With the 300ZX backing plate in place, bolt everything back up, including the large nut and bolt that will eventually hold the 300ZX parking brake assembly in place.
Before re-installing the hub assembly, you’ll want to remove and replace the stock parking brake cables. The driveshaft has to be dropped in order to get at the cables.
If this isn’t a sorry sight I don’t know what is! Quite the battle ensued here, it took a lot of patience and swearing to extract the cables from the lever mechanism.
Once they’re freed, pull them through the back side of the subframe and out.
Here’s a good look at the difference in length.
The R33 cables will have brackets mounted to them that aren’t inline with the 240 mounting spots. You can bend the brackets off the 240 cables and line them up on the R33 cables but mine were coated in rust so I gave up on them completely and just removed the R33 brackets so they wouldn’t get in the way.
Now you can re-install the hub and LCA assembly back onto the car.
Much like the 240 cables came out, the R33 lines will slide back in and follow the same route. The only installation difference will be at the hub where the cable is bolted directly to it.
Lay out the parking brake setup that will be attached to the hub. This photo shows the orientation of the pieces and how they’ll mount up.
The brake pad shoes will install easily, the other parts will take a bit more finesse. There’s very little room between the hub and pads so fitting the retainers and spring clips can take a few tries. Don’t get too flustered, you’ll get it eventually.
When you’ve got everything in place the rotor can finally be installed. Now is a good time to set the e-brake. You don’t want the shoes too loose otherwise they wont make contact with the rotor and the parking brake will never work but you also don’t want them so tight that the rotor and hub won’t spin freely. Play with the adjuster (2nd photo above) until the rotor slides on snug but the hub still rotates freely.
Install the 300ZX rear brake caliper, doesn’t it already look so much beefier then the stock 240SX setup? That’s a hell yeah!
There are conversion hard lines available from PDM Racing that eliminate the need to re-use the stock 300ZX lines but like most things I realized I should have bought them BEFORE I started the installed not during. Therefore, the stock 300ZX lines were used. I’ve heard a few conflicting stories that they don’t bolt up but as you can tell from the photo above that mine worked with adequate clearance.
And that, my dear Speed Academy fans is a wrap! Of course, you’ll still need to bleed the brakes and make sure you’ve torqued down all the nuts and bolts but all the hard work is done. The 300ZX rear brake conversion looks right at home doesn’t it?
Paired with a proper front big brake upgrade and upsized brake master cylinder, this setup should be more than capable for heavy track use.
Check out the video for this install HERE
