Brake upgrade
 

As everyone knows the original brakes are pretty shitty on our cars, what I would like to do is change the front brakes to bigger discs and put rear discs in the back. I would like to know what is involved, what needs to be changed, and recommendations for donor cars if any or on which brands make parts for my car. My car is a Canadian 92LX,
By the way I have 15” wheels from a 2000 GT on the car right now and I’m planning to go with 16”
:dj:

Like always!
 

LX: has 1.8 DOHC engine (BP05)
Its the same identical setup as an Escort GT. The Protege that has the smaller front rotors are the DX because it has the 1.8 SOHC.

So, read first before posting dude, LX rotors are the same as GT. :argue:

You know what I just read a bunch of stuff on rear disc brake conversion and it seems a lot of trouble for somebody like me who will not be racing, I still want to upgrade my brakes tough since I will be putting a lot more power in the car, what are your recommendations for upgrades,
Thanks


YO! WTF
My car is a Canadian LX which mechanically is like a US DX ( so you read before posting ;) )

Lessons learned
 

Alright, this is everything you need to know.

If you want to upgrade the front brakes;

You can simply bolt on the larger (14v) calipers (rebuilt about $45 each)

Add a set of decent carbon metallic pads (new about $65) KVR's are decent and in ottawa, but any would do ...

Not enough? Then you need the rotors AND the knuckles.

Larger rotors (10 1/4") ( oem $75, slotted/drilled $110)

Steering knuckles (Junkyard $50-75 ? each)

Protege gt's are pretty hard to find in the local junkyards for me, escort wagons all came with the 14v's from what Ive seen even with the rear drums, four doors too sometimes.

When in doubt check the casting on the caliper, or just measure the rotors diametre.

And they can be a real bitch to take off.

Still not enough?

Grab the rear assembly off an mx3 with discs (Junkyard $150 ????)
Make sure you grab the ebrake cables, hoses, and proportioning valve like the faq says!

Hey, what do you know your bushings are probably toast, why not do them while you've got that assembly in your laneway?

Hyper flex zx-2 bushing kit ( $135 )

New rear rotors, calipers, and pads ( $ 500 )

Now bolt that freshly bushed assembly on, bleed the brakes and enjoy.

What? You dont like the pedal feel?

Sorry, I almost forgot, Goodrige braided lines ( $ 185 )

So the tally comes to about 1500 cdn, W/O tax, and that assumes that you can do all the work yourself.

Oh, and you should now get the brake system flushed.

And an alignment, holy crap are you ever going to need an alignment now.

And have a professional give your brakes a look-see if your even the remotest bit unsure of your abilities, (which you probably are, or you woudnt be asking now).

IF YOU MESS SOMETHING UP YOU COULD KILL YOURSELF.:nono:

Or even someone important :bat:

Aren't you glad you asked?

Madness you say? Then mad I am.

Kind of makes the $1800 for a crazy four pot conversion from kvr look almost realistic, but that only includes the fronts...

I'm not sure how much you read of that first post, but he mentioned he has a Canadian Model LX which is NOT the same as the U.S. spec LX.

If you are looking for more braking efficiency, without the ordeal of a complete caliper and rotor swap, I would tell you to change the friction material on the pad to something a little more agressive. Easiest and least expensive way to get more bite.

I think i will go with the bigger calliper and rotor swap
thanks Smack (Y)

should i do anything about my drums?

yeah swap it over to the rotors from an MX3 or protege GT

What is that exacly? Is that to replace the rubber bushing that are between the rear links and knuckles?

Actually no, pretty much everything but.

The kit has the bushings for the front and rear sway bar, 13 mm rear(!?!) 25 mm front. The mounts for the rear bar are way too small, but the end links work fine, 323s didnt come stock with a front bar prots did, if youve got one the right size those will fit too.

It also has the bushings for the lower control arms, rear trailing arms, and steering rack, but from what Ive heard those wont fit.

Basically you only can make use of 80% of the kit, welcome to world of "not a Honda", but its still a pretty decent deal all things considered.

I was actually going to start asking around about the rear link bushings.

Im finally getting around to piecing a new rear subassembly together.:laugh2:

I have the MX3 rear spindles but they won't work since the spindle links are different due to the sway bar.

When I tried removing the links from the rear spindle assembly the bushings are seized for good, and the bushing are not sold seperatly by Mazda. How did you guys solve this issue?