LIke the topic says, i got it installed today with incredible ease after purchasing a 1/2" drive ratchet and 6pt 17mm socket. I'll post up pics of the install later on jus for archive's sake. And they work really really well, my roomate says better than the feel of his oem. Of course, i'm not saying that the improvement or feel is that of say a larger brake kit so don't try and jump on this to flame.

But one concern is that i only took it for a brief run round the block and there was a little smoke coming from the break area and i didn't kno wat it was. It was really really light in color almost hard to see like thin white cigarette smoke, and it was pretty much odorless so i kno it wasn't my pads or tires or anything. I think its probably just burnin thru maybe the top layer of whatever prep chemical brembo may have applied to them.... but dunno. Any ideas? Either way, for that run, my brakes felt really good. for the brembo blanks.

 

you need to break them in properly first.

//Alex

 

What is the procedure for properly breaking them in?

Joel

 

Most disc makers coat the discs in zinc to prevent rust when theyre laying on the shelf in some shop, so the smoke is just the zinc burning off and nothing to worry about. You dont really need to break new rotors in, just take it easy braking till they are a week or so old. I fitted brembo cross drilled/slotted and waited 500miles before i braked hard on them, but that was also with new pads

 

congrats on finally getting them installed.. I remember your other thread where you couldn't get the caliper bolts off... but isn't it raining in Riverside? its raining pretty hard here (near LA) anyways...

the smoke is the top/manufacturing coating burning off... they usually coat it w/ some material as a rust inhibitor so that when its shipped to you its not all rusty (like they will get after you wash your car)... you should be easy on them for a few hundred miles.. I went easy on mine for about 500 miles and let them break in .. I did the pads (Hawk) and rotors (Brembo) at the same time... I took it easy for the first 500 miles but they stopped really well IMO...

 

if they have a zinc coating, is it ok to paint over it when first installed to prevent rust.. or will the coating mess up the paint

 

theres no point because when you use your brakes it will scrape off or burn off the paint... the reason they put the coating on is so that you don't receive a set of rusted rotors when new in the box and be like wtf? and then complain....

after you install and use your rotors they will have a rust like coating after you wash your car or if you don't use it for a couple of days... then when you use and apply the brakes that rust like layer will be off and they will look silver color again...

 

i meant like the parts of the roto the pad doesn't touch.. edges & hub area that normally rust up.. i would try to paint those beforehand..

 

Yea i do live in riverside, and it is raining here, but it wasn't yesterday when i put those suckers on. And the 1/2" drive made an incredible difference, but that bolt was still on extremely hard, my roomate did one side and i did hte other, but on the other side he actually had to put his foot up against the fender wall near the jacking point to get more force on the bolt.

HOpe it doesn't make a difference that i broke kinda hard a couple times when i was first testing it out. But i'll go easy on it for now.

 

I'm sure alot of high-temp paints can stand up to a considerable amount of heat, but brake discs? They can get really REALLY hot! Besides paint flaking off, it seems that heat resistant paint would inhibit heat dissapation off of the rotors. (mainly on the edges, the hub is covered by the wheel mostly anyway)

I dunno, I could be wrong, I never done it before but you are not going to find me painting any part of my rotor.

 

Yup... that sucker was a bitch getting out... And yeah... i was pretty rough with the brakes... the 5 beers didn't help either... JK

 

that reminds me ... hey scott... was it u or grant who left these two UNFINISHED beers sitting infront of my monitor?? was it really 5? haha.. naw jus playin... but really whose beers are these? cuz i finished all of mine.

again... brembos rock! recommend these to all... so scott.. when we gonna get to do this to ur car????

 

oh sorry I read/misunderstood your post.. anyway I think I recall reading someone was going to paint their rotors (the part the pad doesn't touch..like by the hub).. was it integra-modder? I forget who.. but I do remember reading a post where someone said they were going to paint them... I just left mine unpainted...

 

How much did the whole setup cost you (brembo rotors and Hawk pads)?

 

I don't remember the exact amount.. but it was around $300... w/ tax and shipping (the rotors are heavy) for 2 front rotors, 2 front pads, 2 rear rotors, set of rear pads... then I went to autozone and got a tall bottle of valvoline synpower dot 3/4 for around $5...

 

um... am i the only one reading this thread??? there is NO reason to paint rotors . i really hope you misspoke and meant painting the brake calipers. in that case, you can buy high-temp paint from an auto store, be sure to clean all the grease off of them first. take your time.

 

good job

 

hey pdcdragon what year is your car? is it a gsr? LS? automatic or manual..

 

His car's a 94 LS auto.


[Modified by integobsession, 12:00 AM 2/12/2003]

 

dope...your car looks like a gsr...hey by any chance you around la crescenta? ive seen a exact car like yours on foothill blvd.. not sure..

 

hey that is me... jus don't go n jack.. or gues who i'll suspect... naw.. but yea it is me. Thanks for hte compliments. But i have very little done to it, everything i have done to it is pretty much wat u can see for yourself... no cash... thats the life of a college student.

 

hahah dope...yeah college equals money...but yeah i know few peeps from there...my homboys dongseng drove a same car like yours his was a gsr doh but same color everything..went to highschool at cv dunno if you know him...he got a widebody prelude now..hehe small world man

 

ur talkin bout jeff choi? yea... i remember gettin oil stains on my jeans from sittin in the back of his ride when he had no rear seats on it.. haha.

He had a greddy pe on it at the time i think... then he had a legend... mr2...


[Modified by pdcdragon, 1:23 AM 2/12/2003]

 

Poor college student life

 

hahahaahh yea thats him LOL..