I finally got around to upgrading the brakes on the car. I did a rear disc conversion from an EX and grabbed the front knuckles from an acura 2.3CL for the rotor-over-hub conversion. The rear discs weren't too bad to install at all but I did need to bleed the system because of the unhooked soft lines. I kept the front calipers and installed the knuckles pretty smoothly. I ended up grabbing brembo rotors in front and back and some duralast gold pads in front and rear as well. Braking is awesome and the system isn't even bled that well. I'm not even running a proportioning valve and it runs just fine. I also spray painted the calipers black with high temp paint and it looks really nice. There were some problems I ran into though, so here's a few things to lookout for if you plan on doing this swap.
-The axles nuts can be a MAJOR pain in the ass. I ended up breaking my breaker bar in the process of tryin to get one of these suckers out. You need to have your tire on to take these off for added weight and resistance. If you can't access the nut with the rim's on, then use the spare tire. If you have an impact wrench with enough psi(my compressor isnt that powerful), then this will be a breeze. If you need to use a breaker bar, then good luck.
-The balljoint boots were severely torn when I used the fork to pry them loose. I strongly suggest getting a balljoint remover or puller.
-The knuckles on the 98 acura are the same with one difference. The metal cover for the upper control arm balljoint(castle nut and pin) cannot be screwed in because there is nowhere to mount it.
-Brake cleaner is a real nice addition to this job and makes it easier to scrub the caliper assembly with steel wool if you plan on painting them. You must clean them well if you want the paint to shine and stick.
-If you have bushings that squeek (like my energy kit) then this is a perfect time to grease them up really well. The ones that were squeeking were the UCA anchor bolt bushings. Now the car rides quiet as a mouse with the exception of the exhaust and mp3
-The axles nuts can be a MAJOR pain in the ass. I ended up breaking my breaker bar in the process of tryin to get one of these suckers out. You need to have your tire on to take these off for added weight and resistance. If you can't access the nut with the rim's on, then use the spare tire. If you have an impact wrench with enough psi(my compressor isnt that powerful), then this will be a breeze. If you need to use a breaker bar, then good luck.
-The balljoint boots were severely torn when I used the fork to pry them loose. I strongly suggest getting a balljoint remover or puller.
-The knuckles on the 98 acura are the same with one difference. The metal cover for the upper control arm balljoint(castle nut and pin) cannot be screwed in because there is nowhere to mount it.
-Brake cleaner is a real nice addition to this job and makes it easier to scrub the caliper assembly with steel wool if you plan on painting them. You must clean them well if you want the paint to shine and stick.
-If you have bushings that squeek (like my energy kit) then this is a perfect time to grease them up really well. The ones that were squeeking were the UCA anchor bolt bushings. Now the car rides quiet as a mouse with the exception of the exhaust and mp3
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