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BBK- Depending on setup may be a little heavier than your base
- ^^^ cost / ^^^ maintain
- Looks great, most kits perform awsome
stock- pad/rotor upgrade
- cost way lower
- many cost effect cheaper options
- still limited braking characteristic per style of caliper system
Brembo- Moderate cost especially if you source your own
- many pad and rotor options at a slightly higher price than base
- z1 2 peice rotor option to help cut weight / similiar weight to base rotors
- track pad change easier
- This is my favorite setup---- my Z had to have brembos when i bought it
Akebono- 370z upgrade
- nearly 14" rotors
- much heavier rotors / z1 2 peice will cut nearly 10lbs a peice on the fronts here
- quite a few pad/rotor options
- Most effective braking ? Maybe subjective....
- Depending on how this swap is done BBK on clearance can be cheaper
All, Thanks for the input on this and if you have more please do share as I am all ears. I will stop going around in circles on this, but it has been very useful because I think I understand all the possible options to explore now and also was shown some other places to find parts!!! I will let you all know what I buy when I get it purchased. Still amazed at the many options that can be applied to the 350z. On a happy note, my Bilstien's arrived today! Pictures will follow soon!
I was in the same boat as you regarding brakes. I priced out all options (factory Brembo, 06+ all around, Brembo front with 06+ rear) and was going to do the swap to 06+ brakes with SS lines and good fluid. All the used Brembo sets were about $1k around here without SS lines and would require a rebuild. I ended up with a killer deal on my Wilwood BBK (thanks Terrasmak), so I went that route. Had the deal not came up, I would have 06+ brakes with some upgrades on my car now.
If you want to step up to a BBK, keep an eye out on Craigslist, FB Marketplace, and the forums. There is an AP front set for sale on here right now for $1400. More than you wanted to spend, but may be worth the money. https://my350z.com/forum/misc/623073...-and-more.html
OK, so I found a somewhat(still think I paid too much,but cheaper than everything else $572.00) full set of Brembo brakes. These came from a little old lady who had a convertible with 65k miles it. So says the ad. LOL. Actually, they look to be in very good shape with minimal wear and the guy lives in Ohio and has a 100 percent rating. All good things in my book. Some risk is being taken buying these, but hopefully they work fine. One of them has a nick, I think someone color matched some paint pretty close and maybe I just just touch that up. After a lot of thought, I just did not want to go the Bigger Better Brake route because I want to keep my options open to put smaller wheels on for the track and not worry about clearance. Now to the easy part, the rotors and pads, kidding kinda. I also think I need some longer bolts to mount the rear brakes per a video I saw? Thanks again for all the help from the forum members! Not sure if you will be able to see the Ad, but here it is. Pictures to follow in a few weeks as I start to install the shocks and brakes. https://www.ebay.com/itm/184090166687
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 01-21-2020 at 07:06 AM.
OK, so I found a somewhat(still think I paid too much,but cheaper than everything else $572.00) full set of Brembo brakes. These came from a little old lady who had a convertible with 65k miles it. So says the ad. LOL. Actually, they look to be in very good shape with minimal wear and the guy lives in Ohio and has a 100 percent rating. All good things in my book. Some risk is being taken buying these, but hopefully they work fine. After a lot of thought, I just did not want to go the Bigger Better Brake route because I want to keep my options open to put smaller wheels on for the track and not worry about clearance. Now to the easy part, the rotors and pads, kidding kinda. I also think I need some longer bolts to mount the rear brakes per a video I saw? Not sure if you will be able to see the Ad, but here it is. Pictures to follow in a few weeks as I start to install the shocks and brakes. https://www.ebay.com/itm/184090166687
$572 for a set of Brembos is a good deal. The listing expired, but if it did not come with SS lines I recommended picking some up along with some decent fluid. I run Motul Dot 5.1 as I didn't want to have to change the fluid often as recommended when using RBF. I saw someone recommended a Motive power bleeder, which I will second if you are going to do a full fluid change. I bled my whole system (8 bleed screws for the Wilwoods) in 30 mins solo. You can finish up the bleed by doing the triple and hold technique with your son.
FYI, I bought this bleeder and it worked great for the Z.
Just copied in a picture from the ad on the previous post so they can be seen. Somewhere there are 14 people in anguish as they to were watching these brakes. LOL
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 01-21-2020 at 07:09 AM.
That's not a bad deal at all assuming they're in good shape. I sourced my Brembos for $400 on CL but they were in much worse shape and required some TLC. I ended up rebuilding all of them and refinished them with the gold G2 caliper paint kit. It's slightly different than the stock gold-orange color, so if you're expecting a paint match, don't get that color!
