spotfitz

quote: Originally posted by BLKMGK: Honestly guys - I'd pay $150 if that's what it took to help defray tooling costs etc. I think the stock Maxima brackets from the dealer cost nearly that right? Welding is obviously FAR cheaper but it's much more permanent and I've got a feeling I could be changing brake setups like I do pairs of jeans. I've already got billet envy of Mike! (lol) The Maxima brackets were selling for $54 per when I tried to get some($117 after gov.). I agree, $150 to get it together is reasonable considering what we are going through, but I probably won't be spending that much on the brackets as I'm using the straight ones and fabbing the "ears" for the offset. Besides the fact that I already have everything else for this conversion. And yes, billet envy is why I want bolt on also. I keep popping over to SCCA's site and looking around. I really shouldn't torture myself like that. "It's only money, It's only money...."

And the SAGA continues. This is why I just went for having them made. In the hours of time and never ending effort it was taking to find the bracket at a yard I could have payed for several machined brackets. I have yet to hear back from the first machine shop about adapting the straight bracket. I feel I am being blown off by this company, even after my gift of donuts. I'm going to look into another fab shop Monday. This one is even closer to where I live. I'll post the cost of this rather easy fab job when I get the quote. BTW, I tried to look at the '81 Maxima today. The one I didn't want to risk my life with. It was gone. I have a Chiltons Datsun 200SX,510,610,710,810,Nissan Maxima:'79-'84 and I was looking in one of the charts and I think some of the '80-'83 200SX's had rear discs. I know for sure the '84 did, but maybe FWD. I'm going back to the yard and see if I can find some. Has anyone looked at these for the brackets? I'M NO LONGER A JUNIOR MINT! [This message has been edited by spotfitz (edited January 30, 2001).]

quote: Originally posted by dankinzle: Just curious. Where's Cedar Hill, TX? Never heard of that before. Cedar Hill is by Joe Pool Lake, off Highway 20, I do believe. It's basically between Dallas an Ft.Worth. ------------------

Good score! I'm positive I looked at a 7/82, so half year change appears true. Why they have it listed as '81-'84 is beyond me. I'm still waiting for the new price of changing the flat bracket to have the right offset. He said Mon. or Tues. I went by there Weds. and he said he would call me. Sounds like he just doesn't want to deal with such a small part for minimal money. Keep us posted on whats going on. I am now doing interior work until I get the bracket taken care of.

Well, after dropping by the machine shop this morning with a big box of donuts I gave him my discette of drawings and dimensions along with the straight bracket and the caliper hanger, just for alignment purposes. He said that it would be alot cheaper to do it this way and he would look over the drawings and would have a price by Monday or Tuesday. As I was leaving I started talking with a guy that worked there. We started talking cars, ofcourse and he showed me this Neon that he had put a V6 in. We discussed what I was doing and he told me to drop back by on Monday and get a card from him. He said I could contact him for any other parts and all I would have to pay for would be material and maybe a 6 pack or 2. Got to love having new friends in a machine shop when your fabricating parts that are hard to come by. I'll let everyone know how much on this straight bracket/offset bracket setup, sometime next week. Now I'm going to get some seats for the money I already payed on the Maxima brackets I can't get at the bone yard.

quote: Originally posted by scca: once you get into 2 piece brackets its the same as making them from scratch. i can make a bracket out of 2" angle iron 3/16" thick and then weld ears onto it but the labor is intensive cost would be about $125 -150 a pair. i have already made a trial set but want to get one piece ones made instead The way I see it the only thing being fabricated is 4 total pieces of steel 5/8" thick X 1 1/4" wide by about 3" long with a 3/8" hole drilled into the end and that same end having the corners cut off. Cutting the straight bracket ears off is not much work, for that matter I could do that part. The way the straight bracket is constructed it would be VERY easy to line the ears up, which have the exact bolt spacing! I'm doing drawings on the new bracket right now. The only thing that is taking so long is measuring every detail to know exactly how far away from center the caliper has to sit. I'm in the process of triangulating(sp?) that. Yes, I thought $200 was steep also, especially from a guy that just told me he use to have a 240 w/ a 327 under the hood!! I'm hoping to get the drawings done by tonight. If you want I can put them up on my website for viewing. It could be about another hour before I get the drawins all together. What a way to spend a Friday night.

