Slowly coming together - brakes next!

[Jesus-Ninja]

I've been stalling doing the brakes for a while. Normally this would be the first upgrade, but there are a number of options for the VR4, none of them straight forward bolt ons, so I've been keeping my options open to see what goodies come round.

The first lot of goodies have come up - a full set (front and rear) of Evo Brembos, refurbed and unused. So once they arrive, the next call will be either Evo discs and Facelift hub carriers, or different disc and brakets. Time to keep my eyes peeled!

What are the options for fitting the rear calipers?

[Atik]

As far as I'm aware, the rear Evo Brembo calipers bolt straight on.

[Nutter_John]

rears fit fine , just need to bend or remove rear guard and use an evo 300mm disk

[Jesus-Ninja]

Really? Ooh, tidy! Is that with the Evo discs then? I heard that I might need longer brake lines, although I already have aftermarket braided lines, so maybe they'll be long enough.

EDIT: John beat me too it!

[Nutter_John]

the brakes lines depend on the type of union your kit used , vr4 rears tend to have a screw in type , where as the brembo's tend to have banjo and about 1" long line

[Jesus-Ninja]

OK, I'll have a look. I currently have stock rears, so from wat you say, certainly screw in. Will know more abot the calipers when I collect them in March.

Where's a good place to get new dust seals for them? That's the only thing they're missing.

[Louis]

try and get the caliper bolts with the calipers, (or get them from mitsy), I am sure the front VR4 bolts are too long. As John said, you need to bend or trim the rear plate, you will also have to remove the backing plates on the front, there is a full list for the conversion on here somewhere.
If buying the hub carriers second hand, try and get them with the abs sensors attached as they are expensive.
If looking for second hand hub carriers, you can use hub carriers from ANY post facelift galant, the four stud ones, any engine size, as the caliper bolt spacing will suit the brembos, and they will be easier and cheaper to find, then you can buy VR4 5 stud wheel bearings and fit them to the hub carriers.
main thing though is the abs sensors are pricey.
I am using PF Performance friction floating discs and find them very good.
(you will need evo rear discs also as the brembo caliper doesn't fit the vr4 disc too well)

[Davezj]

oh that interesting louis, i was under the impression (probably wrong impression) that the VR4 and Evo rear disk were the same. 284mm arn't they, or is there a small difference.

i would like to know the info on this one too.

[Louis]

more info here on brembo upgrade.
http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthr...evo+rear+discs

post 8

[Nutter_John]

rears fit fine , just need to bend or remove rear guard and use an evo 300mm disk

[giblet]

oh that interesting louis, i was under the impression (probably wrong impression) that the VR4 and Evo rear disk were the same. 284mm arn't they, or is there a small difference.

i would like to know the info on this one too.

A quick search on camskill shows that the rear discs on a VR4 are 283mm and 300mm for the Brembos

[Jesus-Ninja]

try and get the caliper bolts with the calipers, (or get them from mitsy), I am sure the front VR4 bolts are too long.

Yup - got those, infact they've been refurbe as well (anodised)!

If looking for second hand hub carriers, you can use hub carriers from ANY post facelift galant, the four stud ones, any engine size, as the caliper bolt spacing will suit the brembos, and they will be easier and cheaper to find, then you can buy VR4 5 stud wheel bearings and fit them to the hub carriers.
main thing though is the abs sensors are pricey.

Will my ABS sensors and hubs not bolt up to the facelift carriers?

[Atik]

Not without some major work. I remember reading a massive amount of work that BernMC put into this many years ago. Its much easier to just try to locate the FL ABS sensors.

Edit: It's the Brembo upgrade article that I read. It does require some extensive modification works.

[Jesus-Ninja]

OK, so ABS sensors will be needed too. Are these the same, regardless of the vehicle the carriers came off?

Oh, and the PFL hubs - will these bolt up to the FL carriers?

Thanks!

[Atik]

Yup, Louis already mentioned, you can use ANY post-facelift Galant/Legnum ABS sensors. It's only the PFL ones that are shorter.

Yes, PFL hubs will fit in FL carriers. So if you locate any FL UK car at a scrap dealer or something, do a deal on the carriers and you can swap the 4 stud hubs for the ones you have on your car at the moment.

[chris g]

And thus you see why FL car can be so much easier for brake upgrade to Brembos...

And the thought passes through your mind, if only had bought that FL car with Brembos already fitted...

Or just go for brake pads upgrade and new std discs if required...

[Jesus-Ninja]

Ummm, because there wasn't a facelift manual for 3k when i was looking? Given that the calipers have cost me all of £200 for a set of four, it all suddenly seems nicer

None of it sounds like a particularly difficult job, just sourcing the parts, and it sounds like I'm just a set of discs and hub carriers away from putting it together. May have now located some carriers, although there's another option to use a slightly larger disc but that will put the caliper further in.

I'd rather go the brembo route than simply go for pads and discs on a standard set up, as I've already cooked the ones I've got on fast road driving, and track work is going to be worse and more sustained.

Now, as a thought, does anyone have a Brembo upgrade in the SE (I'm in Orpington, KENT) who I could visit with one of my wheels to see whether it fits?

[chris g]

When you put it like that it does not seem such an arduous task...

And sounds like the best thing for your car...

[Jesus-Ninja]

To be honest, I probably wouldn't be happy if I didn't have some major work that "had" to be undertaken! Nowt like rolling your sleeves up and getting stuck in to pur a smile on your face!

[chris g]

Omg, Diy, Nfc...