Altima Vented Rotors

[fj20spl311]

WOW, if you don't have to do much to mount the caliper you have solved a lot of the problems upgrading to a vented disc! The machine work is minimal to say the least.

I agree This idea and 23yrRebuilds "cross over" idea make the conversion very simple.

As I recall, all I did on my maxima rotors (which may very well be the same)

I think the Maxima you used was 275 mm

was to reduce the outside diameter a bit, cut the rotor thickness down to match the spec for the 4Runner caliper, and hone out the center of the rotor so the Roadster hub would fit over it (instead of modifying the hub)... as I recall there was a clear "lip" of material on the rotor where the hub would fit through that was easy to remove with a grinding stone and a drill without having to worry about it being centered (because the lip edge was clear if that makes sense... it guided your work on how much to remove).

The first time I fit the rotor I bolted the roadster to the Altima rotor (flang to flang) using a 1/4" piece of 1/2 x .028 tubing to shim the larger hole in the Altima rotor to the 7/16 bolt and cut it with my die grinder and a straight cutter. I use the shank to ride on the roadster rotor as a guide. It worked great.

The hard part of the 4Runner conversion has been the need to modify the caliper mount... it was really a custom job. If the Volvo vented caliper bolts up to a Roadster mount that would be awesome and a VERY easy modification to our brakes. Great work!!! Really excited to see how this comes out.

Just need to make a spacer (I am going to use the ones I made for the Volvo Solid rotor calipers that are coming off. I am test fitting on my Yellow car, than I will exchange them over to the teal blue car.

[shifty]

I'm not clear on the need for the spacer for the wheels. Can you elaborate? Caliper needs spacer (washer) as in Volvo solid rotor conversion to center around centerline of braking surface.

Here's what I understand so far.

Roadster hub has 5mm cut from the rotor mounting surface. (this puts the centerline of the braking surface back to where the roadster rotor was?)

(Hub centric diameter was cut to 73.1mm to allow a wider choice of aftermarket wheels - not necessary for stock/wheels that already fit the front roadster hub)

Altima rotor has center hole enlarged to 2.993" to match roadster hub

Mounting bolts for rotor-to-hub need washers or shorter bolts.

Altima rotor needs the outside diameter reduced to 11.0500" - 11.1175" (280.67mm - 282.3845mm)

Volvo 240 Girling vented calipers need mounting holes enlarged to 1/2"

Modify calipers to eliminate dual circuits (drill between) or use machined manifolds (as in Volvo solid rotor conversion).

[fj20spl311]

I'm not clear on the need for the spacer for the wheels. Can you elaborate? Caliper needs spacer (washer) as in Volvo solid rotor conversion to center around centerline of braking surface.

Here's what I understand so far.

Roadster hub has 5mm cut from the rotor mounting surface. (this puts the centerline of the braking surface back to where the roadster rotor was?)

(Hub centric diameter was cut to 73.1mm to allow a wider choice of aftermarket wheels - not necessary for stock/wheels that already fit the front roadster hub)

Altima rotor has center hole enlarged to 2.993" to match roadster hub

Mounting bolts for rotor-to-hub need washers or shorter bolts.

Altima rotor needs the outside diameter reduced to 11.0500" - 11.1175" (280.67mm - 282.3845mm)

Volvo 240 Girling vented calipers need mounting holes enlarged to 1/2"

Modify calipers to eliminate dual circuits (drill between) or use machined manifolds (as in Volvo solid rotor conversion).

I think he has it.

The spacer is used on some aftermarket wheels ( I cut the hub even though I had already opened up my new wheels as these are the third set of wheels I have used on this car )

Altima rotor is 280 mm so the outside does not need to be cut.....At first I thought it would need to be cut, but when I tried it was fine.

I cut the hub 5 mm to put the inside face at the same location as stock. The less you cut the hub the more you have to space the caliper inward and the more caliper wheel clearance you have.

I believe that Gary put maxima rotors on without cutting the hub, I think he had to remove the shield. (maxima and altima rotors have the same offset)
So it looks like cutting the hub is optional, making it a very easy install.

You need longer bolts for the calipers, I would suggest you drill the head for safety wire or make a lock plate (I lost one of mine..OOPS)
Also on the caliper spacer I made one that covers both holes or glue them in place.

[shifty]

What are you doing for flex lines? The Volvo caliper is 3/8"?

[fj20spl311]

What are you doing for flex lines? The Volvo caliper is 3/8"?

I did not have to figure that out as I am converting from volvo solid to vented.

I am sure Earls has fitting and lines.

Phil

[shifty]

OK - calipers and rotors in hand. Initial eyeballing looks good!

[shifty]

Parts are at the machine shop - hope to get them back tomorrow!

[Blinds04]

Doing some research on rotor thickness, this is what I found.

2000 Altima rotors
min thick: 20mm


1974 Volvo 244GL rotors
ATE
min thick: 22mm


1974 Volvo 244GL rotors
GIRLING
min thick: 20mm

I found the info on RockAuto's site.
Which calipers do you guys have?
I'm guessing it would be best if you can find the GIRLING calipers

BTW: RockAuto's clearing out Beck/Arnley girling calipers loaded for the solid rotors for $26.89 each right now

[fj20spl311]

I'm guessing it would be best if you can find the GIRLING calipers

BTW: RockAuto's clearing out Beck/Arnley girling calipers loaded for the solid rotors for $26.89 each right now

We are using the Girling Vented Caliper Its the correct 3" bolt spacing, just need to drill for a larger bolt.

