Picking new 300zx Rotors

[Muzzy]

well im look to pick up some 300z rotors to drill for my brake swap.

i see ALLSAFE rotors(15.95), Raybestos (20.79), and WAGNER (73.79) all from Rock Auto. and Brembos from Nopi.com for 31.95

im thinkin brembos...but i read a while back that the blanks suked. but i have no idea. so any ideas or opinions???

[Var]

why would brembo blanks suck? whoever told you that should back it up with some sort of reasoning or he should be ignored. I'd trust brembo. Plus it's all in the drilling. If you do it wrong you can put stress in the rotor which leads to cracking. Supposedly drilled rotors are all weak unless they are cast that way. IONO??

[old_s13]

westboroughpimp> correcto.

[black s13]

i think he means drilling to 4 lug, or i hope so. kinda pointless to drill "vents" (dont know what theyre really called) when you could just buy powerslots and not worry about messing them up.

ive had good experiences with brembo blanks, honda guys seem to love them for the price and quality.

[Muzzy]

yea im talkin about 4 lug drilling. some dude on a forum was sayin they warped or some crap..idk wu he was doing..but thats wut happpened.

so it wouldnt really matte if i got the cheap-o ones would it. im not racing or anything. its just hard ass metal so i should be fine either way right???


(i wish the brembos were actually blank though....but thas ok if they arent)

[synner_inu]

why drill blanks when you should be going for 5 lug conversions.

[Muzzy]

hhhmmm 30-60 for rotors..not bad

hubs and spindles 150-250 + bout 200 for wheels = 350-450....do the math dumb ass

[240Stilo]

I redrilled some pretty cheap rotors and I haven't had a problem yet. But, I would say go for the Brembos; pretty good price and you'll have piece of mind that they're good rotors.

[s15dude]

I have put brembo blanks on 2 of my previous cars, havent had to do them yet on my s14, but they worked great, and you cant beat the price, for that cheap you just keep buying new ones instead of machining the old ones.

[Dream240]

yea im talkin about 4 lug drilling. some dude on a forum was sayin they warped or some crap..idk wu he was doing..but thats wut happpened.

so it wouldnt really matte if i got the cheap-o ones would it. im not racing or anything. its just hard ass metal so i should be fine either way right???


(i wish the brembos were actually blank though....but thas ok if they arent)

Hey on that note, the rotors are actually a very soft metal by comparison for drilling purposes. I just recently drilled my 300zx rotors to mount them on for my brake swap and they drilled very easily. Just be careful while drilling and have a dremel/circular file ready to custom plus size/shape the new holes cause the rotors most likely won't slip right on with your first try. Just a tip.

[sykikchimp]

The only problem I have with Brembo's is that the Rotor hats are not protected, and they rust over time, and make the wheels look like shit. If you don't care, then by all means, have at it. I have the Brembo's on the back on my car, and I had brembo's on the front until I went 300zx brakes. Never had problems with tons of track driving.

The rotors I use on the 300zx brakes a G3000 spec rotors from Cobaltfriction. They come with high temp painted hats, and rotor veins, and they are VERY nice. I think I paid around $50 each for them.

Whatever you get, if you plan to do performance driving with the car, make sure the rotors are OEM replacements. Lots of companies make rotors that will work, but don't stick to the OEM standards for quality. These are usually the rotors you hear about crapping out on people, and causing catastrophic brake failure.

[Yoshi]

why drill blanks when you should be going for 5 lug conversions.

jeebus.
that's like saying, "why mod your 240 when you should have a 911T?"

5 lug swaps require a lot more initial mods, which = more money... oh, and buying a whole new set of rims too... so that's a couple grand vs. less than $500. What about climate? I know that for at least half the USA, there's this stuff called snow. I deal with it myself 3-4 months of the year. As a result I have a separate set of rims for my snow tires, which would also be useless for the swap.

How about posting messages that are actually helpful to the orginal poster, rather that just whoring it up. :blah: :fruit:

Muzzy: I know quite a few guys with the 5-4 drilled rotors, all of them autoX every damn weekend and I've year to hear anything on warpage or stress fratures. Being that you can get them from places like PDM, HT, etc and they still sell them, I wouldn't expect any issues (provided there's quality craftsmanship going on). I think the main issue would be biting the bullet and paying a bit more to make sure they're re-drilled by a shop you trust.

[adamhu]

i race with the 4lug version...no problems yet with the rotors...you can tell those who swap the 5 lugs in they are actually hurting performance since the 5 lug swaps have more unsprung weight than the 4 lug....which is very BAD

put that in your 5 lug swap and smoke it :)



jeebus.
that's like saying, "why mod your 240 when you should have a 911T?"

5 lug swaps require a lot more initial mods, which = more money... oh, and buying a whole new set of rims too... so that's a couple grand vs. less than $500. What about climate? I know that for at least half the USA, there's this stuff called snow. I deal with it myself 3-4 months of the year. As a result I have a separate set of rims for my snow tires, which would also be useless for the swap.

How about posting messages that are actually helpful to the orginal poster, rather that just whoring it up. :blah: :fruit:

Muzzy: I know quite a few guys with the 5-4 drilled rotors, all of them autoX every damn weekend and I've year to hear anything on warpage or stress fratures. Being that you can get them from places like PDM, HT, etc and they still sell them, I wouldn't expect any issues (provided there's quality craftsmanship going on). I think the main issue would be biting the bullet and paying a bit more to make sure they're re-drilled by a shop you trust.

