My 350Z

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Discussion

kaveney

Original Poster:

1,305 posts

157 months

Monday 19th January 2015
quotequote all
So this weekend was the brake upgrade / change .



Fist up was to remove the front discs and pads .



Front disc not in good shape



Or the pads





Then to fit the new front disc and pads







Then the front S/S brake lines



Then on to the rears with old disc and pads removed







Then to fit the new disc and pads





And the new S/S lines



Then it was a brake fluid flush / bleed to finish off .

Alan

Jos Notstoppen

496 posts

141 months

Thursday 22nd January 2015
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Looks good, Think I saw your car when I was looking to buy. I eventually got a Blue 350Z roadster.

Were both front discs badly worn? Seemed to be on the inner pad so hard to see from the road, did you find a cause for the uneven wear. Might just have to get the wheels off mine now to check.

J4CKO

41,519 posts

200 months

Thursday 22nd January 2015
quotequote all
Mine were even worse than those, the inner ones do seem to get worn more.

I put some cheapy disks and pads (Mintex I think) on from Ebay and the braking is epic, did the lot for £180, front pads and disks, pads at the rear.

Mine came without squeal shims, didnt take long before I bought some.....

kaveney

Original Poster:

1,305 posts

157 months

Friday 23rd January 2015
quotequote all
I got it from Billingshurst .

does your one have a carbon bonnet ???

The front ones were more on the inside .

Alan

Jos Notstoppen said:
Looks good, Think I saw your car when I was looking to buy. I eventually got a Blue 350Z roadster.

Were both front discs badly worn? Seemed to be on the inner pad so hard to see from the road, did you find a cause for the uneven wear. Might just have to get the wheels off mine now to check.

kaveney

Original Poster:

1,305 posts

157 months

Friday 23rd January 2015
quotequote all
That lot cost me just under £ 500 so not to bad .

Think most of them were the inner unevenly .

Alan

J4CKO said:
Mine were even worse than those, the inner ones do seem to get worn more.

I put some cheapy disks and pads (Mintex I think) on from Ebay and the braking is epic, did the lot for £180, front pads and disks, pads at the rear.

Mine came without squeal shims, didnt take long before I bought some.....

terenceb

1,488 posts

171 months

Friday 23rd January 2015
quotequote all
Sounds a little expensive considering the 325 I paid for grooved/dimpled discs with Brembo pads alround.
Did you chick for piston movement in the calipers? Looks like you might have a couple that are a bit lazy-worth a look for obvious reasons.Hope you pressure washed those rear arches btw.lol.

kaveney

Original Poster:

1,305 posts

157 months

Friday 23rd January 2015
quotequote all
The pads and the S/S hose were the most £ .

No all moved free I think its just something that happen with them .

Rear arch is still to do smile

Alan

terenceb said:
Sounds a little expensive considering the 325 I paid for grooved/dimpled discs with Brembo pads alround.
Did you chick for piston movement in the calipers? Looks like you might have a couple that are a bit lazy-worth a look for obvious reasons.Hope you pressure washed those rear arches btw.lol.

Jos Notstoppen

496 posts

141 months

Saturday 24th January 2015
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Just checked my service history. All pads and discs done 20k ago by main dealer, only £187.69 each (plus VAT) so I think there are OK for now. Have to check when it gets a bit warmer!

No carbon bonnet, just normal metal as far as I know.

Alias218

1,495 posts

162 months

Saturday 24th January 2015
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I changed my pads about 6 months ago and they old ones were worn unevenly on mine too. Pistons seemed fairly free though. I paid £80 for front and rear Brembo pads from a website sistered to POTN. I did wonder whether they were cheap knockoffs for that price but they seem to work well, if a bit dusty.

Can anyone recommend discs? I'll be looking to do those fairly soon but I have a bad taste left in my mouth from the Pagids I used on my old LCR that had Brembos up front. I don't fancy Brembo at £500 a pop.

terenceb

1,488 posts

171 months

Saturday 24th January 2015
quotequote all
I cant remember the name of mine, grooved and dimpled, but they have turned out to be extremely effective and have done 54k miles so far.Spring time I'll probably replace them with the same make anyway.Came off ebay at around 275 £ the set.They were coated in a silver paint that you have to leave on, it burns off after a while, dont know why but the name Simtix or similar comes to mind?

liner33

10,690 posts

202 months

Saturday 24th January 2015
quotequote all
mintex?

terenceb

1,488 posts

171 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
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No, would have remembrred them.Thanks anyway.

Just had a look on ebay, top of z brake page and there they are-Kinetix discs with Brembo pads 299.99.
Everyone on z forum said "oh, dont use them, they wont last 5 minutes"! Guess what, they were wrong.Trackdays, laps etc etc, definately ordering another set.

Edited by terenceb on Sunday 25th January 07:03

kaveney

Original Poster:

1,305 posts

157 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Ok so after putting a few miles and bedding the brakes in I can report on the set up .

The old brakes were not in the best of shape so any change would be an improvement .

First up is the pedal feel with the new S/S lines the travel so much shorter and the feel so much firmer and all of the dead / squish feel is removed and just a firm reassuring pedal .

Next up is the stopping power from the new discs and the DS2500 pads all round .

Very very strong stopping and no fade even from 70 MPH speeds .

If anyone is thinking about this set up I am very impressed so far .

Alan

terenceb

1,488 posts

171 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
Impessed? You shouldnt get fade braking from twice that speed.
One thing extra you should try changing the clutch fluid for the summers months, z is prone to sometimes having the clutch pressure dissappear, it usually will return after a cooling down period.However the way to avoid this is simply change the fluid for something like MOTUL600 RBS.
Changed mine over to this and no problems ever since.No need changing the clutch pipe if its in good condition as many needlessly do.

J4CKO

41,519 posts

200 months

Wednesday 28th January 2015
quotequote all
terenceb said:
No, would have remembrred them.Thanks anyway.

Just had a look on ebay, top of z brake page and there they are-Kinetix discs with Brembo pads 299.99.
Everyone on z forum said "oh, dont use them, they wont last 5 minutes"! Guess what, they were wrong.Trackdays, laps etc etc, definately ordering another set.

Edited by terenceb on Sunday 25th January 07:03
They are the ones I went for on the front and am pretty impressed.

Replaced the pants standard Bose skip-o-matic head unit for a rather wonderful £99 Pioneer that plays anything, had to spend £70 on the interface/wiring but really pleased, was a pain in the arse to do though.

kaveney

Original Poster:

1,305 posts

157 months

Tuesday 17th March 2015
quotequote all
Not many updates just a quick clean and wax .



Next up will be the exhaust suspension and tyres .

Alan

spadriver

1,488 posts

171 months

Wednesday 18th March 2015
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Sounds like your fully committed. smile
Dont use cheap tyres, go to michelin pilot sport2, dunlops work very well, its what I have used for last two years, sport maxx.Vredestein are in the same league, nice looking tread that actualy work.

kaveney

Original Poster:

1,305 posts

157 months

Wednesday 18th March 2015
quotequote all
Will be MPSS after a lot or reading .

Alan

terry237

75 posts

120 months

Wednesday 18th March 2015
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Car looks great, sure I've seen this on 350z-uk?

You have done a lot of the things I plan to do to mine in the coming months. How have you found the drop links/ARB's in?

I'm also in Sussex so may see you around, look out for a yellow GT4, although I tend to see other zeds when I'm not in mine!

LordGrover

33,539 posts

212 months

Wednesday 18th March 2015
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Still liking the 350Z, one of my favourites. Good to see someone spending the time and money maintaining it properly.