My 260Z brake rebuild

[g9m3c]

I'm finally getting around to rebuilding the brakes on my 260Z.

I thoroughly researched the 4 piston caliper upgrades, both for vented and non-vented rotors, and never found any measurements that would confirm if either would work with my current wheels. So, I chose to do a mostly stock rebuild with a few upgrades until I eventually get new (bigger) wheels and am free to do a huge upgrade. I tore the front left down today since it was fairly warm outside. I hope I can get to the other side tomorrow.

Pre-destruction. Look at that rotor! :disappoin

The brake hose doesn't look much better.

All torn apart

Rebuilt calipers for this thing are around $50 a piece, so I took these apart to see what condition the pistons and cylinders were in. They look fine, so I ordered two rebuild kits ($3 each ) and will rebuild them myself.

Nice looking stuff in the fluid chambers. :sick:

[g9m3c]

Picked up a 5 gallon bucket of parts cleaner the other day at work. It was on clearance for $11.95 and I got 75% off of that. Anyone know how well this stuff works? Hopefully it doesn't melt my drain pan........and yea, it looks like Kool-Aid. :laugh:

New stuff so far. Wagner TQ semi-metallic pads should be a nice upgrade over the original type. If you go to a parts store and order Wagner pads by this application, you'll get organic ones; part # PD161. PD is the prefix for organic pads and 161 denotes the physical form of the pad. MX is the prefix for semi-metallic, and it just so happens that MX161 was a valid part number. I also have new wheel bearings somewhere that I bought a while back. Still gotta track those down.....

That's it for now. Hopefully I can get this stuff cleaned up tomorrow and the other side torn down.

Edited December 18, 2009 by g9m3c

[Zedyone_kenobi]

Very nice documentary. I will be following this closely. I plan on refreshing all of this stuff when I finish my carbs and after I drive her for a while.

[g9m3c]

Very nice documentary. I will be following this closely. I plan on refreshing all of this stuff when I finish my carbs and after I drive her for a while.

You just let me do all of this stuff before you, don't you?

[VITAMIN Z]

Great job, I am in the process of rebuilding the front brakes on my 260 as well; however I thought about taking pictures too late, I am only rebuilding/repalcing the bearings on the hub, I did not even think of rebuilding the calipers, but now I will keep them and rebuild them later. Great job!

[g9m3c]

Great job, I am in the process of rebuilding the front brakes on my 260 as well; however I thought about taking pictures too late, I am only rebuilding/repalcing the bearings on the hub, I did not even think of rebuilding the calipers, but now I will keep them and rebuild them later. Great job!

Thanks! I am cleaning and sanding the hub right now to prepare for painting. What method did you use to install the new bearing cups (races)?

[g9m3c]

I'll also add this bit of information. If you plan on rebuilding your own calipers, then the hardest part of the deal will be getting the pistons out. There are several methods to do this. You can either use compressed air and a blow gun with a rubber tip or you can use the hydraulic system of your brakes. To use the compressed air method, push the rubber tip of the blow gun into the threaded hole that receives your brake line. Slowly squeeze the trigger until the pistons pop up most of the way (not out all the way). For the brake system method, leave your brake line connected to the caliper. Slowly press the brake pedal while someone watches (or you go look between pumps) the pistons to make sure they are coming out evenly. For both methods, leave your caliper assembled with the exception of brake pads. Either way, you'll want to make sure you pop both pistons out evenly. If one starts to get ahead of the other one, use a small C-clamp to hold that one in place while the other one catches up. Once the pistons are popped out about 5/8"-3/4", you can finish the job with a pair of pliers. Be sure you only grip the edge that the dust seal attaches to. DO NOT grip the surface of the piston that slips down into the cylinder.

Edited December 18, 2009 by g9m3c

[g9m3c]

Well, my day was cut a little short, so I ended up just working on a few parts from the driver's side. I beat the old bearing cups out of the hub and the new ones in. I wire brushed it, stripped the old paint and everything off and painted it. Refer to the pics above for a "before" shot. :paranoid:

I also got the backing plate ready to paint but it's too cold to paint now, so I'll hopefully get that tomorrow. My caliper rebuild kits came in at work today, just have to go pick them up. I'm going to let the caliper parts soak another night in the parts cleaner before I clean them up to reassemble. I also ordered a full set of stainless steel braided brake hoses last night from MSA. They might be here tomorrow, but probably on Monday.

[kjphilippona]

Looks nice :classic: I will be doing the same thing on my '77 280, how hard were the inner and outer bearing race's to remove and install ? What tool did you use, anything special ?

Edited December 19, 2009 by kjphilippona

[VITAMIN Z]

Thanks! I am cleaning and sanding the hub right now to prepare for painting. What method did you use to install the new bearing cups (races)?

I am lucky to work in the aerospace industry, my shop has all the tools for bearing assembly, like a hydraulic press, and I only used dry ice to aid in the process, I really hate to bang things out with a hammer.

[g9m3c]

I am lucky to work in the aerospace industry, my shop has all the tools for bearing assembly, like a hydraulic press, and I only used dry ice to aid in the process, I really hate to bang things out with a hammer.

Looks nice :classic: I will be doing the same thing on my '77 280, how hard were the inner and outer bearing race's to remove and install ? What tool did you use, anything special ?

I used a hammer and punch to knock the old ones out. There are notches cut into the race seats in the hub just for this method. To install them, I used a similar method with a punch and used the old races on top of the new ones to get them started.

[kjphilippona]

Thanks, maybe i can replace them without messing things up to much