wayne_curr

iTrader: (8)

I got this set of FC RX7 front calipers for free. For the price of a caliper rebuild kit, pads, rotors and the raw material needed for the new brackets, I can have a 4 pot brake setup. That is if this is going to be at all possible of course. I plan on using 01+ sport brake rotors rather than corrado rotors because I want a vented rotor for the brake ducts I will also be making.

This is a popular upgrade for E30s and Volvos which use basically just a straight bracket adapter that is offset just a tiny bit.

Enter the E30 setup:




And the Volvo setup:


These guys have it easy.

Now, here is a rough mock up I did on the miata spindle:


The ears just dont fit the same as the other cars. I'm thinking about grinding some metal away from both until they clear better. The way it sits in that picture is nearly perfectly offset for the rotor being centered in the caliper.

Here is what I hope to see through my wheel someday. The caliper is just sitting on the rotor since it wont fit correctly with the spindle in place.


So after brainstorming for days, I find an article some crazy japanese guy did on this conversion. He was thinking way more outside of the box than myself and i'm wondering if this is the better way to go.



Whole article here:
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate...rUrl=Translate

I've had several captain 'n cokes at this point so sorry if this is lacking coherency.

Cspence

iTrader: (11)

Hmmm. I was just thinking about what I wanted to do to improve my brakes. I'm definitly going to be watching this. Kudos for being a pioneer.

turotufas

iTrader: (7)

Herro 4 rot rakes.

Subscribed.

aarontrini85

iTrader: (2)

got a set of these calipers laying around and currently running the mtuned 11" fronts. ive been planing to swap over to the fc calipers for a bit now just havnt had the time to sit down and start cutting away at some metal to mock up a bracket. but i should be getting started on it next week ill post some pics.

not sure if its the angle of the pic but does that rotor loo off center to you? if not then this should be an easy setup since the bracket this guy used didnt have any change in offset it looked like

M-Tuned

iTrader: (6)

Looks good, but does your wheel fit? We tried this setup before our current setup but had clearance issues with most wheels we tried.

aarontrini85

iTrader: (2)

Xxr 522 fit that's why I got these ugly wheels and not the tr motorsports. Ill post pics when I get home from work around 5pm central time

chpmnsws6

iTrader: (12)

They won't with ATS 15x7's. Went down that road, had to trash the idea. It'd be interesting to see if they'd fit on 6UL's. If they did, I'd be tempted to dump the Wilwood setup in favor of these.

wayne_curr

iTrader: (8)

Currently I run 16s and will be running 16s for the foreseeable future. However, as long as they fit under 6ULs when I can actually afford a set i'll be happy.

I've been doing a lot of sitting and staring at the setup in the garage and i'm thinking that cutting the ears off is really the only way to go. I may pull the trigger and just do it this week sometime and pick up a bit of steel to make the bracket. I still need to order up a set of sport brake rotors too.

GT42R

If they fit under 6UL's these would be real winners, and the OEM look too!

turotufas

iTrader: (7)

Which tr wheels you talkin about?

aarontrini85

iTrader: (2)

The. 15x9 miata ones. My friend picked up a set and it looks like they won't clear :( when I have cash for a hubcentric spacer I might snag some though. With my flares it would fit decent by the time it clears the caliper

wayne_curr

iTrader: (8)

If bundy's gigantic brakes fit under 6ULs then i'm pretty sure this setup will too. I dont have any scientific logic behind that statement fwiw.

wayne_curr

iTrader: (8)

Does anyone have any reason to believe that mounting the caliper with the bolts that hold the caliper body together is bad? Thats the only thing that keeps bugging me about that setup. I cant think of a good reason why it would be bad in any way.

curly

iTrader: (25)

I've seen some smaller bolts used to bolt calipers together, which would be the only reason I wouldn't do it, however these look beefy enough. Is there a reason why you're not rotating the caliper up or down a bit and using the stock mounting holes?

wayne_curr

iTrader: (8)

Not sure what you mean. You mean instead of mounting it like this (where X is caliper mounting ears and O is miata mounting ears) X-O-O-X, mount it like this X-O-X-O? I tried that and it doesn't work very well at all.

Here are some more pictures to digest after playing around with it a bit longer. I pulled the rotor forward so the offset is wrong but I wanted to see how much material i'd have to remove from the mounting ears on the caliper to get it to bold onto the stock miata caliper mounting ears. Not sure if i'd like doing it this way at all, seems like it removes too much metal.

curly

iTrader: (25)

I think I see the problem, in order to move it over enough, it look more like X--O-X-O, leaving a big chunk of bracket to flex to it's heart's content.

And I just realized the problem with using the bolts that hold the calipers together. You'll be rebuilding the calipers any time you take them off.

Oh wait, are there four bolts holding it together? Maybe not then. Still, also not the best option.

aarontrini85

iTrader: (2)

You could always take it off from the bracket plus if you need todo pads you just pull pins and srings and drop them in. Its less likely to have to come off unless there is a problem

wayne_curr

iTrader: (8)

Ya to do a pad swap you dont have to remove the calipers (genius!), you pull 2 pins and drop in the new pads. Most likely once its mounted the last time it wont be unmounted ever again anyway.

I'm still thinking that removing the mounting ears completely and using the two big outer bolts is going to be the best option. I'm picking up some sport brake rotors from JayL this weekend so i'll be starting the main build next week.

curly

iTrader: (25)

Very true, I had forgotten about the different pad mounting method. You currently have to remove the bracket to get the rotor off anyways, so might as well do that.

But for the love of god, once you figure this out, get them bead blasted before final install.

wayne_curr

iTrader: (8)

Oh they'll be cleaned and painted all pretty. Dont you worry Mr. OCD.