Xnke Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 (edited) Just finished setting these up on the Z tonight; the 1988 RX-7 w/sport suspension front brake pads are available in Wagner Thermoquiets. They're about 40$, and if you have access to a welder and a drill press, these are a viable option to the parts store semi-metallics that are what's left for the Toyota brake calipers. (Both solid and vented calipers!) The pad retaining pin holes need to be welded shut, and re-drilled 6mm lower on the pad. That's it. The holes can't simply be re-drilled as the bottom edge of the original hole is the top edge of the new hole. After that, you have more pad surface than the Toyota truck pads, and have available both the ceramics at the parts stores and all the pad options out there for the RX-7...including EBC Redstuff, Porterfields, and Hawk brands. In addition to the very nice thermal characteristics, the Wagners are not terribly priced...about double the cost of the semi-metallics and an overnight wait in most stores. FAR less than the other options for ceramic pads. And they are SILENT! My old semi-metallics would squeal on a light-braking stop, chattering their way up to a stop sign. These are absolutely silent. Not a squeak, squeal, hum, buzz, NOTHING. Hopefully as the week goes on and they get bedded in more thoroughly, I won't have to post a retraction. Looking at the pads closer, you *could* run these pads as-is with a little trimming on the bottom edge on SOME brake rotors; but pad wear could be uneven and rotor wear would be ridiculous due to the unworn ridge on the outer diameter. I welded them up and re-drilled them, and won't hesitate to do it again. Edited February 14, 2013 by Xnke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R3VO 3VOM Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Should post some pictures if you can to show people exactly what you did. I'm interested in this as well as I have the 4x4 cailpers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big-phil Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 yes pictures please 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xnke Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 (edited) It's pretty simple, you take an old toyota pad, and a new RX-7 pad, and look at the two. The pads are very similar. The difference is the RX-7 pad as a little more pad material at the bottom two corners, and that the two holes in the top left and top right corner are too high on the backing plate to put the pad material in the right spot. SOME pads have a squealer tab at the bottom center, just cut this off, it'll hit the rotor hub otherwise. Weld the two corners up solid; grind the backer plate flat again, and put the toyota pad and the RX-7 pad back to back. Align the top edge of the pad material, then clamp them together and drill the pin holes through, using the toyota pad as a template. Nothin' to it. I don't have a photo of drilling the holes, just the welded up and ground flat pad...forgot to take that photo. Those two center holes don't get moved...they are just to hold the anti-squeal clip and they fit fine. Edited February 15, 2013 by Xnke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calpoly-z Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Seems simple enough. Great tip! I will definitely take advantage of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I agree the thermoquiets are pretty darn good pads, and you can't forget the lifetime warranty if you buy it through O'reileys or NAPA. I'm slightly confused as to all the effort though. Is the RX-7 pad have more surface area? I walked into my local O'reileys and had a set the next day for the Toyota 4x4 caliper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 Or you call Poterfield Brakes and order whatever pad material you want to fit the S12W caliper form factor. You can even get the killer Hawk DTC70 racing pads to fit the caliper. EDIT: Oops, Xnke was talking about street pads. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xnke Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 (edited) Yep. You can order whatever pad you want...but for street brakes, being able to walk in the parts store and get a set of pads (even the 4x4 brake pads are getting to be an overnight item now) that work is a good thing. Yes, the RX-7 pads have a little more pad area, the bottom corners aren't chopped off like the toyota pads. The RX-7 pads also are available in sports compounds, instead of 3000lb pickup truck compounds. (you can get semi-metallics for the truck, but you can get semi-metallic, ceramic, carbon-kevlar, etc. for the RX-7) Edited February 23, 2013 by Xnke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth. J. Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 (edited) I also used these pads in my hilux front calipers, carried out the same welding mod too. Good track pad options are limited for these here in Australia. Here's a comparison pic between the hilux and mazda pads Edited February 27, 2013 by Gareth. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big-phil Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 I'm trying this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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