Hello everyone, first of all yes, what you're about to see has already been done before plenty of times and is available from multiple outlets as a premade kit. However, if you're like me and trying to stretch every penny by doing it yourself here is how I made my own brake kit.
Parts:
Calipers: $260/pair Wilwood 120-6805
Lines: $73
Rotors: $38 RAYBESTOS 96122R
Fittings: $20 1/8" NPT Male to Female 10mm-1.0 Metric Thread Brake Line Straight Adapter Fittings
Pads: $85 EBC Yellowstuff DP4001R
Master Cylinder: $105 CARDONE SELECT 132548 (E34 M5)
Bracket Material: $30
3mm Spacers: $20
Total: $631
At the moment this is a little bit cheaper than some of the available kits out there especially those which don't include pads, lines, or the master cylinder. I also looked at the RX7 calipers but they wouldn't provide the necessary wheel clearance.
Here's what you need to make, or have made. If you have access to a bridgeport or other vertical mill and a pretty small engine lathe you should be able to make these just fine. If you don't, and don't have any machinist friends I'd highly suggest making some they're super helpful. If you don't like making friends you could probably have these made for you by a machine shop for pretty cheap.
The bracket drawing above is largely the same as one posted here a decade+ ago but is thicker. I'm not sure what went wrong but when I bolted everything up the rotor was not centered in the caliper. So I removed the 0.25" spacer from the caliper and replaced the o-rings before torquing back to spec (use antisieze, torque to 35 ft*lbs). The only explanation for this is that the bracket dimensions were wrong, so either change that 0.09" to 0.215" or remove the spacer from the caliper and gain clearance between the caliper and wheel.
In addition, you need to bore out the RX7 rotors by 1.01mm so that they fit over the E30 hub. To be clear because this threw me for a loop the first time, the E30 hub has a step in it, so the diameter the brake rotor sits on is larger than the bit the wheel sits on. I also had to bore out the 3mm wheel spacers to the same bore as the rotors because the rotors I bought has a thinner hat than the stock E30. See drawing for explanation (not to scale).
Wheel clearance:
I have E38 style 5 wheels that I filled and drilled to 4x100, and a custom spacer I made 10mm thick, which also takes care of the center bore difference between E30 and E38. With this setup I have plenty of clearance between the wheel and caliper (like a quarter inch +/-).
Master Cylinder:
If you have a 24V swap your best bet is the E34 M5 master cylinder which I found on RockAuto for $105. For reservoir use the following:
34321112399 qty 1 - Reservoir
34321102282 qty 2 - Fittings
34311160133 qty 2 - Grommets
21521163714 qty 1 - Hose
and you'll need some hose clamps
When you're installing the rear stainless steel lines you're going to need a 14mm flare wrench crows foot if you want to do it without removing the subframe.
So I think that covers everything. All in all the stopping power is incredible and well balanced with a stock rear setup using an aggressive pad. Also I make no guarantees so don't sue me if you mess this up and break your car or get hurt.
Parts:
Calipers: $260/pair Wilwood 120-6805
Lines: $73
Rotors: $38 RAYBESTOS 96122R
Fittings: $20 1/8" NPT Male to Female 10mm-1.0 Metric Thread Brake Line Straight Adapter Fittings
Pads: $85 EBC Yellowstuff DP4001R
Master Cylinder: $105 CARDONE SELECT 132548 (E34 M5)
Bracket Material: $30
0.5" x 2.0" x 13" 304 Stainless Steel
Hardware: $5 4x Grade 8 3/8-24 x 1 1/4"
4x Grade 8.8 M12x1.25 x 20mm(?)(check this, i forgot)
O-rings: $15 Wilwood 130-10540 Crossover O-Ring Kit, 6 Pack3mm Spacers: $20
Total: $631
At the moment this is a little bit cheaper than some of the available kits out there especially those which don't include pads, lines, or the master cylinder. I also looked at the RX7 calipers but they wouldn't provide the necessary wheel clearance.
Here's what you need to make, or have made. If you have access to a bridgeport or other vertical mill and a pretty small engine lathe you should be able to make these just fine. If you don't, and don't have any machinist friends I'd highly suggest making some they're super helpful. If you don't like making friends you could probably have these made for you by a machine shop for pretty cheap.
The bracket drawing above is largely the same as one posted here a decade+ ago but is thicker. I'm not sure what went wrong but when I bolted everything up the rotor was not centered in the caliper. So I removed the 0.25" spacer from the caliper and replaced the o-rings before torquing back to spec (use antisieze, torque to 35 ft*lbs). The only explanation for this is that the bracket dimensions were wrong, so either change that 0.09" to 0.215" or remove the spacer from the caliper and gain clearance between the caliper and wheel.
In addition, you need to bore out the RX7 rotors by 1.01mm so that they fit over the E30 hub. To be clear because this threw me for a loop the first time, the E30 hub has a step in it, so the diameter the brake rotor sits on is larger than the bit the wheel sits on. I also had to bore out the 3mm wheel spacers to the same bore as the rotors because the rotors I bought has a thinner hat than the stock E30. See drawing for explanation (not to scale).
Wheel clearance:
I have E38 style 5 wheels that I filled and drilled to 4x100, and a custom spacer I made 10mm thick, which also takes care of the center bore difference between E30 and E38. With this setup I have plenty of clearance between the wheel and caliper (like a quarter inch +/-).
Master Cylinder:
If you have a 24V swap your best bet is the E34 M5 master cylinder which I found on RockAuto for $105. For reservoir use the following:
34321112399 qty 1 - Reservoir
34321102282 qty 2 - Fittings
34311160133 qty 2 - Grommets
21521163714 qty 1 - Hose
and you'll need some hose clamps
When you're installing the rear stainless steel lines you're going to need a 14mm flare wrench crows foot if you want to do it without removing the subframe.
So I think that covers everything. All in all the stopping power is incredible and well balanced with a stock rear setup using an aggressive pad. Also I make no guarantees so don't sue me if you mess this up and break your car or get hurt.
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