Hi All - I'm sorry if this topic has been covered already. I did a (quick) look thru the forum and couldn't find anything - there's a LOT to look thru

I run a '93 2.2vtec and was wondering if I can upgrade the calipers. I hear that I can fit the calipers from a Legend.

Question - Wot year(s) Legends am I gonna have to look for? Do I need any other hardware from the Legend (or anywhere else for that matter) to do the install on my Lude?

 

i'm not sure about the Legend but i'm positive you can fit the NSX calipers on the VTEC prelude rotors. The NSX i believe is the 92-95 year range (not completely sure)

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=474786

here you go dude, the swap is pretty easy depending on your own mechanic experience, but anyhow unhook the brake lines swap the calipers and bleed your lines. and you need the v-tec rotors so in your case your stock rotors will do fine.

 

are the calipers a direct swap or do you need anything else to go along to make the swap possible? What else do you need besides just the caliper to make the swap work?

 

you need 23T caliper brackets to go with your VTEC Prelude rotors, not sure if an H23 has the 23Ts

 

The bracket is the same. Si, VTEC, ITR! That's right the caliper is in the same place. ITR performance brakes will work on 5th gen preludes (5-lug) or 4th gens with 5-lug conversions.

 

If you have a 93 prelude vtec then all you need is the the legend calipers. I believe it's the 93-95 legend coupe or 94-95 sedan GS but if it's the two piston calipers than it's the correct one. The caliper will bolt right up with your vtec bracket. Some peoples say to install it in the original position ( right side on right side, left side on left side) but I installed my left on right and right on left. Installing it this way will help bolt the brake line up better and correct the bleed hole. If you're putting on a new set of pads than you won't need any shim but later on when the pads start to wear out, try to add a shim to the pad so the piston would have enough clarence to push the pad ( make a shim from a use brake pad). Hope this help.

 

If your going to mount the calipers Left to Right and Right to Left, I wouldn't plan on racing it to much. Since your putting the larger piston up front, the pad can bind and/or cause the pad to taper.

I bought a new pair of 4 piston forged Wilwood calipers (2.5lbs vs 10lbs). Less than $230. You'll need to make a custom bracket though.

 

I'd be worried about just upgrading the front, if you are going with something as extreme as 4 piston calipers. Aren't you changing the brake bias quite a bit ?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by preluda92 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The bracket is the same. Si, VTEC, ITR! That's right the caliper is in the same place. ITR performance brakes will work on 5th gen preludes (5-lug) or 4th gens with 5-lug conversions.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I thought the 4th Gen non-VTEC had slimmer rotors, if so, I think the bracket is smaller. I have a 5th gen, upgraded to the 28mm Legend rotors and had to upgrade my bracket as well.

 

You mean the rear brakes on a 4th gen do something anyway? I go through pads every 2,000 miles on the front (Hawk HP+) and I've had the same pads on the rear for nearly 100,000 miles. Maybe there is some wrong. Andi at Cobalt brakes thought that the rears might be glazed over.

 

yah you have something VERY VERY wrong with your brake setup... I'll find you an article and post it at the end of this.

Is this accelerated front wear after installing the wilwood calipers? if so, what you have done is changed the brake bias. What that means is your front brakes are doing SO much of the work that he back breaks are basically sitting there.

It's actually quite dangerous to drive that way, as the rear wheels may lockup before the front (though ABS should keep the front from locking up). This can cause you to spin out.

the page seems to be offline right now, but the website I found the brake bias article on was http://www.turnfast.com. It has a lot of great articles, one of which is an article about designing your braking system.

Here's a guy talking about his brake adventures on his RX-7. (he does mention willwoods and brake bias degradation)

Oh yeah...if your rear pads don't wear much and you are on a stock system, I suggest checking the calipers out. The pistons may be seized or something, also not good at all.

 

S, SI, and vtec caliper brakets are NOT the same. The vtecs are different to make room for the larger rotors. You need the vtec brackets for the swap.

The byas won't be off to bad. On fwd cars, the front brakes do about 90% of the work. Front engine rwd front brakes do about 75% and mid rears do about 55% of the work.

 

hey racerx

i was told other wise, from past post, that the prelude bracket was compatiable with the Legend calipers, correct me if i am wrong, but can you verify where you got your information from i would like to understand this upgrade 100% correctly cause i plan to do this in the very near future. thanks

 

2003+ MDX's also have 2-piston calipers that are the same as the 93-95 Legend LS and 94-95 Legend GS.

 

Hey guys, I plan on putting the 2piston legend calipers on my prelude vtec. can I use the Legend 5lug rotors on my 4th gen prelude, if I redrill the 4lug bolt pattern? That way I can use the ledgend bracket which are 28t and the caliper, Then I won't need any shimms and I will have even thicker rotors.

This is possible right? I don't see why it is not a problem.

 

I think the extra stress caused by drilling the rotors would make it prone to crack.

You should just get the vtec brackets(23T) and rotors, it'll work very well.

 

I am my own source. I could be wrong or have over looked something.

The S and SI brakes are exactly the same except for the mc's. Meaning, the front calipers and brackets are the same and the rotors are both 10.9" in diamiter. The si/ s rotors and caliper brackets may work with the Legend calipers, but the Legend calipers were designed for 11.9" rotors. Therefor if you used s/si brakets and rotors, the sweeping angles won't be right. However, the vtec brakes were designed for the same diamiter rotors as the Legends and thats why they're the best candidates for the swap. Plus the setup I have (vtec cal. brakets and Legend calipers) doesn't have much room inbetween the rotor and cal. Thats why I think you'd have clearance issues if you used S/ SI cal. brakets, vtec rotors, and Legend rotors.

Won't Be Beat: Where do you have this info from???

IA93vteclude: I wouldn't drill a 4 lug rotor into a 5 lug. That could cause rotor balence issues. If you want to use Legend rotors (which would cool better than the vtecs [less warpage]) you should do a 5 lug hub swap.

 

Ok, I understand what you guys are saying. But, technically the setup I am talking about will work, Right? (redrilling a 5lug to fit a 4lug using the ledgend rotors).

What do you guy think about Baer and Fastbrakes redrilling rotors on a bunch of their big brake applications?

 

Hey All
Man, wot a response! Thx to everyone for taking the time chat on this thread.

My original question was ' Can I upgrade the front brakes on my 93 vtec lude?'
The answer is a big YES! WooHoo!

As far as I can make out, for me, all I need is the dual pot calipers from a 92-95 Legend. I might be able to mount them LtoR and RtoL but this may upset my braking effiency. Understood

Now I cannot wait to source a set! Does anyone have the Honda part # for these calipers to help me track?

 

Get `loaded` calipers from Advanced. I can`t stress the loaded part enough. They`re from a Legend GS 6 speed.

If you swap the sides the calipers are supposed to be on, your pads will wear unevenly. I don`t recommend it.

 

Here's the article I read on upgrading brakes. It explains brake bias pretty well.