

 

I just did my Brembo conversion as well using new factory calipers and Brembo slotted rotors, Stoptech lines and Ate Blue and Gold fluid, Ferodo 2500 pads.

Here's a trick to keep brake fluid from running out of the system while you are working:

Depress the brake pedal about 1.5 inches with a broom handle propped between the drivers seat and brake pedal. This moves the piston so it covers the fluid port from the reservoir inside master cylinder and fluid won't leak.

ATE Blue brake fluid is nice since you can tell when the old fluid is out of the system.

I also found the Brembo aftermarket slotted replacement rotors very nice quality with pillar vane venting front and rear. I paid only $600 for them new. Sure beats the Nissan rotor price to quality ratio.

I did a little analysis of the Brembo system and found compared to stock my system added 8.8 pounds to the car, 0.5 pounds each front wheel and the balance divided between the rear wheels. This includes cutting away the rear backing plates and using lighter Stoptech brake lines. All the added mass is in the discs.

I measured everything and came up with the following analysis:

Comparing the Brembo to Enthusiast brake systems after measuring the functional disc diameters I calculate the Brembo system has:

-Brake Torque: +12% front and - 4% rear (yes minus since there is less piston area even though effective disc radius greater)
-Disc Mass: +24% front +52% rear
-Swept actual area: + 25% front and + 53% rear
-Pad area is:+ 8% front + 26% rear.

This means a slightly more front biased system and a lower pedal effort for any given stop rate.

My pedal is much better than the Enthusiast brakes were, firm and communicative, maybe due to Stoptech lines an/or Ferodo pads which seem to have nice bite.

 

What is part number of Q45 master cylinder and dimension of the Q45 master cylinder piston?

Is it a direct bolt in?

 

One other thing on my Brembo installation. I contacted Stoptech on how to run their front brake lines and they suggested two methods. I chose the one pictured.

Installing them this way, I found that for the bracket to lie flat on the upright the lines had to be swapped left to right as marked by Stoptech .

 

And another thing.

For the backing plates, I found that the front backing plates are the same as Enthusiast and the rear's are the only different backing plates. Jason at Performance Nissan has put them on their website to order if you want. I felt they would retain heat so I cut the rears and left the fronts as is.

Zeckhausen racing has a nice study of the stock, Brembo and Stoptech kits here Zeckhausen Z Brake Test

Here is picture from Zeckhausen Racing showing cutting of the rear backing plates

 

For those who want to do this I offer a complete kit with new Brembo OEM Calipers front and rear and stop tech brake lines and rotors...

http://www.performancenissanparts.co...oducts_id=1536

This package includes;


OEM Brembo 4 piston calipers Front in Gold (2)
OEM Brembo 2 piston calipers Rear in Gold (2)
NISMO R-Tune Brake Pads Front and Rear
STOP TECH 2 piece aero-rotors front and rear
STOP TECH Stainless Brake Lines front and rear
MOTUL RBF 600 Brake Fluid 3 bottles

This kit will upgrade your non-Track model Z or non-Brembo Equipped G35 with a Brembo Brake Package better than what comes Originally Equipped with the 350z or G35.



But for the cost (this is at max discount) you can get a stop tech BBK and then some

 

Jason,
Your website lists the Brembo and Stoptechs for the same price. Can you PM a price for either kit (4 wheel kits)? My breaks are nearly gone and I might as well upgrade.

Happy Thanksgiving!