(I think, I don't know for sure) The Ate is not the correct bolt spacing. Its also for a thicker rotor.

[greydog]

Leigh-I can chime in on the flex lines as I believe the Volvo Vented caliper and the Volvo solid caliper are the same.
I ordered the lines as listed in the Wiki from Pegasus. Get the 3/8-24 female to #3 AN male adapter to connect to the roadster line. Instead of the adapter fitting that would bolt to the brass manifold, I bought a #10 x 1 male to 3AN male adapter.
Everything connected nicely until I discovered that the flex line would have to turn 90 degrees to connect to the caliper fitting which now points at the front of the car. That connection will push the line into the bumpstop and very near the coil (not good). I've abandoned the idea of a straight on connection to the caliper and decided that a banjo fitting arrangement is best because it will allow for the caliper to hose connection to point directly at the engine block (thus a straight line to the chassis hard line).
Jeg's lists a 3/8" banjo fitting with a short nipple, two washers and a 10mm x 1 banjo bolt as a kit; I have a couple on order.
Parkrose Hardware has nice allen head plugs to fit the "extra" port.
BTW, I had no trouble cross drilling the solid calipers using a long 3/16" drill (I have a set of 6" long drills from 1/16 to 1/4 left from my RC Airplane days).
Dan

[shifty]

I got the parts back from the machine shop - they ended up being twice the cost they initially "quoted". So this is definitely NOT saving me any money. (Well maybe the $250 for new roadster rotors).

I had 5mm removed from the back of the hub - and it will require a spacer for the stock wheel and probably for the 14" Enkei Compes that I might use.

I'm using a 2mm spacer to move the caliper inboard - if I could go 1-2mm more I would not need the wheel spacer. Part of the caliper hits the face of the rotor if I use a 3mm spacer.

Only removing 2-3mm from the hub might be better. This moves the rotor and caliper inboard and gives the wheel more clearance.

Removing the dust shield may allow it to fit without machining the hub, but will require a much thicker spacer for the caliper (~7mm thick).

[shifty]

So, not only did Schnell - http://www.schnellautomotive.com/-" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; gouge me on the machine work, but in that extra hour of thumb-twiddling - they failed to notice that one of the rotors was warped. Old, stupid or evil - who knows?

I found a good shop to turn the rotors - the local Baxter Auto did a great job.

I also got to check out two custom hydraulic shops in Portland. One could not be bothered to tell me if they even carried banjo bolts over the phone, the other made custom hoses for me while I waited - and they were cheaper than any other source!

I have manifolds for the Volvo calipers that I bought years ago. They were intended to use an adapter for the 3/8 - 24 inlet on the manifold to convert to AN fittings for stainless lines. I thought I would be able to use stock hoses, but the manifolds are not deep enough. Premiere Rubber shortened the fittings on the new hoses so that they will fit nicely.

I'm going to have to use a wheel spacer and I had to get longer wheel studs - you can see how this stuff snowballs!

But, I'm getting closer!

[shifty]

I dug a stock hub out of the parts pile and it will not fit with the vented rotor - even with the heat shield removed.

Looks like 2mm removed from the hub face is a good starting point.

Everything is mounted and new pads are in place - I just have to do the flex lines and bleed. More later....

[exit64]

Hurry up, already.

[mklotz70]

Hi guys,
Some of you know me from the Ratsun site, most here probably won't. I've been working with shifty(Leigh) on this particular upgrade. He came to me to try to figure out a way to compensate for his hubs being machined a bit much....about 2mm, too much. After looking it over, I had a pretty good suspicion that the bearing spacers I had designed for the 411 disc kit would work for this setup. Turns out I was right. I've put the spacer on with a stock hub and a Altima rotor(center opened to mount) and the dust shield in place and it clears. Basically, the spacer replaces the spacer that is already on the spindle so it pushes the entire hub out. I then use a new Dorman spindle nut that is a bit shorter than stock so that the cotter pin will go in. I still have to figure out the caliper spacer, but the biggest hurdle was getting the hub/rotor to clear. I still need to do the CAD work for the bearing spacer and the caliper spacer(once I've got it designed), then I can get quotes for each. Once I've got the quotes, I can set a firm price, but I'm guessing this kit will not be any more than $150. It can vary greatly depending on just how much the CNC work is going to cost.

I guess I'm posting this to get an idea if there's any serious interest or not. If it's just one or two guys, then I'll simply machine the parts manually and call it a day. If there's a lot, then I'll look into having them cnc'd. What I'm trying to avoid is a situation similar to what I've got right now with the truck kits and 411 kits. At least 6-7 guys pm'd/emailed about how much they wanted a kit and asked me to let them know when I had made another batch. Now that I've got about $2000 of my money tied up in the kits, none of them are responding. If there's interest in this kit, I will proceed with getting the quotes. Once I have a price set, then I will ask for at least enough prepaid orders to cover my hard costs so that I'm not out any money. Anyway......

I've got the caliper on order, so I should be able to figure out the caliper spacer in the next couple of days. I'll probably post up more info and pics if there's interest.