Lance I just read through your entire thread, and I have to say nice work man. Perseverance pays off in the end. Love your car!

Thanks... I like to say that it keeps me out of the bars... but really I just like making something better with my own hands and this just happens to be my canvas as of late.

Best part is, I get to drive it, hard...after I finish making it better.

With Ron Sutton's help, we picked out some brake upgrade parts for Barney and I got them installed this weekend.

We decided to upgrade the front calipers to the larger metric calipers with the 2.75" piston and use some EBC YellowstuffR pads. This should increase my front brake force from 1804 pounds with the R4 pads and stock calipers to 1973 pounds with EBC pads which will hopefully be a bit more street friendly while at the same time work well for autocross. If I want more braking or if the fronts tend to lock up significantly faster than the rears I can upgrade the rear pads down the road.

Best part was, this was all bolt in parts, no modifications or geometry adjustments needed after the upgrade.

Here's the stock D154 caliper with a 2.5" piston

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--...o/DSC04308.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-E...o/DSC04309.JPG

And here's the new Afco Large Metric caliper with a 2.75" piston

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F...o/DSC04307.JPG

They aren't sexy looking, but were bolt ins that didn't require any other modifications and provide a significant increase in braking force.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U...o/DSC04310.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U...o/DSC04312.JPG

There ya go Lance!


I personally put on big brakes years ago on the Nomad... and I only did it for looks really... since the car never saw any action... and I used to laugh about all the "show cars" that began putting on these huge multi piston drilled and slotted systems. Guys used to ask me about my brakes and my smartass response was that all those big brakes didn't mean squat because the two piston / single piston combo I took off were MORE THAN capable of overcoming the tires traction.

Obviously for racing etc -- there's the issue of heat dissipation and blah blah blah --- but for the street and mild track use... I really wonder how much brake we really need or use.

“I spent half my money on gambling, alcohol and wild women. The other half I wasted.”


― W.C. Fields

yeah i tell my wife that, she just laughs. After building god knows how many cars, bikes, guns, etc i don't need to make excuses anymore

I knew I liked WC Fields for a good reason !

I dealt with a power steering fluid leak most of last year, it appears that I overheated the fluid during a track day early in the year and cooked an O-ring or two in the process. So I removed the PS pump and warrantied it out for a new one...and last night reinstalled the new one with new O-rings on the high pressure line. I also plumbed in a Power Steering fluid cooler at the same time. A friend found the cooler for me, I believe it came off of a mid 80s GM truck. I didn't get to take too many pictures during the install as I was in a hurry to get it done so I could get a road test in of the new brakes and wheels and tires (more on that in a minute) while the weather is nice. Here is the cooler hanging from the bolt that holds the center brace of the core support in front of the AC condenser.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S...191946_362.jpg

This is taken with the radiator and condenser laid back towards the engine and shows the PS cooler mounted.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...191924_334.jpg

The cool thing was there was room where the AC lines come out of the air box to run the PS lines so I didn't have to cut any holes in the air box. Now the cooler is right in the middle of the air box and with the electric fans on they'll draw maximum amount of air right over the cooler all of the time which should help it do it's job real well.

All I have left to do is flush the old fluid left in the steering box out and fill with new fluid and that job is complete.

Then I can road test my tires and brakes...

Last years track tires vs this years...

Old track tire on the right, new track (and everyday) tire on the left

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H...124549_406.jpg

Overall dimensions are just about exactly the same, the Falken has a half inch extra tread width though (hope they fit).

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I...124519_426.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-r...124222_696.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-k...180055_860.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-w...180120_485.jpg

I'm betting...that these street tires give me just about as much grip and stability as the used Hoosiers did last season. Plus, they look a TON better and I can drive them to and from the racetrack.

Not to scare you --- or anyone else for that matter.... just sayin'


STREET / Track tires off the R8 after ONE DAY of tracking it.


I was lucky to be able to replace all 4 -- let alone be able to "drive home".




http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...EMA/file-3.jpg