Stripped down my front callipers today with the idea of a full paint and refurb.

Some of the pistons are beyond repair but fortunately the bores appear to be in good condition.

 

Set about getting the best part of 20 years of cr*p off them prior to a good coating of rust converter.

 

Would like to ask if there is anything I should pay particular attention to during this refurb, I would hate to go to all this trouble to then find I have missed something.

I thought I would add some photo's of my initial efforts for your thoughts.

Not to sure if it is still possible to attach pictures in the usual way, but here goes.

Well that didn't work, Hmmmm?

Edited February 22, 201213 yr by redwine300
fix photo's?

If I recall there have been a few posts over the years where people have had problems re-sealing the calipers after they have been split, so worthwhile looking to obtain new o rings. When I refurbed mine i did not split them for that reason though if you get the correct o rings I cant really see it as being a problem. As for the rest of the job it's pretty straight forward. I used an overhaul kit from Big Red and was lucky enough to obtain the pistons I needed from a member on here that were in mint condition. If you look you can get new ones (possibly Big Red again) but the cost soon mounts up if you need a whole set.

 

ps. good to see your continuing with the refurb of the car, awsome work on the welding!

mikey did his a while back, he split them and as far as i know, never had a problem with them.

 

try here though, front pistons seem rather cheap considering.

 

http://www.nissanparts.cc/catalog/?section=1148

Hi Ossian,

Good to hear from you again,

Thanks for the info. I will contact Big Red and see what they say.

Appreciate your comments (and inspiration) with regards to the welding, I thought it would never end!

 

Thanks also Vodkashots, Interesting link. I will ask about their carriage costs tomorrow.

Looks promising.

Edited February 15, 201213 yr by redwine300

The big man wouldnt know if he has a problem his cars never on the road lol, begining to think he's sold it :)

 

Thats a pretty good site, now bookmarked, but I'm sure you can get them for about that or cheaper from the UK

The big man wouldnt know if he has a problem his cars never on the road lol, begining to think he's sold it :)

 

Thats a pretty good site, now bookmarked, but I'm sure you can get them for about that or cheaper from the UK

 

yeah i did have a site book marked for brake rebuild supplies for the z32 but seem to of deleted it, or just not recognising it in my favourites

Your welcome, loved your posts on here and the mig forum, I didn't have the patience to take all the photos and write up a report like you.

 

I just had a look on the Bigg Red web site but could not find anything listed for a Z32, but that was the company I bought my seal kit from and found it to be pretty good quality.

 

I will have a look through my multitude of saved Z sites to see if I can find out who were selling the pistons.

 

In the meantime nico's site has a rebuild how to http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/rebuilding-300zx-z32-calipers.html

Here you go. Not sure if they are still supplying them but well worth a bash

 

http://www.db-power.co.uk/index.php?cPath=128_148_230

There's no harm in splitting them, as long as you replace the O ring if possible, my seal kit for the front came with new ones, but the rear kit didn't...

Wasn't it more of warping problem with the alloy ones?

Wasn't it more of warping problem with the alloy ones?

 

Not heard of that mate, but it does make some sense.

Cheers Guy's,

Some very useful links and comments.

In the meantime, I have been busy finishing the prep work and even managed to spray my first section in my makeshift spray booth. lol

I decided to be a bit radical with the colour scheme and hopefully when I add some finishing touches it will be worth it.

(By the way? is it possible to still add pictures or do I have to stick to thumbnails?)

I think I have sussed the pictures problem,

so I thought I would post my progress so far.

Quite like the lime green and arctic white colour scheme, may incorporate it else where.

looking good i really didnt have the paitients to paint the nissan logo so ended up grinding mine back and the lacoring them

Cheers Ellodave,

What sort of lacquer are you using? Sounds a good idea. Think I might adopt it.

Little way off yet though, still yet to order my seal kit along with new pins/bolts and possibly shims also.

In the mean time, I have pre built my callipers just so as I can see the contrast of my colour scheme,

Seems to work OK.

Seal kit arrived, so I thought I would do the final build with a couple of finishing touches.

Would anyone be able to tell me what sort of torque settings I should use for the main 8 M10 bolts please.

 

Good work mate!!

 

You should find that the stopping power will be vastly improved once you pop them back on. I didn't refurb mine, rather I just bought a new set, but you realize that the stock ZX brakes are actually very good when they are restored to "as new" condition!!

 

Richard:wink:

The alloy type caliper suffer from slight flexing where they attach to the hub thats why they were changed to cast iron same as s14 ones latter on.

The alloy type caliper suffer from slight flexing where they attach to the hub thats why they were changed to cast iron same as s14 ones latter on.

 

I knew there was something bad about the alloy ones...... The early TTs used cast iron, then NIssan swithced to alloy (presumably to save weight), and then back to iron again because of that problem!

Cheers RichardSmith,

I found that I was outbreaking my self last summer, resulting in some hairy moments. Checked the brakes only to fine half of the pistons were seized, managed to free 1 or 2 up and noticed a big difference.

I now have a good as new set of callipers and a virtually new set of disc's, which I am planning on skimming before fitting.

Can't wait to feel the stopping power!

Thanks for the info concerning the ally calliper guy's, I nearly went down that route. Glad I didn't now.