I just went to see how much to fabricate the offset Maxima brackets. $200 for both, ouch. I think that was what you got qouted SCCA, wasn't it. I do have an idea though. Most of the tooling is for the offset and ofcourse all the holes. I dropped by the bone yard on my way home and borrowed channel locks and found the '88 Maxima that I knew of that already had the rotor and caliper pulled. I removed the straight bracket from it, got it for free. I can get the other for free if I want it, which I may if this plan will work. I am going to head over to the machine shop again tomorrow and see what it would take to make this straight bracket work. It would basically be cutting off the "ears" and welding on a 5/8" ear to the back side of the straight bracket and grinding down the welded on ear to the thickness of 1/2". That would give the correct offset. Do to the fact that it is easier to grind down steel then the weld, it may be best to have the new ear already ground down before attachment. This I will leave up to the machinist. Hardest part would be the grinding and the positioning of the new ears. There is a big difference in the shape of the straight bracket compared to the offset one, but nothing that should cause it to not function as it should. This should be alot less work to fabricate and the only materials would be for the new ears. There isn't much tooling involved. The ear could be just a straight piece of stock with a hole drilled in the end. Positioning the new ears would be the general concern then. What do you guys think. I plan to roll with it tomorrow morning. Hopefully my Z will be back together by next weekend. I'll keep everyone posted.

quote: Originally posted by scca: i'll be going back to that yard in a few days to get the "82" maxima brackets off the car there. i will get the serial # and build date off the other one for reference.. I have seen atleast 6 '82's and they were all weld on's(sedans and wagons, and some of the sedans being sticks). If by some chance they are bolt on's then that would state that there was a difference in N&S versions. I'm still thinking that the '81 is the only one with a bolt on. I have yet to hear from the yard. I'll call them tomorrow. I'm looking into how much it would cost for me to make some aluminum ones, but alittle beefier. The guy I work next to has been coming around after his cancer problem. If I see him tomorrow I'll be asking him some ?'s. If I can get them for a good price of good quality then I will post and see responses and determine if I should order more. I don't want to cut you out SCCA, but if I can get them cheaper then power to the masses. Maybe we can work out a deal for an upgrade?

quote: Originally posted by scca: dont worry about the pads et al. all you need to do is use the "hanger" the part that the caliper itself bolts to. this has to be centered over the rotor and thats all. once it fits the caliper attaches to it. you dont need the caliper itself to determine the measurements. I'm bad. Yes you are correct. Centering the rotor in the 14mm of play within the "hanger" and adding up all the measurements gives us a measurement of 3mm + bracket thickness. With a thickness of 13mm+3mm gives a 16mm overall offset, which is dead on the chili for the dimensional drawing of the bracket. So we are back to square one? I don't think using washers and longer bolts for this bracket would be a good idea. One of the yards called me back today(really scary) and he is checking into it, using the dimensional drawing. I'm hoping to hear something more tomorrow. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I knew there was a reason I took that measurement. It was pretty late last night when I was doing the calculations. BTW, do you remember the production date of the '81?

Ok guys, I have started gathering info on this already. Couldn't wait. For the '82-'83 ZX calipers and rotors to work, from what I can tell by measuring everything I have, the bracket has to have an 11mm offset + the thickness of the bolting side of the bracket to the axle housing. After measuring from mating surface of hat to center line of rotor I came up with 35mm. We have 30mm of opening when the caliper is fully opened(measuring from the piston to outer fork, because it is a sliding caliper), center then being 15mm. The caliper mounting point is 16mm thick. Adding all this up comes to 66mm. Now, the distance from the hub(rotor mounting surface) to axle housing(bracket mounting surface) I came up with 55mm. Subracting one from the other leaves 11mm. Once you add the bracket, which would take off from the 55mm we would have the actual thickness of the bracket where it mounts to the housing and the offset measurement. Saying the bracket is 13mm(roughly 1/2") would bring us to the measurement of 24mm from outside bracket surface to outside caliper mounting surface. That being the over all offset. Everyone agree? Looking at the dimensional drawing of said bracket gives the measurement of .61", which is a hair under 5/8th(almost 128th). So, 24mm(15/16th) being the offset that we need and the bracket being just under 5/8th gives us over a 1/4" difference. Is this what you figured the offset was off SCCA? I have illustrations I'm working on paper right now. Can anyone confirm any of these measurement? I will be working on center off hub to outside rotor measurements aswell as caliper extreme measurements as soon as I get some pads for the calipers. looks like I'll be spending more money on this without knowing it will work. Someone got a thickness of the ZX pads? Can someone confirm how much offset the straight bracket has, on the back side? Sorry, had to edit a screw up. [This message has been edited by spotfitz (edited January 15, 2001).]

