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Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 7th, 2009, 10:30 am
by wytbishop
The only danger is stripping a flarenut on the hard lines. Get a flarenut wrench. Don't use an open end wrench.
Just change the hoses and rebleed the whole system from farthest wheel to closest wheel.
Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 7th, 2009, 12:33 pm
by kast2L
wytbishop wrote:The only danger is stripping a flarenut on the hard lines. Get a flarenut wrench. Don't use an open end wrench.
Just change the hoses and rebleed the whole system from farthest wheel to closest wheel.
im sure if i dont one of my friends do have that wrench. SS brake line kit or the goodridge : )
Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 7th, 2009, 1:22 pm
by wytbishop
I dont' really feel the Goodridge are worth the extra money...but that's just me.
Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 7th, 2009, 4:44 pm
by nightfire
wytbishop wrote:The only danger is stripping a flarenut on the hard lines. Get a flarenut wrench. Don't use an open end wrench.
Just change the hoses and rebleed the whole system from farthest wheel to closest wheel.
I've personally been using crow's foot wrenches... are the official flare nut wrenches any better? I've been lucky not to strip any line ends so far, but it feels like it's been close.
Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 7th, 2009, 5:03 pm
by wytbishop
a flare nut wrench has a small opening just large enough to fit over the hard line. It's not quite a full box end, but better than an open end. It provides more surface area for the nut.
Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 7th, 2009, 7:49 pm
by Ryan
What are you guys talking about, jus use a good 'ol pair of vicegrips!

Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 7th, 2009, 9:09 pm
by Mooneggs
Ryan wrote:What are you guys talking about, jus use a good 'ol pair of vicegrips!
I may have to... I believe I have a stripped nut

I've been running around with 3 SS brake lines and 1 rubber for 2 years now

Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 7th, 2009, 10:19 pm
by Daninski
Apply a little heat and the vise grips and Bob's yer uncle. Brake lines are a crap shoot at best.
Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 7th, 2009, 10:24 pm
by nightfire
Is it just me, or do you have to drop the rear subframe to change the rear brake lines?
Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 7th, 2009, 11:13 pm
by wytbishop
The flex line goes from the caliper to the little spring clip on the body of the shock. It's only about a foot long. The hard line goes to the distribution block on the center of the subframe and then a shorter hard line goes from there to the shock.
Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 8th, 2009, 10:39 am
by nightfire
wytbishop wrote:The flex line goes from the caliper to the little spring clip on the body of the shock. It's only about a foot long. The hard line goes to the distribution block on the center of the subframe and then a shorter hard line goes from there to the shock.
Yea ... but is it possible to change those hard lines without dropping the rear subframe? I could barely reach them with a wrench, let alone torque down on them. Or is there a better angle?
Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 8th, 2009, 10:59 am
by wytbishop
You should never need to change the hard lines unless they are damaged. I've never seen one that needed to be changed. If you want to lower the sub frame it's pretty easy to do. Unbolt the upper spring perches, remove the 4 bolts that hold the subframe up and it comes right down.
Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: April 9th, 2009, 10:32 am
by nightfire
wytbishop wrote:You should never need to change the hard lines unless they are damaged. I've never seen one that needed to be changed. If you want to lower the sub frame it's pretty easy to do. Unbolt the upper spring perches, remove the 4 bolts that hold the subframe up and it comes right down.
Oh, ok that's not so bad. I didn't have to change them in the end, but when I did my SS hoses one of them was leaking badly at the connection to the hard line. I assumed it was a bad seal and I'd somehow damaged the line, but as it turns out the braided hose was just defective and leaking from the fitting.
Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: May 12th, 2009, 10:16 pm
by frontpage
nightfire wrote:wytbishop wrote:The 99' - 05' Miata Sport Suspension rear calipers and 10.9" rotors fit in a 15" wheel. All that is required is a 2-4mm spacer to center the caliper on the rotor. The ebrake cable position is slightly different however your ebrake cable will still work.
Then someone suggested a Willwood front kit to go with it and then someone posted a link to the Monster Miata big brake kit which uses Willwood fronts and RX-7 vented rears with all the brackets needed to fit a Miata...which would easily fit our MX-3. The RX-7 rears might require a little work to make the ebrake cable work.
Go to clubprotege and find the Rear Big Brake Upgrade thread in the BG brakes/suspension forum. It's all there.
Oh wow. Thanks wytbishop... I'll go check it out. This sounds interesting.

ok so has anyone verified this m fiance has a v6 auto that she picked up from autopac aution needs the rear calipers as there just about seized now i know the oem parts are cheaper so going that way to start for her but she wants to do up this car well minus the trans lol and engine as whats the point of a klze on k8 auto trany, so back to this .. the miata fronts and the rx7 rears .. for real or bogus if real might go on one of my 2 mx3's .. lol yes we have 3 mx-3's and one i'm stripping .. for parts lol so that makes 4
Re: Contemplating big brake kit
Posted: May 12th, 2009, 11:57 pm
by wytbishop
http://www.clubprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35400" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It's a bit of a long read and there's a lot of pointless crap, but the truth is in there. Essentially what you need to know is that someone figured out that the Miata Sport Suspension rear calipers fit on the BG chassis spindles with the use of a small spacer (washer). The MX-3 (EC chassis) is a variant of the BG chassis and basically if they can be fit to a Protege they will fit an MX-3. Then we extrapolate...
If we can use the Miata sport calipers...why can't we use the upgrades available for the Miata? Monster Miata offers a kit which contains the brackets and hardware needed to fit Willwood fronts and RX-7 rears to the Miata. If it'll fit the Miata it should be able to be fit to the MX-3.
The abridged version.