Longterm Mr30 Brake "upgrade"

[Blue Dynamite]

my car: 1982 MR30 skyline

L24 engine: current 124hp at the flywheel.

standard MR30 brakes.

no steering upgrades as yet.

car is stock as a rock.

Weighs a good 1150kg's

over the next year i want to upgrade my cars front brakes at the very least. i dont care for abs, and am considering a disc upgrade for the rear probably r30hatchback discs as they will be compatible straight up. -that is unless r31 discs are significantly better.

but my real problem is that i dont know how i can upgrade my front brakes.

idea no.1 (1)*an idea i have at the moment is to buy some r32 discbrakes along with their calipers and strut casings. cut the strut casings off a little after the axel stubs and weld the rest of the top of the strut casings off an mr30 onto the axel stub.-getting the right heights for mr30 struts. then hope to god that my tires dont stick out and rub against the quaterpanels as i steer. what are your thoughts on this? any quotes on a pair of bare struts, disc brakes and calipers for the front of an r32/33?

idea no.2 (2)*i look into the sports model r30(DR30) and see whether the brakes used on these are much better. my only thoughts on this is that in order to get them, my only chance would be through highly expensive wreckers. the plus about having them would be that they should be straight up compattable. i.e. no cut and weld work. i dont think i've ever seen an advertisement for someone privately wrecking a dr30 skyline. this would be an excellent idea but i think that it might prove a bit too expensive and not as good for money as the r32/33 brake upgrade idea.

keep in mind that ideas on compatability to do with suspension are also highly appreciated. i'm looking for the best and most cheapest way to go about doing this because i know it's gonna cost me a shitload anyway.

Edited January 30, 2006 by Blue Dynamite

[Sick_R31]

90% that HR31 stuff will bolt up to a R30. just a few questions to confirm this

1) are there 3 nuts that hold the strut up on the strut tower underneath the bonnet?

2) what is the stud pattern on the M30? 4x114.3?

3) could you take a few pics of the front strut tops and behind the front wheels like lower control arms,castor rods and what brake setup there is on there now ?

If that all works out then you should be able to run a set of HR31 coilover on your M30 and be able to upgrade to any skyline brakes. all R32 - R34 skylines run a 100mm caliper spacing just like the HR31's. the parts that you would need would be R31 lower control arms, HR31 struts and what types of brakes you want.

all up should cost no more than $2000.

[DR30RULES]

90% that HR31 stuff will bolt up to a R30. just a few questions to confirm this

1) are there 3 nuts that hold the strut up on the strut tower underneath the bonnet?

2) what is the stud pattern on the M30? 4x114.3?

3) could you take a few pics of the front strut tops and behind the front wheels like lower control arms,castor rods and what brake setup there is on there now ?

If that all works out then you should be able to run a set of HR31 coilover on your M30 and be able to upgrade to any skyline brakes. all R32 - R34 skylines run a 100mm caliper spacing just like the HR31's. the parts that you would need would be R31 lower control arms, HR31 struts and what types of brakes you want.

all up should cost no more than $2000.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dont forget that R31 have a steering rack and R30 still use old steering box. If you are going to use R31 control arms you might as well get the whole engine crossmember changed and use the rack steering system, so all the steering geometry works, added bonus is you get rind for that crap free play on MR30 steering and get much better steering feel.

OR, DR30 (maybe MR30 as well) struts, they have the same 100mm caliper spacing, so most good brakeplaces could adapt something to fit for you.

OR, use DR30 front brakes. I heard they fit straight on and should be plenty for your current power levels with some good brake pads.

Cheers

[Blue Dynamite]

1.there are the typical 3nuts that hold the top of the strut in. come to think of it, they would probably hold the same diameter but i'll have to check this tommorrow. i have an r30 and an r31 so it'll be a quick check.

2.the stud pattern is the same as on r31 discs i believe, whether or not the r31 discs will slide onto the same axel stub is another matter.

GRRRR, still trying to get my hands on a digital snapshot camera so that i can take some pics! i have some spare mr30 struts already seperated so i'll take some pics of them and then some pics of how everything fits together -suspension as a whole, everything already on my car and some pics of the same angle - behind the front-tire of an R31.

i think that if i were to use r31 control arms i would definitely have to use an r31 crossmember because r31 control arms are significantly shorter. but then i cant put an L28 in for a future power upgrade without doing a really annoying cut n weld. i'm looking at eventually sorting out about 200hp N/A, but for the time being i'm just interested in sorting out my cars handling and i want it to be extremely good.

come to think of it, i dont think my steering really has much freeplay in it at all, nothing noticable at least. i've always felt a bit awkward with r31steering, seems too heavy, though can be good for provocation like that. my r30 skyline has powersteering and it's a bit watered down but i like the 2 rotations to each side steering ratio. have also gained a bit of a nack for feeling through the powersteering under circumstances of provocation with entries, so i'm pretty well happy with my steering at the moment, but i'll probably look into upgrading my steering rack all the same whilst i'm at researching everything else. i also want some positive camber and caster. but i'll get that just from lowering my car and modifying the radius rods and possibly control arms.

3.i think an idea to solve the control arm dillemma in fitting R31 coilover struts would be to do a cut and weld with r30 and r31 control arms, if that is a viable option, then i can add a bit more positive camber at the same time, whilst also allowing for a major brake upgrade. also, i would'nt have to change the crossmember because i could choose my control arm length in doing this.

the other alternative seems to be dr30discs + on Mr30 struts-assuming that the discs and calipers will match up outright, and DR30 coilovers. of course, if i can do a straight up R32 disc/caliper upgrade on my current struts then i'll just have that and DR30 coilovers.-assuming that the dr30 coilovers will fit onto mr30 struts. though i really wouldnt be surprised if r32 discs didnt fit onto mr30 axelstubs, if this is the case, then i'll probably have to look into the R31 idea.

all in all thanks for the help so far, this has been somewhat enlightening. if you have anymore idea's please dont hesitate to tell them to me. everything so far has been very useful to know. thanks. B)