Brembo upgrade.
#17
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Washington State
Posts: 14,817
Received 2,469 Likes
on
2,161 Posts
Coupe 6MT Premium RAS
Yeah I understand that it's a different part but I'm almost certain the only real difference is the size of the reservoir since as the brake pads wear the Brembo has a larger volume to displace since there's more volume on it's pistons, the stock master cylinder has a tiny reservoir and would be empty by the time the brembo pads were about 1/2 worn. But there's a level switch in the reservoir so you will know when it starts to get low.
Are you sure you bled the brakes in the correct order? It's not your usual "farthest to nearest" bleed order, gotta be in the order of right rear, left front, left rear, right front.
I can absolutely guarantee the stock non-brembo master cylinder has no issues operating the OEM Brembo or OEM Akibono calipers, or even larger calipers like the 6 piston ones. There's been plenty of folks who got things like Wilwood or aftermarket Brembo 6 piston front / 4 piston rear and used the stock non-brembo MC.
I think @Blue Dream had a 2005 with the stock MC and he had some huge brakes on it, perhaps he'll rise from the abyss to tell the tale ;P
Are you sure you bled the brakes in the correct order? It's not your usual "farthest to nearest" bleed order, gotta be in the order of right rear, left front, left rear, right front.
I can absolutely guarantee the stock non-brembo master cylinder has no issues operating the OEM Brembo or OEM Akibono calipers, or even larger calipers like the 6 piston ones. There's been plenty of folks who got things like Wilwood or aftermarket Brembo 6 piston front / 4 piston rear and used the stock non-brembo MC.
I think @Blue Dream had a 2005 with the stock MC and he had some huge brakes on it, perhaps he'll rise from the abyss to tell the tale ;P
#19
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Washington State
Posts: 14,817
Received 2,469 Likes
on
2,161 Posts
Coupe 6MT Premium RAS
Yes I'm not saying they are the same but if you do assemble and mic them out the only difference is the brembos have a bore of 1.0626 while the non brembo is exactly 1.00. Stroke is the same on both for obvious reasons.
The biggest difference is the dual diaphram brake booster but that just provides more power assist and has nothing to do with what you were describing.
The bore difference is not great enough to provide any meaningful difference in pedal feel, plus many hundreds of people (maybe even thousands since you have to count the 350Z community) have done a brembo (or better) upgrade with the stock non-brembo MC and had no issues.
I'm fairly certain that there was air in your system somewhere, likely the caliper itself. It's not uncommon on a brembo (or better) caliper swap to require bleeding the brakes 3 or more times. Normally with a full caliper swap you bleed everything, then go around with a rubber mallet and whack all the calipers again, then bleed again, see how the pedal feels and continue to use the mallet and bleed method until it's a firm pedal.
That you bled the calipers multiple times due to swapping the MC is probably what actually got all the trapped air out of the calipers.
Possibly your original MC just died during the swap though. If it had 150k miles on it that wouldn't surprise me at all.
The biggest difference is the dual diaphram brake booster but that just provides more power assist and has nothing to do with what you were describing.
The bore difference is not great enough to provide any meaningful difference in pedal feel, plus many hundreds of people (maybe even thousands since you have to count the 350Z community) have done a brembo (or better) upgrade with the stock non-brembo MC and had no issues.
I'm fairly certain that there was air in your system somewhere, likely the caliper itself. It's not uncommon on a brembo (or better) caliper swap to require bleeding the brakes 3 or more times. Normally with a full caliper swap you bleed everything, then go around with a rubber mallet and whack all the calipers again, then bleed again, see how the pedal feels and continue to use the mallet and bleed method until it's a firm pedal.
That you bled the calipers multiple times due to swapping the MC is probably what actually got all the trapped air out of the calipers.
Possibly your original MC just died during the swap though. If it had 150k miles on it that wouldn't surprise me at all.
#20
The top master is the only master for the 06-07.
The bottom is the version that is used on the Brembo and non Brembo 03-05 cars. Yes I know the bore is either 1" or 1&1/16" for those masters. I'm saying that little master from the 06-07 didn't work with the Brembo calipers. Just saying, it was bled to our best ability, the pedal would go to the floor, let up, pump again and it would hold, firm. Let off and you'd have to do the same thing again to get it to work. Air is squishy, after second pump it was totally firm. Installed the correct master and it worked perfectly. Did the OE master fail, highly doubtful.
The bottom is the version that is used on the Brembo and non Brembo 03-05 cars. Yes I know the bore is either 1" or 1&1/16" for those masters. I'm saying that little master from the 06-07 didn't work with the Brembo calipers. Just saying, it was bled to our best ability, the pedal would go to the floor, let up, pump again and it would hold, firm. Let off and you'd have to do the same thing again to get it to work. Air is squishy, after second pump it was totally firm. Installed the correct master and it worked perfectly. Did the OE master fail, highly doubtful.
#21
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Washington State
Posts: 14,817
Received 2,469 Likes
on
2,161 Posts
Coupe 6MT Premium RAS
#22
Thanks, it was not without it's hurdles. The Motive unit would have been nice for sure. We did a combo of mightyvac at the caliper and manual bleeding to get it done. I'm guessing the real issue is the ABS pump being higher than the master cylinder. Made swapping the lines to the older master easy, but causes all the nightmares people have bleeding these cars.
I'd like to know if anyone with an 06/07 has successfully done a swap with the OE master cylinder. I guess anything is possible for why it didn't work for me, but just looking at the master had me questioning whether it would work. Then when it didn't and I did some research, I seen the difference in size. Since it had to be swapped it was only logical to get the Brembo specific part. Good thing is, it can be swapped to the earlier stuff.
I'd like to know if anyone with an 06/07 has successfully done a swap with the OE master cylinder. I guess anything is possible for why it didn't work for me, but just looking at the master had me questioning whether it would work. Then when it didn't and I did some research, I seen the difference in size. Since it had to be swapped it was only logical to get the Brembo specific part. Good thing is, it can be swapped to the earlier stuff.
#23
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Washington State
Posts: 14,817
Received 2,469 Likes
on
2,161 Posts
Coupe 6MT Premium RAS
#24
I just had the swap done using the OEM master cylinder and adding the Z1 master cylinder brace. Headed out this weekend to bed in the EBC pads and rotors if the rain will stop. No issues as far as I can tell.
#26
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: By the sea, Tx
Posts: 18,299
Received 1,486 Likes
on
1,221 Posts
G35 sedan w/ too much money in mods
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post