That's not a bad deal at all assuming they're in good shape. I sourced my Brembos for $400 on CL but they were in much worse shape and required some TLC. I ended up rebuilding all of them and refinished them with the gold G2 caliper paint kit. It's slightly different than the stock gold-orange color, so if you're expecting a paint match, don't get that color!
It's an "ok" deal consider the condition. I was joking about the little old lady bit, but the guy did say in the ad it came off a convertible with 65k on it, so good reason for hope. The other Brembo's I saw on ebay were like 800 to 1100 range. Many of them look like they are very beat up and would certainly need a rebuild and powder coating/paint. I can get the demand for these though. If you want "better" braking you really have two choices. Go Big or get the Brembo's. I really saw no other four piston brakes that were available for a smaller rotor, other than the front rebuilds I found at AdvancedAuto. Problem is finding matching rear calipers if you are picky about it and want them to at least match from a branding standpoint. The Big Brakes still "look" awesome and of course perform to. Just depends on what your plans are for the car.
So, I went by the trusty local paint shop who has repaired and painted my daughters wrecked Honda and also painted some other things for me as well. They do incredible work. The guy who owns it is a retired fireman and also restores classic cars on the side for himself and to sell. I had him look over the paint to see if he could match it and also ask a few questions about replacing the front end (Thinking Nismo 2 or 3 front end and side skirts, not the rear though). He was pretty direct as usual. Basically said all the aftermarket stuff is crap and to stick with original body. He is picky and does not like that the seams don't line up well on the aftermarket stuff. Basically refused to do it in so many words. LOL. I then showed him that you can get a Nismo front end from Nissan and it did come standard on the car for certain years and was a bolt on. He saw that, and said, ok, that was good. LOL. I like guys who own businesses who give you their honest opinion even if it may cost them some business. He cares about the quality of the work.. Anyway, not anything I plan to do soon, just checking out his opinion on matching the colors if I do try later on. This yellow is unusual with a lot of flake in it, but he said he could handle it and they did match my daughters silver metal flake Honda perfectly.
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 01-21-2020 at 01:53 PM.
I was off work today, so I finally got some Meguiar's polish and gently cleaned up the rims. The front driver side (might have a "before" picture somewhere in this thread, it was really dirty an spotty. I went easy with the polish and, "wow", completely different rims now. The interesting thing is the front driver one was really bad, the others were kinda bad, but no where in the same league. My guess, is...., I noticed it looks like the other three rims have some type of clear coat on them while the driver front does not. Remember these rims have been around a long time as the the car is 15 years old, so they have nicks and scratches, but I could tell there was something "different" about this one rim. Do they clear coat these rims? Ironically, the front driver wheel came out with the best shine. Somewhere down the road I probably could find a place that can refresh them right?
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 01-21-2020 at 01:45 PM.
$572 for a set of Brembos is a good deal. The listing expired, but if it did not come with SS lines I recommended picking some up along with some decent fluid. I run Motul Dot 5.1 as I didn't want to have to change the fluid often as recommended when using RBF. I saw someone recommended a Motive power bleeder, which I will second if you are going to do a full fluid change. I bled my whole system (8 bleed screws for the Wilwoods) in 30 mins solo. You can finish up the bleed by doing the triple and hold technique with your son.
Should still work I guess? Does not matter whether you push it through or pull it through with a vacuum I suppose. So, my main question centers around Motul 5.1. I am certain there is Dot 3 or 4 in there right now. I read the 5.1 should not be mixed with either 3 or 4. So, how do you clear the lines of the old stuff? I suppose I can just bleed it out the best I can to get the Dot 4 stuff out and then pull through the 5.1 mix for a good bit to ensure most of the old fluid was removed? I could just stick with Dot 4 stuff since I already have it in the garage for now. What is the advantage of the new Dot 5.1 liquid?? Sill might consider doing it and just selling the Dot 4 stuff off, it's brand new.
Should still work I guess? Does not matter whether you push it through or pull it through with a vacuum I suppose. So, my main question centers around Motul 5.1. I am certain there is Dot 3 or 4 in there right now. I read the 5.1 should not be mixed with either 3 or 4. So, how do you clear the lines of the old stuff? I suppose I can just bleed it out the best I can to get the Dot 4 stuff out and then pull through the 5.1 mix for a good bit to ensure most of the old fluid was removed? I could just stick with Dot 4 stuff since I already have it in the garage for now. What is the advantage of the new Dot 5.1 liquid?? Sill might consider doing it and just selling the Dot 4 stuff off, it's brand new.
