Civic brake upgrade - HELP

[rmcdaniels]

I've been reading about upgrading my '95 Civic CX brakes and am now totally confused. I'd like to upgrade it to rear disks with Integra/Civic-EX/SI 10.3" fronts. Single piston Integra calipers would be fine. Can anyone tell me what I need to get or point me to a simple upgrade guide that is readable?

[STIBungy]

Try this one:

http://www.hybridgarage.com/tech/brakeswap.html

[boostedEG]

if you just use the whole front spindle/caliper/rotor and everything from an integra, it all bolts directly in.

same with the rear. just get the whole assembly.

if you use the whole assembly i seriously doubt someone with your knowledge will even need any instructions/guide at all. its pretty self explanatory.

[rmcdaniels]

Thanks, I've been looking at charts that have all the different knuckle/rotor/caliper/control-arm combos, etc. I can just buy a whole set of GRS brakes from a junkyard for a couple hundred bucks if that will have what I need and I'll figure it out from there.

[boostedEG]

yup.

if you mix and match it might give you slightly better brakes, i dont know, but i know you can just bolt on everything directly off an integra. including sway bars. and FWIW ls/rs/gsr all had the same brakes to the best of my knowledge.

and i am about 90% sure that the rear disks from a 90-93 teg will work just fine as long as you use a 94+ upper control arm. (your stock civic one should work too) the 90-93 brakes are easier to find in junkyards, especially at some of the cheaper junkyards.

[12seccivy]

When I did mine (95 cx)
I just swapped out the rear trailing arms and brake cables(from a 95gsr),added ss lines
and put a proportioning valve from a 95 si(ordered new)
also put stock sized cross drilled front rotors and PBR metalmasters on the front..
Brakes were a little noisier than stock,but had nice high pedal and stopped extremely good.. I will be doing the same on my 92 vx pretty soon..

[rmcdaniels]

I can get DA Integra brakes cheap, I'll have to get a set and see what works.

[B20badboy]

90+ integra will work even 4dr will work, I think mine are 4dr. You should buy the proportion valve from a teg as well, you can even swap over the master cylinder as well

[rmcdaniels]

A local guy is parting out his DA. I'll see if I can grab all of the brakes off of him.

[Kinematics]

Have you considered those Wilwoods? They sell on Ebay for like 500 bucks, and are 12" rotors. I don't know much about the quality, but for a complete aftermarket big brake kit, that's a very good price.

[rmcdaniels]

I thought about it, but on my coupe a set of cryo'd OEM rotors and some good track pads were plenty for road course use, and this car is going to be at least 500 pounds lighter, so I figure:

Junkyard DA or DC brakes - $150-$300

-Rear trailing arm with hub assembly
-Upper control arm
-Compensator arms
-Rotors
-Brake calipers and brackets
-Brake pads with shims
-Parking brake cables
-Master cylinder
-Proportioning valve


Brembo blanks - around $100

Cryo treating 4 rotors - $95

New track pads - $200


That setup also keeps my wheel options open to 15" rims if I find a good set (like some 15x8 Kosei K1's or the equivalent).

[Nate]

If you wanna do the MC from an Integra you have to do the Booster as well, the bolts angle opposite ways on Civic/Integra.

The MC to use is the 15/16 from 90-91 Civic EX. You should be able to get a reman one at the parts store, that way you atleast know it is good.

Oh, and don't put DA fronts on.

[rmcdaniels]

But I have the tiny CX fronts. I read that the DA knuckles are slightly longer, but that it can be corrected with a camber-adjustable upper control arm, which I will be getting anyway.

[M@]

How much does cryo treating the rotors help?

[rmcdaniels]

How much does cryo treating the rotors help?

It makes your pads aand rotors last much longer under track conditions. For a street car, it probably doesn't do much.

[M@]

But it would help for a drag car going 120+ and then having to come to a stop very quickly?

[rmcdaniels]

But it would help for a drag car going 120+ and then having to come to a stop very quickly?

Not really, just get better pads and bleed your system with good fluid. Road course is about 100x harder on the brakes than drag racing. I can destroy a new set of stock brakes in minutes if I am not careful.

[TedR719]

I used 94+ integra front and rears for my coupe. Also got the 40/40 prop valve off the 90-91 Civic EX or a non abs integra (94-97) will work. And a bigger master cylinder off a 95 Si.

