Bluehands Mike Brake Conversion Kit

[WHFred]

I noticed on the Sin City Datsun site that they have for sale a conversion kit by bluehands mike klotz that adapts altima rotors and volvo calipers to work on an SRL. The rotors need some machine work to have the center be 76mm and the calipers need their mount holes opened up to 1/2" diameter.

https://sincitydatsuns.com/store/p313/D ... _swap.html

Other than the aforementioned modifications to the rotors and calipers, is there anything else I need to know? Does anyone else have experience with this kit?

[spyder]

Someone found a single hole volvo caliper so wouldn't need the brass adapter. I learned of it after I converted mine.

[SLOroadster]

I'm still wondering why people bother? Way too much effort for zero gain. Just run the stock setup with good pads and the car will stop better than your modern daily driver.

Will

[Mochi]

I'm still wondering why people bother? Way too much effort for zero gain. Just run the stock setup with good pads and the car will stop better than your modern daily driver.

Will

I will say that yes the volvo conversion will not net you more power. But if you want your cake and eat it too, you need pads that will give you friction from cold and will not taper when hot. The only way to do that is go with a modern caliper with modern pad material/selection. Thats the main reason I went with my wilwood setup. I can have power from the first corner out the driveway and when i get to the canyons i can have power thats the same and not worry about "warming up the brake".

[spyder]

Vented rotors on mine didn't fade, stock did.

[funkaholik]

I used the Blue Hands Volvo conversion kit and there is one more modification that needs to be made. There is a spacer on the spindle against which the inner wheel bearing rests, and it needs to be removed and replaced with the new spacer that is provided in the kit. This is necessary to center the rotors in the Volvo calipers. I had a local machine shop do this for me. You can see the spacers clearly in the pics on Mike's page:

http://www.bluehandsvideo.com/311-roads ... e-kit.html

The ABS calipers that don't require a manifold are getting harder to find. Try RockAuto or a local parts store. You are looking for the calipers that fit a 1992 Volvo 240 with ABS.

I also had some brake line interference due to the angle that the line leaves the caliper and I solved it with some parts that can be seen on another page of Mike's site:

http://www.bluehandsvideo.com/caliper-options.html

The thing I like about Volvo brakes is that they're cheaper than the Datsun stuff (although they're now getting hard to find, they were once plentiful), and several different pad compounds are available in the pad size. Some people argue that there's no difference in braking, but if you put the Volvo pads next to the stock Datsun pads, the surface area is considerably larger. I don't see how that wouldn't translate to better braking. Without doing side-by-side braking tests, however, it's all conjecture.

[funkaholik]

I will say that yes the volvo conversion will not net you more power. But if you want your cake and eat it too, you need pads that will give you friction from cold and will not taper when hot. The only way to do that is go with a modern caliper with modern pad material/selection. Thats the main reason I went with my wilwood setup. I can have power from the first corner out the driveway and when i get to the canyons i can have power thats the same and not worry about "warming up the brake".

What pads are you using that work so well both cold and hot? Sounds like a great street compound.

[SLOroadster]

I'm still wondering why people bother? Way too much effort for zero gain. Just run the stock setup with good pads and the car will stop better than your modern daily driver.

Will

I will say that yes the volvo conversion will not net you more power. But if you want your cake and eat it too, you need pads that will give you friction from cold and will not taper when hot. The only way to do that is go with a modern caliper with modern pad material/selection. Thats the main reason I went with my wilwood setup. I can have power from the first corner out the driveway and when i get to the canyons i can have power thats the same and not worry about "warming up the brake".

Incorrect. I've run KFP carbon/kevlar pads for 20+ years and they are great cold, and great hot. Yes, they take a serious bedding in session before they really stop, but once done, they stop hot or cold. I've run the gold compound on the street and track literally for decades. Stock rotors and calipers.

The Wilwood setup is nice because it saves weight, but the caliper flexes, so is it really a gain? You also need 15 inch wheels (Not really an issue now since good 14 inch tires are NLA. )

Will

[Mochi]

I'm still wondering why people bother? Way too much effort for zero gain. Just run the stock setup with good pads and the car will stop better than your modern daily driver.

Will

I will say that yes the volvo conversion will not net you more power. But if you want your cake and eat it too, you need pads that will give you friction from cold and will not taper when hot. The only way to do that is go with a modern caliper with modern pad material/selection. Thats the main reason I went with my wilwood setup. I can have power from the first corner out the driveway and when i get to the canyons i can have power thats the same and not worry about "warming up the brake".

Incorrect. I've run KFP carbon/kevlar pads for 20+ years and they are great cold, and great hot. Yes, they take a serious bedding in session before they really stop, but once done, they stop hot or cold. I've run the gold compound on the street and track literally for decades. Stock rotors and calipers.

The Wilwood setup is nice because it saves weight, but the caliper flexes, so is it really a gain? You also need 15 inch wheels (Not really an issue now since good 14 inch tires are NLA. )

Will

I cant say that I have tried all the pads for the stock calipers so there is that and I have yet to take the roadster to a road course just autocross. I think this is coming down to personal preference. I gave the stock calipers a shot with two different compounds but still could not get the performance that I prefer. When I switched to the wilwoods the support that I got from them and actual data and graphs far outweighed spending money blindly on pads that I dont know and time trying to get them to work.