Hello!
To kick things off, we are aware that Z32 brakes are the "go to" big brake kit for S-Chassis, and there is good reason.
- Cost Effective
- Great Performance
- Pads, Rotors widely available
I chose to use the Parts Shop Max Z32 Brake Kit, for the reduced weight (shaving off unsprung weight), they are BRAND NEW, not some ebay second hand hardware. Lastly, this gold color is beautiful!
We did choose to install the Z32 parking brake assembly, which uses a Drum & Shoe style construction, this way the caliper and parking brake are separate. This step is often skipped, and for good reason, because as you will see, the process is much more involved.
Parts Used:
- Front & Rear Parts Shop Max Z32 Calipers & Pads
- Front & Rear Slotted Drilled Z32 Rotors by Phase2Motortrend
- Stainless Steel Brake Lines by GKtech
- Z32 Parking Brake Assembly
- R33 Parking Brake Cables
Starting things off in the rear.
I had some tremendous help from my buddy Jacob Perry, he is an S-Chassis guru, and has a beautiful Zenki S14 Drift build. We will make a more in depth post on his car in the future.
We removed the brake assembly, disconnected the coilovers, arms, axles and spindle. Yes, we had to take the Axles Out, to make everything easier.
After some major massaging, we had no way to blast off the 19mm bolts holding the spindle to the bearing, so we called it a day. 5 hours into the process.
These bolts are torqued to 174-231 ft-lb - ended up taking these to a local tire shop to have them blasted off.
Day 2:
On Day 2 we start at 10:00 am we fully assembled spindles.
From here, the reassembly was very quick. The Hub section of the rotor acts as the drum for the parking brake.
With the rear sorted, the front brakes needed to come off. This car was equipped with R33 GTST front calipers, which had been refinished with a "Blendy" (??) Logo.
The main reason to remove these calipers is availability, the USA does not have a cost effective option for rotors, and overall serviceability.
Front brake swap took less than 30 minutes, I highly recommend spending the money and time to upgrade the brakes, as it is such a small investment with such a large return.
The front assembly all completed.
The last step was bleeding the system, and zipping on the wheels.
All in all, it was a very straightforward and fun process. It was my first time doing a brake swap and Jacob's first time installing the Parking Brake Assembly.