[rmcdaniels]

I stopped by a local shop to drop off an engine stand that I had borrowed. It turns out a guy is trying to sell them a '94 LS that is scraped down one side, has a rod knock, and gear grinds, for $400. One of the techs there needed some drivetrain components, so he agreed to split it 50/50 with me, so I'll get everything having to do with brakes off of it for $200, he takes everything having to do with drivetrain, and we'll split up anything else we need from it. The shop manager said we could use the shop facilities after-hours if we strip it in one night, so looks like I got me some DC 'Teg brakes:)

[stu]

So do you just like hang around outside bowling alleys and car repair facilities waiting for good deals to pop up or what?

[rmcdaniels]

My wife says that I have "extreme" luck. It is either extremely good or extremely bad. A lot of really cool stuff just falls into my lap. Of course a lot of really bad stuff falls as well, kind of like getting a massive brain tumor 1/8 the size of my brain, then coming out of a very risky brain surgery with a very small chance of full recovery completely intact, no lasting effects or impairment, then getting shot in the leg with an Uzi, the bullet hitting my femur and fragmenting the bullet and Femur into hundreds of tiny shards, all of which surround my femoral artery and primary nerve bundle in a cloud of debris, but none of the hundreds of shards actually touches anything that would kill me (artery) or leave me crippled (nerve bundle). My whole life has been like that.

[stu]

Well.....okay.

[rmcdaniels]

TMI?

[12seccivy]

My wife says that I have "extreme" luck. It is either extremely good or extremely bad. A lot of really cool stuff just falls into my lap. Of course a lot of really bad stuff falls as well, kind of like getting a massive brain tumor 1/8 the size of my brain, then coming out of a very risky brain surgery with a very small chance of full recovery completely intact, no lasting effects or impairment, then getting shot in the leg with an Uzi, the bullet hitting my femur and fragmenting the bullet and Femur into hundreds of tiny shards, all of which surround my femoral artery and primary nerve bundle in a cloud of debris, but none of the hundreds of shards actually touches anything that would kill me (artery) or leave me crippled (nerve bundle). My whole life has been like that.

In light of what you just told us;

Just be careful when you have kids huh?:)

[forum]

In light of what you just told us;

Just be careful when you have kids huh?:)

he already does, scary thought eh?

[boostedEG]

then getting shot in the leg with an Uzi,

im kinda interested in hearing this story.

was it a random "caught in the crossfire" thing, or were you hunting with an uzi and had an accident?....... OR was roger a gangsta back in the day? :)

[rmcdaniels]

It was random, my roommate and I had a bunch of guns and we were out in the swamp shooting stuff with it. He thought he had emptied the clip, but it had just jammed (probably because of the DIY full-auto firing mechanism mod) and when he went to set it down on the seat of the jeep it went off again, shooting me and another guy.

[Nate]

Wow, how was the other guy? Were you mad at your friend?

[rmcdaniels]

The other guy was fine, the bullet just drilled through the outside of his thigh muscle. I wasn't too mad, but my roommate got all paranoid about it and greeted me at the door when I returned by aiming his .44 Magnum at me telling me to pack all of my shit and get out. I just left my stuff there and got out of there, not that I had more than a few hundred worth of stuff there anyway. Pretty much nobody hung around with that guy after that, made us all wonder if he didn't do it on purpose.

[Maverick]

I second this. I have personally used this MC and it bolted right up and the hardlines were just about in the perfect position.


The MC to use is the 15/16 from 90-91 Civic EX. You should be able to get a reman one at the parts store, that way you atleast know it is good.

[rmcdaniels]

Last night I pulled all the brakes and suspension off of a '94 Integra LS. It had ABS, so I pulled all the ABS equipment, brake lines, ABS controller, ABS computer, ABS wiring harness, relays, sensors, etc. I'm going to see if I can't get ABS set up on the hatch. It also had a set of coilovers, Neuspeed strut bar, new batttery, sway bars, 3xFat-Fives, and some other stuff I grabbed, not bad for $200.

[Nate]

I'm going to see if I can't get ABS set up on the hatch.

Sounds like a project.

Weren't a lot of Real Time cars disabling ABS on their cars? I'm not sure a 10 year old ABS system would be all that great for a track car. I guess it depends how you drive/brake.

[rmcdaniels]

If you are a very good driver, then you can do better than ABS at the track, but I am not yet a very good driver. It would also be nice and for rainy days, as I'll probably have some Toyo RA1's on the car that will get pretty ugly in the rain when they get down around 4/32". It's pretty easy to disable, just unplug one of the sendors and it reverts back to regular brakes, so if it sucks I can disable it and shop for a non-ABS MC/Prop-valve. I'll save all of my old brake lines.