tommott77 Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 (edited) Trying to get my project Z to go down the road safely. The brakes are somewhat marginal at this point. Already replaced the frozen front calipers. The problem I'm running into is that the rears are not bleeding correctly. At this point I would like to swap out the brake lines for stainless steel and install a new master cylinder, just to get her going. The issue I am running into is that I do plan on upgrading both the front and rear brakes down the road. I plan on going with the vented 4x4 Toyota setup in the front and the Modern Motorsports 240sx rear disc setup. The general consensus out there seems to be that I need to upgrade to the larger 280zx master cylinder (even though some folks think you can still get away with the stock master). It also appears that I need special brake lines in the rear with a banjo fitting for the MM 240sx swap. My question is can I/should I install the 280zx master cylinder now with the stock 2 piston calipers in anticipation of going with the 4 piston swap down the road? Obviously I would rather avoid having to purchase a second master cylinder. Same type of question with the stainless steel brake lines. Is it possible to purchase the stainless steel lines now that work with the stock drums, and then swap on a banjo fitting when it comes time for the rear disc swap? If not I would assume to just get the cheaper stock lines now and then just purchase the SS lines when I start the swap as opposed to shelling out twice for two different sets of the SS lines. Any help/guidance would be appreciated. Edited September 7, 2011 by tommott77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miles Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 (edited) What do you mean the rears are not bleeding correctly? By stainless brake lines I assume you mean the flex lines. Correct? I had the same questions before installing the MM Toyota front and 240SX rear brake kits. When my stock MC failed I went ahead and installed the 79-81 280ZX MC in anticipation of installing the MM kits at some future date. With stock brakes you have to push a little harder using the 280ZX MC. I drove around for about a year before I installed the MM vented Toyota front brakes. No problems. Three years later I added the MM 240SX rear disk kit. Concerning the stainless braided lines for the rear: The stock rear drum brakes and the MM 240SX rear calipers use different types of brake line fittings. Stock uses a screw in fitting and the 240SX uses a banjo fitting. So if you install stainless lines now you will have to replace them with longer lines that have banjo fittings later. Depends how long you anticipate driving with stock brakes. Note that the MM kits come with the correct stainless brake lines. As to the 240Z MC vs 280ZX MC question: can you use the stock 240Z MC with the Toyota front and 240SX rear swaps? I have heard the same debate of 240Z vs 280ZX MC, but I assumed that the Toyota/240SX swaps would require more fluid volume and went with the 280ZX MC. If the 240Z MC would work I'd like to know because I have a new OEM 240Z MC and my 280ZX MC is starting to show some wear. If someone is using a 240Z MC chime in. Note: If you go with the 280ZX MC, the push rod between the booster and the MC has to be adjusted longer than as for the stock 240Z MC. See the brake section and the FAQ section for discussions about how to adjust the rod. If not adjusted your brakes will never work properly and you will have a long pedal. If the rod is adjusted too long the MC will not empty properly and lock up the brakes requiring manual release of pressure by opening the MC bleed screws. You didn't ask, but I also installed a proportioning valve in the tool box behind the passenger seat. Some say it is not required for the MM front/rear set up, but I wanted to be able to adjust rear bias if I saw that there were problems down the road. Edited September 8, 2011 by Miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mutantZ Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Either way, I would try and get my hands on the 79-81 master now if you plan on upgrading at some point in the future. If you do a search around the board, people (myself included) are having a tough time locating one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommott77 Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 (edited) Wow, great stuff! Thanks so much for the reponses. The rear brakes just trickle fluid when trying to bleed them. I'll hold off for the braided lines for now. A quick search at NAPA seems to indicate that they carry the 280Zx master. https://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?A=NMBP2388_0306739581&An=599001+101979+50018+2018016 Is this not the right MC? ***upon closer inspection it appears that that is not the correct MC. Edited September 7, 2011 by tommott77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritrebor Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 (edited) Wow, great stuff! Thanks so much for the reponses. The rear brakes just trickle fluid when trying to bleed them. I'll hold off for the braided lines for now. A quick search at NAPA seems to indicate that they carry the 280Zx master. https://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx?A=NMBP2388_0306739581&An=599001+101979+50018+2018016 Is this not the right MC? ***upon closer inspection it appears that that is not the correct MC. That looks like the correct 79 280zx MC. The later ones have the mounting tabs horizontal. ritrebor Edited September 7, 2011 by ritrebor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mutantZ Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 I know when I tried to order it, it would show up as "no longer available" even though they list it on the website. A couple other people talk about it in this other thread. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/101441-1516-master-cylinder-rebuild-kit/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommott77 Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 I know when I tried to order it, it would show up as "no longer available" even though they list it on the website. A couple other people talk about it in this other thread. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/101441-1516-master-cylinder-rebuild-kit/ Well, I just reserved the one pictured online to have it sent to to my local store, also went all the way to the point where I all had to do was hit confirm to have it purchased and shipped to my home. It seems that if it was not in stock it would have not let me progress to that point, but I guess we will soon find out. I had already went ahead and ordered a stock '73 MC this morning. I was thinking that it would be rather difficult to procore the 280zx MC, and was also worried about getting the 280zx piece to mount up with the booster, it seems that many folks ended up purchasing a 280zx booster as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Wow, great stuff! Thanks so much for the reponses. The rear brakes just trickle fluid when trying to bleed them. You brake pressure differential switch has been tripped. You need to reset it per the FSM and then your rear brakes should bleed fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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