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Rear brake conversion help and advice.


Pong303

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I recently purchased a '73 240z and knew there were some things that needed to be addressed right away. I got new wheels and tires already and now need to address floor pans, brakes and suspension. I got a quote of $500 to fix the rear stock brakes and drums as they were old and leaking brake fluid.

 

I was wondering if I should fix the old rear brakes and use it for the time being until I have some more money or if I should go ahead and do the brakes conversion. If I do the conversion how much am I looking to pay and do I have to change both front and rear?

 

Regarding the floor pans. How much should I be expecting to pay to replace those? The car was lifted up and it was pretty bad. If $$ was a factor is this something I should take care of right away before it gets worse or is this something I can wait a little bit on?

 

I'm new to this and any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm in Colorado (80031) so if anyone can recommend a good place to take my z to to get these things fixed I would greatly appreciate it as well. An honest, trustworthy mechanic is worth way more than $$ can buy. :)post-52443-0-87554500-1461448344_thumb.jpegpost-52443-0-58605700-1461448408_thumb.jpegpost-52443-0-97838100-1461448592_thumb.jpegpost-52443-0-94846500-1461448640_thumb.jpegpost-52443-0-10811300-1461448668_thumb.jpeg

Edited by Pong303
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Stock rear brakes are drum brakes. If you search around, you'll find there are a number of rear disc brake options. I'm fairly certain there is a sticky about rear disc brake conversion setups... try looking for the 240sx caliper setups because theyre certainly cheaper. $500-600 is the ballpark for the cheaper rear disc setups. 

 

How about post some pictures? No one can tell you how good/bad your floor pans or any other parts look, without seeing good quality pictures.

 

If ye search, ye shall find!

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Welcome aboard! The Z car is too old and too worthless to take to shops. This is really a forum for do-it-yourself-ers. You can do those rear brakes yourself for next to nothing and can learn a lot in the process. Don't take your Z to anybody-you will totally get screwed. Get a Z car maintenance book and follow the directions. It really is as easy as baking a cake. We can help you when you run into snags.

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Any major rust should be addressed immediately, or it will only get much worse and will cause more issues the longer it is there. These are unibody cars, so areas like floor pans, frame rails, etc. are structural and continued (depending on how bad they are) driving on damaged ones can cause alignment issues and at worst, allow the chassis to twist out of tram.

 

As for the brakes, these cars are very easy to work on. New replacement parts can be had for dirt cheap, and the stock brakes are more than adequate for just about any type of driving you will do. Like RebekahsZ said, due to their age, any shop will charge a mint to do the work, even though it will take them less time and effort than your average car. And this will only get much worse as you start getting into work like engine diagnostics and the like.

 

Mechanics like newer cars that they can plug a computer up to and find out exactly what is wrong in seconds. These older cars actually require research and time to diagnose. However, they really are very easy to work on, but most mechanics are just trying to turn out as many customers as possible in a short amount of time, so they will overcharge you quite a bit. (Disclaimer: that is not to say that reasonable and dedicated mechanics that would love to help you and not overcharge you don't exist, but they seem to be far and few between). Even the shops that specialize in Z cars will charge you a lot (because they are the SPECIALISTS and can do so sine no other shops want to do the work).

 

Unless you have a ton of money to throw at things like simple diagnostics and repairs, then it would be best to take this opportunity to learn about your car and do some repairs by yourself.

 

Good luck with your project!

 

Pillar

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Thanks for all the responses and feedback. I think I will take everyone's advice here and try to do the brake conversion myself. I'm sure it will take quite a bit longer but then again I will be learning along the way and saving quite a bit of money. Does anyone have recommendation on which disc brakes would be a good set to get? Should I do all 4 or will doing 2 suffice for now? I don't have a ton of money and I'm not looking for the car to be a track car.

 

I added a few pictures of the bad rear brake as well as a few pictures of the rust on the floor pans from a few different angles.

 

Thanks again for all your help!!

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Many who do the rear disc "upgrade" discover that it is not an upgrade at all considering stopping performance. Recommend that you study the brake FAQ and the brake forum before installing one of the popular upgrades. Most of these upgrades result in an unbalanced brake system.

 

Also, when you change one component of a brake system it has a domino effect on other components such as the master cylinder and front/rear brakes.

 

Think about it.

Edited by Miles
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Many who do the rear disc "upgrade" discover that it is not an upgrade at all considering stopping performance. Recommend that you study the brake FAQ and the brake forum before installing one of the popular upgrades. Most of these upgrades result in an unbalanced brake system.

 

Also, when you change one component of a brake system it has a domino effect on other components such as the master cylinder and front/rear brakes.

 

Think about it.

Miles brings up a very good point.  Your 60-to-0 stopping distance will likely not change at all with a rear disc upgrade, and if you get the balance of the system wrong, you could pretty easily make it worse and more dangerous at the same time.  The stock Z's braking system will stop your car just fine for almost all street use from sane speeds if it's up to spec.  

 

The thing that you get with the rear disc upgrade/bigger brakes is the ability to withstand/dissipate the heat that is generated when stopping repeatedly from high speeds without losing braking ability (brake fade), as you would need at the track, or on the Autobahn for instance.  Okay, that and the disc brakes do look better if you have big wheels with a design that lets you see the brakes ;P

 

If you are making a track car, then the upgrade would be helpful (if your class rules allow it).  If you just want a stock-ish mildly hot street car, I'd recommend bringing the stock system up to snuff and driving that for a while and see how that works for you.  As others have mentioned, parts are relatively cheap and the car is pretty easy to work on.  Also Factory Service Manuals have been pdf-ed and are available for free at 

 

http://www.nicoclub.com/datsun-service-manuals

Edited by TimZ
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