quote: Originally posted by scca: well i just found a 81 maxima with a bolt on offset bracket and the offset isnt the correct one for 82 caliper/rotor combo... they have a 82 as well and i'll measure it next. If what you are saying is true, I don't doubt you, but if it is then what did Selvyn Scott - "Scottie" use for his conversion that is illustrated on IdealZ? "Installing '82-'83 280ZX Rear Brakes on a 1st Gen Z-car" "Use Nissan Maxima rear disc brackets with 280ZX caliper and rotor" "1981 - 1984 Maxima brackets are Nissan part# 44155-04S10." I know there is some difference between some of the 240 front rotor hats, but is there a difference in the stub axle flange or housing on some 240's compared to other 240's-280's? What year was Scotties car? So we know for a fact now that atleast the '81 Maxima HAS a bolt on bracket with an offset. I don't feel to much like an idiot now. Atleast one exsists. I would bet money that the '82 is a weld on, or that there is a difference between northern and southern Maximas, which I highly doubt. I copied the pic IdealZ has of the bracket and copied the dimensional drawing of the bracket itself and printed it out. I took both pics over to acouple of the yards I have been dealing with and told them to look for an '81 Maxima with this bracket. I should hear something back tomorrow. Hopefully! I've been giving them the story that I have a Maxima inwhich the title says '82, but the vin shows '81 ~ I'll be putting a stub axles back in this week or weekend and I'll be measuring everything I can think of to help out on this. I'll then do a illustrated drawing of the rear stub axle and housing with all viable measurements in Autocad. Once this is done I can gather the hat sizes from anyone that is willing to participate and it should turn out to be a plug and play thing from there on. Hopefully several options can turn up. I will then put pics up in my website directory for everyone to see or someone else can put it up on there site. Either way, I don't care. The weather is going to be nasty this weekend and I just want to get my Z back together before winter is over! If all else fails I'll be contacting you in mid Feb. SCCA!

Danno, The OD of the ZX rotor is 10 5/32" I have 2 brand new sitting in the garage along with the '82-'83 ZX calipers(from a yard), which is why I will have to have this offset bracket one way or another. I am going to go by that yard with the '81 tomorrow. I'm going to see if I can take off early to do it. I'll probably just pull the whole control arm off each side. I think it would be faster. I would still like to talk with someone that has done this conversion. I know about the write up on IdealZ, but who did it to there car and where did they get their brackets? That bracket looks to be the right one. I am almost tempted at this point to get the whole control arm off each side of one of these weld on Maximas and start grinding. It appears just the OD of the housing is bead welded to the bracket. I could then drill the holes for the bolt up next door to where I work. Someone else have some info?

quote: Originally posted by Danno74Z: The Nissan dealer copied this info. for me and along the top of the page it says MAKE=N YEAR=1981 MODEL=910 title: 03 (441F) REAR BRAKE(SEDAN) FROM JULY'81) Goodluck, Danno74Z [/b] Danno, This copy specifies from July'81. Is this stating from July of '81 to, what we can assume something of '84, do to Nissan books having the part#44155-04S10(I now have that memorized) as '81-'84 or is it just stating July of '81 until '82. I just came from the yard that I had ordered the brackets from on Friday and the first thing they did was try to give me the wrong calipers, which I don't need and they didn't have brackets with them. Then I told them I needed the bracket that the caliper bolted to. They brought me what jeromios picture was showing, which is actually part of the sliding claiper assembly as stated. I then physically walked out to the yard with the parts puller and went to the vehicle he pulled the calipers off of. It was an '87. Wrong car totally. They had the bolt on bracket, but wasn't offset. So, we walked and found an 6/84 auto, but weld on. We then found an 4/83 auto, weld on. We then found a 7/82 which was a 5 speed, but weld on. We then found a 5/82, weld on. I'm beginning to believe that these brackets only came on an '81 or the replacement part is a bolt on. Anyone differ? Have a comment? Is there someone that has actually pulled these Maxima brackets off a car rather then buying them new. I am refering to the offset one that is to be used with the '82-'83ZX caliper, which from what I have seen in the past 4 days are all the same as the Maximas from '82-84. I have only found 1 '81 and it was at the yard with another car ontop of it and I couldn't see if it was actually a weld on. I may go back there tomorrow after work. Can someone please give us all a clue here. I now have $54 credit at 1 yard 30 minutes away from home, but did get a shift nob and spotted some seats I liked and have spent the last 3 1/2 days doing nothing but looking for these brackets. I'm beginning to think I would just be better off making some out of 1/2 aluminum, but the offset would be made out of 5/8 with a ground off edge and bolted to the first 1/2. No welding envolved. The guy that owns a shop next door to where I work makes aluminum boat parts and would really be a help with this, but he is out sick with cancer. He forges his own parts. I would think that a machined part would be better then forged though. BTW, I have an early '74 and thanks for any and all help on this matter.