I have one of those vacuum pumps as well, but it has always been a pain to use. The power bleeders allow you to sit at the calipers and just crack the bleed screws until the fluid runs clear. The vacuum pump plus pump / hold method will work, it'll just take much more time.
DOT 5.1 is glycol-based, same as DOT 3 and 4 so mixing them is not of concern. You do not want to mix DOT 5 with DOT 3, 4, or 5.1 as DOT 5 is silicone-based. DOT 5.1 has a higher boiling point than DOT 4, which should lead to less brake pedal fade. Since you already have the DOT 4, I would just run that until you feel as though the brakes are getting spongy during track days.
I have not opened the bleeder kit so I think I will return it tomorrow and get what you suggested. Sounds a lot easier. I actually ordered the last one in stock last night. Thanks again for the tip.
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 01-22-2020 at 05:10 AM.
The projects continue. As I mentioned earlier I picked up a backup camera that needed to be installed. When they first started having these in cars I did not care for them at all. Now they have become something I absolutely want, particularly with the limited view out the back with my overly dark tint on the rear window(may take care of that in time). So, the camera itself is cheap, but the installation requires quite of bit of interior parts be removed. Then I opened up the radio area and found this mess. Seriously, who does this? Harness, no way, just cut everything and wire it. Wow. Well it does work perfectly and he did seem to make some good electrical connections. So, I added in the connection for the backup camera, soldered and shrink wrapped. It all works great! Very happy with it. I zip tied it off and got it cleaned up.
Then, while I was in there I decided to look into why the AM/FM radio does not work. I am looking around and no antenna plug? Looks like he wired the power correctly for the antenna amp. So I start digging around for the antenna plug. No luck. So, I tear into the driver side of the trunk to check it out. Guess What. The antenna is cut, not a trace of wire, and there is no amplifier at all......sigh. Ok, that explains why the radio does not work! Well, I have already ordered an assembly with amp and wiring. At a later date I will get this back to stock and working. I thought about really digging into the mounting and wiring on the receiver, but after some thought, I left this one alone. Also took care of a missing cubby behind the driver seat, (the big one) while I had all the interior parts out, so that is better as well.
Had a little flashback to my teen years working on this radio. My two specialties in HS were installing sound systems and automatic transmission shift kits. LOL on the second one. I must have done 10 of my friends cars. Not sure why I thought I was capable of putting in a shift kit at 16, but somehow, I never ruined anyone's car. That I know of. I do recall finishing a friends car that had like a two speed Transmission? Old car. I had a few bolts left over? Just stuffed them in my pocket.
The next two projects are the Bilstiens and the Brembo brakes. I got the shocks in and the discs, rotors, pads are in from Z1. I also got the brake brace. The Brembo calipers should be in on Tuesday. I was going to do it all at once, but after some thought, I think I am going to do the shocks first and then the brakes second. Just to keep each project within one day of work (I hope). Possibly next weekend I will put in the Bilstiens. Looking forward to how they change the way the car rides.
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 01-26-2020 at 04:57 AM.
Well, missed the Brembo’s today, but should be here for FedEx tomorrow. I purchased the paint that matches the Brembo brakes. Check it out. The world smallest can of paint ever! Hilarious. On EBay the can looked like a 1/2 pint!
Got the rotors, lines, Z1 brace, and other items. One of the discs has some overspray on the inside edge. Should I care?
That little bit of over spray should not be of any concern. Personally i would use a small piece of emory cloth and take it off. Can't wait for you to start posting the assembly pics. Will say you are motivating me to do my brake soon. Mrs already gave me the go ahead with some of our tax money to do mine. She made the mistake of telling me to get the "best" brakes for my Z when i was asking her opinion between a couple kits and prices. I laughed hard in my mind. Then told her how much the "best" kits cost. Gonna leave my kit a secret for now until is purchased and will update on my thread
That little bit of over spray should not be of any concern. Personally i would use a small piece of emory cloth and take it off. Can't wait for you to start posting the assembly pics. Will say you are motivating me to do my brake soon. Mrs already gave me the go ahead with some of our tax money to do mine. She made the mistake of telling me to get the "best" brakes for my Z when i was asking her opinion between a couple kits and prices. I laughed hard in my mind. Then told her how much the "best" kits cost. Gonna leave my kit a secret for now until is purchased and will update on my thread
HaHa. Don't you love it when your wife says something like that! I had some end of year money as well to fund this round of purchases. I told my son, beyond some new sway bars this is our last two big projects. He still does not believe me.
Last edited by Jim Stephens; 01-28-2020 at 05:08 AM.
01-20-2020, 08:55 AM
Gonna leave my kit a secret for now until is purchased and will update on my thread 