[mbmbmb23]

The only problem I have with Brembo's is that the Rotor hats are not protected, and they rust over time, and make the wheels look like shit. If you don't care, then by all means, have at it. I have the Brembo's on the back on my car, and I had brembo's on the front until I went 300zx brakes. Never had problems with tons of track driving.

The rotors I use on the 300zx brakes a G3000 spec rotors from Cobaltfriction. They come with high temp painted hats, and rotor veins, and they are VERY nice. I think I paid around $50 each for them.

Whatever you get, if you plan to do performance driving with the car, make sure the rotors are OEM replacements. Lots of companies make rotors that will work, but don't stick to the OEM standards for quality. These are usually the rotors you hear about crapping out on people, and causing catastrophic brake failure.


Sounds good to me. These are blanks I assume? Normally I would suggest getting Brembo blanks and painting the hats w/ hi temp paint, but I dont think I could paint inside the veins...and that would mean rust dust still getting everywhere.


-m

[Dream240]

Sounds good to me. These are blanks I assume? Normally I would suggest getting Brembo blanks and painting the hats w/ hi temp paint, but I dont think I could paint inside the veins...and that would mean rust dust still getting everywhere.


-m

Actually, I think you could paint the entire rotor before you install them but, after you've had them drilled/slotted. I keep hearing shops say that their rotors are coated to protect against rust. And they say they're actualy dipped!
They say that when installed you're natural braking will clean off the surface of the rotors and then you're good to go. Don't know how true this is but it sounds good to me. So...just spray the whole damn thing!

[sykikchimp]

Actually, I think you could paint the entire rotor before you install them but, after you've had them drilled/slotted. I keep hearing shops say that their rotors are coated to protect against rust. And they say they're actualy dipped!
They say that when installed you're natural braking will clean off the surface of the rotors and then you're good to go. Don't know how true this is but it sounds good to me. So...just spray the whole damn thing!

That's a bad idea.. you want the face of the rotor as clean as possible. PAINT b/w your brake pad and rotor is a VERY bad idea..

[Dream240]

That's a bad idea.. you want the face of the rotor as clean as possible. PAINT b/w your brake pad and rotor is a VERY bad idea..

Well from what the shops say, the section that your pads contact will burn off the paint, coating , etc. within the first few practice stops. You know how you do the 10 brakes from 30-0 mph? That's what they're talking about.
hmmm....I wonder if it really works that way though.

[Muzzy]

the local shop i went to were dick...they made me do all the measuring!!!
i got one right..not the other..thas y im buyin new ones.


oohh!!
if anyone wants some 30mm brakes a calipers and some rear calipers lemme know. i jus picked up some.
(i have 26mm hehehehe)

[mbmbmb23]

Actually, I think you could paint the entire rotor before you install them but, after you've had them drilled/slotted. I keep hearing shops say that their rotors are coated to protect against rust. And they say they're actualy dipped!
They say that when installed you're natural braking will clean off the surface of the rotors and then you're good to go. Don't know how true this is but it sounds good to me. So...just spray the whole damn thing!

Dipped = electroplated...probably with zinc or something....which is done to prevent rust.

Sykik...are the veins painted on the inside?


-m

[sykikchimp]

Sykik...are the veins painted on the inside?

-m
yes.. It appears that the rotor was dipped in paint, and then the pad mating surface was machined flat. All exposed peices of the rotor not on the mating surface is painted.

Dream 240.. well, the reason you break in pads is b/c the resins in the pad have to be properly tempered in order reach optimum friction, and heat absorbtion ability. You could probably get away with just painting the whole rotor, but when you melt the paint on the contact surface, you will likely send melted paint all over your suspension, and car. Not to mention the horrible stink your car will have for a while. I haven't ever done this but I can't imagine it having any benefits that wouldn't be outweighed by the possible problems. Especially if the paint caused some other problem with the actual surface of the pad. Is it really that hard to just tape off the contact surface?

[Dream240]

yes.. It appears that the rotor was dipped in paint, and then the pad mating surface was machined flat. All exposed peices of the rotor not on the mating surface is painted.

Dream 240.. well, the reason you break in pads is b/c the resins in the pad have to be properly tempered in order reach optimum friction, and heat absorbtion ability. You could probably get away with just painting the whole rotor, but when you melt the paint on the contact surface, you will likely send melted paint all over your suspension, and car. Not to mention the horrible stink your car will have for a while. I haven't ever done this but I can't imagine it having any benefits that wouldn't be outweighed by the possible problems. Especially if the paint caused some other problem with the actual surface of the pad. Is it really that hard to just tape off the contact surface?

No not at all, in fact if I was to rust proof my rotors, that's how I would do it. Seems the simplest way. The only down side is that you don't get the drilled holes or slots if that's your setup. I think I'm going to stick with OEM 30mm rotors for my front end setup. Cross-drilled/slotted seems like serious overkill since I don't race. I don't want to lock up everytime I brake!! Good info though, later.

[DSC]

i race with the 4lug version...no problems yet with the rotors...you can tell those who swap the 5 lugs in they are actually hurting performance since the 5 lug swaps have more unsprung weight than the 4 lug....which is very BAD

put that in your 5 lug swap and smoke it :)

Adam, can you REALLY feel what 1lb extra per wheel that far towards the center? Either you rock or your joking :tweak: