After the last autocross I had to re bleed my brakes and discovered that my brake bleeders on the stock 510 calipers that I am using are now seized. I am considering using a set of HL510 struts that I have to replace the stock 510 strut/caliper/brakes to replace them. Are there any other caliper/rotor choices available for this strut that people have used?
Thanks!
HL510 (A510) strut and brake choices?
Re: HL510 (A510) strut and brake choices?
Assuming the HL510 struts are the same as the early 200SX struts (from the DQ):
80-83 200SX
Comments:
This is becoming a common swap since donor vehicles are strewn about wrecking yards. In stock form, it provides a big improvement in braking.
Drawbacks:
The strut tube is too long. Shortening is definitely in order on a lowered car. The stock spring perches are offset. This could possibly cause interference on a lowered car. Personally, I've used these struts and had no problems...and my car was VERY low. The brake rotor is closer to the strut tube on this strut. On a lowered car, the rotor may hit the tip of the control arm on full compression. I remedied this by trimming ~1/8" from the tip of the arm. Others have made this same modification.
A 510 with a stock ride height will not have these issues.
Benefits:
Larger rotors, larger bearings.
Upgrades:
240-280Z calipers bolt right on. No mods needed. These are a dual piston (opposing) design and frankly, they look really cool and the braking capability is very impressive.
The Toyota four-pot caliper (pickup and Forerunner with solid rotor) also bolts right up. Woa!
80-83 200SX
Comments:
This is becoming a common swap since donor vehicles are strewn about wrecking yards. In stock form, it provides a big improvement in braking.
Drawbacks:
The strut tube is too long. Shortening is definitely in order on a lowered car. The stock spring perches are offset. This could possibly cause interference on a lowered car. Personally, I've used these struts and had no problems...and my car was VERY low. The brake rotor is closer to the strut tube on this strut. On a lowered car, the rotor may hit the tip of the control arm on full compression. I remedied this by trimming ~1/8" from the tip of the arm. Others have made this same modification.
A 510 with a stock ride height will not have these issues.
Benefits:
Larger rotors, larger bearings.
Upgrades:
240-280Z calipers bolt right on. No mods needed. These are a dual piston (opposing) design and frankly, they look really cool and the braking capability is very impressive.
The Toyota four-pot caliper (pickup and Forerunner with solid rotor) also bolts right up. Woa!Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
Re: HL510 (A510) strut and brake choices?
That said, if you wanted to keep your stock struts/springs...
Upgrade potential:
Rabbit caliper upgrade.
First generation Rabbit calipers with Performance friction pads (part #PFC P/N 2804.
http://www.performancefriction.com/) have twice the surface area as the stock 510 assembly and weigh the same.. Swap the struts from left to right (and vice versa) for clearance issues. Drill out the bolt holes in the caliper to match the diameter of the stock 510 mounting bolt. Have the rotors turned down .100" off the radius so that they clear the caliper.
Volvo caliper upgrade.
I have heard of this upgrade for years, but have yet to see one. Four piston calipers that supposedly bolt on. These calipers
have two brake line inlets, so a brass "T" and two short hard lines will need to be installed. This still limits you to the stock rotor.
Volvo caliper/ZX vented rotor upgrade.
Supposedly the 280zx vented rotor bolts up to the stock 510 hub. A short spacer is installed between the hub and rotor (thickness unknown). Volvo four-pot calipers for the vented Volvo rotor (from the 6cyl models) bolt on. This is an interesting combination. I hope to verify this soon. One possible drawback to any Volvo caliper is the weight. The caliper for the vented conversion weighs 9 lbs.
Upgrade potential:
Rabbit caliper upgrade.
First generation Rabbit calipers with Performance friction pads (part #PFC P/N 2804.
http://www.performancefriction.com/) have twice the surface area as the stock 510 assembly and weigh the same.. Swap the struts from left to right (and vice versa) for clearance issues. Drill out the bolt holes in the caliper to match the diameter of the stock 510 mounting bolt. Have the rotors turned down .100" off the radius so that they clear the caliper.
Volvo caliper upgrade.
I have heard of this upgrade for years, but have yet to see one. Four piston calipers that supposedly bolt on. These calipers
have two brake line inlets, so a brass "T" and two short hard lines will need to be installed. This still limits you to the stock rotor.
Volvo caliper/ZX vented rotor upgrade.
Supposedly the 280zx vented rotor bolts up to the stock 510 hub. A short spacer is installed between the hub and rotor (thickness unknown). Volvo four-pot calipers for the vented Volvo rotor (from the 6cyl models) bolt on. This is an interesting combination. I hope to verify this soon. One possible drawback to any Volvo caliper is the weight. The caliper for the vented conversion weighs 9 lbs.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
Re: HL510 (A510) strut and brake choices?
Hi Julian, thanks for the information! I am leaning towards using the HL510 struts as I am interested in some braking improvement, I had a couple of issues at the autocross ..... The larger rotor and the z car caliper should make for an improvement, plus I am thinking of monkeying with the spring rates a bit. I won't be lowering the car much though so this should work!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Jason