Well, here we go again. After calling at 3:30 they said call back in about an hour, do to the forklift got stuck. I just called back and I'm suppose to pick them up tomorrow morning at 10:30. At that time I'll see if I can get more, if they are actually the right ones. later

Well, it appears I'll be waiting alittle longer for these parts. I'm suppose to get back with them at 3:00-4:00pm today. Seems they got more orders yesterday then they could handle. This is the disadvantage of not getting the part yourself and one of the reasons I would much rather go to a yard that will charge you a set rate for parts you pull. Well, this gives me time to get my exhaust leaks welded up while I still have it out. Hopefully the guy that put it in will fix it for free.

quote: Originally posted by zfan: HEY SPOTFITZ, YOU GETTING THEM FROM ALL Z IN KENNADALE TX. ? THEY HAVE A LOT OF Z'S, THATS THEIR MAIN SPECIALTY I BELIEVE. Z/FAN...MIKE No, I know Jerry. I don't think he stocks Maximas, atleast there wasn't any the last time I was down there on 12/20/00. Thats where I got my mustache bar. The first few yards I was at were right by my new house, over in Haltom City off Elliott Reeder RD. the other yards I went to were off Jacksboro highway in Ft.Worth, but one of those yards is owned by another yard just north of 30 off MacArthur(sp?). Now that is a BIG yard. I got to see a pic of it taken from a helicopter and it looked the size of Grapevine Mills Mall. I'll know whats going on with these brackets at 1:00pm CT when I call to see if they pulled them. Their probably going to ask for more money after the guy tells his boss what a pain they were:-)~ I'll post my findings. Is there someone on here who has actually pulled the right Maxima bracket out of the yard and used it with the '82-'83 ZX/'81-'84 Maxima/'82-'84 200SX calipers? Did I get the year calipers right for the 200SX, although after today I'll have 2 sets. One off an '82 ZX and one off an "82 Maxima. Damn, I just now realized that you weren't refering to All Z Specialists. I have yet to make it out to All Z. Where are they. I have had several bone yards point me in their direction, but I always found another way to get what I needed. [This message has been edited by spotfitz (edited January 13, 2001).] [This message has been edited by spotfitz (edited January 13, 2001).]

Speaking with Courtesy today and yesterday and calling Nissan auto parts dot com all came up with the NLA. Grubbs still show them to be "on back order". If the brackets are definitely off an '82 then I should be receiving them tomorrow with the calipers(which I already have) from a bone yard near Dallas. Their pulling them and it only cost $55 for everything. Both brackets and calipers. I don't know what is going on with the years, but Courtesy states part #44155-04S10 to be for '81-'84, but every '84 I saw at the bone yards were welded on. I figure '82 was my best bet. I found several '83's, but that yard wasn't any help getting them off, even with another car on top of the car I needed to get to. "Just put a jack under it and throw some tires under there, thats what we do". The car was standing in 6" of water at the time with no tires on it and a car on top. I don't think I want that situation or these brackets that bad. These are the last things I need to get my Z together again, so I have to have them, but... The yard I'm getting these from says they have alot. I will give info on it tomorrow afternoon. If their the right ones, then I'll get more and sell them to anyone on here or Zcar that wants them for no mark up, except shipping. All I'm doing is driving to get them anyways. Wish me luck.