I decided after many track days and motorkhanas, that the brakes on the Telstar were not up to the job of fast stopping, multiple times.
Many things were tried including slotted rotors, expensive pads (ie custom cut pads), braided lines, different master cylinders, better fluid, etc. It helped, but it wasn’t enough. The best way to improve braking is to increase the disc diameter.
I had tried in the past to fit R33 calipers and rotors to Old Red (RIP), but due to the goofy mounting tabs Mazda/Ford supplied off the hub, I couldn’t mount the callipers unless I was running some stupidly size 350mm+ rotor. I liked my 17’s and thought 19’s were not the way to go.
The brake setup was sold off a few years ago, with me still having stock brakes. After purchasing the current car and deciding that big power is nice, I also thought that big braking power is better………at keeping me not dead.
I got hold of the DBA catalogue and went through it like a plough, trying to match up the stock rotor dimentions (minus the riadius of course) with the magical 300mm number. Many came up that were close, such as the XR5 and a few others, but settled on the 02+ Honda Integra Type S rotors. The type R rotors were basically the same, but had 10mm increase in height, meaning I would have to offset the calliper 10mm towards the body. I was happier to not do that.
Having 1mm thicker rotor was no big deal as it offset the 0.5mm increase in height. If I was to machine the rotors down to 24mm thickness, then the height would be identical. This was starting to look a little too easy.
So I bought a set of Type S rotors new. I tried to get RDA ones, but they just don’t make them. So I had to bite the bullet and get DBA ones, which, even at trade price were damn pricey. Out of the box though, and I was instantly impressed by build quality and the physical size difference over stock.
Next I needed to make up an adaptor, so out came my trusty saw and a piece of lovely fence paling. I made up a mock-up out of wood to test if everything would line up and fit correctly. I knocked up a basic bracket and it all seemed to line up and work nicely.
After chatting to one of the guys at work, who had access to the workshop, we started to talk about the best way to go about making the brackets. We would replicate my wooden bracket making some changes to thickness, length and obviously material. I was keen to use mild steel, but his views were that it would be too heavy and would rust if left bare.
He suggested aluminium just in a thicker sizing than what I wanted to use in mild steel. We went about making 2 blocks of the same size to our new dimensions. After about 6 hours of machine work, 2 hours of handwork, 30mins of sandblasting the basic brackets were completed. They looked fantastic, especially in the satin finish from the light sandblast.
After all this, it was decided that some stainless steel was to be used to offset the calliper from it’s new bracket. Some rod was machined to fit in the space constraints and the centre drilled for the bolt. After about 1 ½ hours, the offsets were completed, with the ends de-burred and polished.
It was all coming together.
Once I got home, it was time to start bolting them to the car. This is a final trial fit on the project sedan which I know needs a new CV, etc…..
Once I had them on the car, I couldn’t fit the 15” rims I had it sitting on. Luckily, I had my 16 x 7 ‘Matchbox’ rims at hand to trial fit. They only just fit over my new anchors.
Having a spare 17” rim sitting there, I also fitted that up for a comparison. They fill the rim up pretty good too!
Next, is working on an upgrade for the rears....