I've read before that the Legend front calipers are better or at least equal to the NSX calipers, and also that any time you swap one in, the same mods and parts are needed for both.

My question is, how could the same parts work for a swap, when the Legend has 23mm thick brake rotors (same thickness as TypeR rotors), while the NSX has 28mm thick rotors?

Also I have spec sheets for NSX, Legend, and Type R, but not Preludes, anyone that has this please let me know what thickness the Prelude rotors are. These are probably more for the tech section but I don't stray far from the EF area so I thought I'd ask here first. If it should be moved, so be it

 

Well I answered part of my own question, Preludes have 23mm thick rotors, just like the Legend and ITR.

 

"Rodney" has this done to his car you might want to talk to him about it.

 

I wouldn't mind finding this out either, bump

 

hmmm.. maybe they used different thickness of pads to compensate for the thicker rotor?

 

There are pad thicknesses differences between different models of cars. I work at a local auto parts store and there are some pads that are identical except for the thickness. It is a cheaper for auto manfacturers to makes pads different thicknesses than to make 2 different calipers which cost more to produce. It is a way to make the car cheaper, that is the reason so many Japanese cars have parts that can be swapped between them (very efficient)...something american auto manufacturers haven't done sice they are greedy.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bontke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There are pad thicknesses differences between different models of cars.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That may be true on some, but standard pad thickness for NSX, ITR, and Legend are all 11mm. NSX still has a much larger rotor thickness. Legend may have the larger pistons in the caliper, but I think there is more of a benefit to using the NSX caliper than originally thought, in regards to cooling.

 

I'm doing the NSX front swap now. I'm actually doing an all around brake swap moving to discs in the back.

Will the extra 5mm of clearance between the Prelude rotors and NSX Calipers be a problem at all? Or will it just allow my pads to cool faster?

 

The gap between your pad and rotor will go away the first time you press on the brakes and it will never return. The pad rides REALLY close to the rotor all the time. It it were drum brakes the shoe would come back off the drum because they have springs that make them do that. No spring action in a disk setup.

The extra metal found in the thicker rotor may be less prone to warpage. I doubt if there would be any noticable difference in cooling though.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4drEF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The extra metal found in the thicker rotor may be less prone to warpage. I doubt if there would be any noticable difference in cooling though.</TD></TR></TABLE>

More surface area on the vanes between the surface of the disc should provide a little better cooling, although heat wouldn't spread out quickly to the vanes like it would in aluminum so its hard to say how effective cooling the vaned section is.

Also on the old NSX EF brake setup on this forum, he custom ordered alcon brake rotors in the NSX standard thickness. Prelude/ITR rotors might fit in an NSX caliper, but it doesn't sound like that would be doing it "right" as Honda wouldn't have made NSX rotors thicker for no reason.

 

Would a thicker pad retain more heat since it has more pad material? It seems that a thicker pad would hold more heat (I am talking about stock pads), where as a thinner one would be able to disburse more heat. Race pads have more metal in them. They can transfer heat into the metal baking plate and brake caliper to stay cooler.

 

Hey 4dref do you think the extra 5mm of rotor could account for the material that needs to be machined from the Integra caliper mounts to perform the swap?
Maybe the hat portion is shorter on an NSX rotor pulling the rotor away from the caliper mount?

How much more does an NSX weigh over a Civic or Integra? The extra weight would need more clamping force to slow it down. The increased friction would probably need thicker rotors to handle the heat/clamping stress.

 

I've heard a full NSX side (caliper, pad and rotor) is 28lbs

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mr.Saturn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've heard a full NSX side (caliper, pad and rotor) is 28lbs</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry, I meant curb weight.

 

From what I gather, I need Prelude rotors redrilled, DA knuckles, and NSX calipers? Also need to machine about 5mm off so that they fit?... Next question is where can these calipers be found, anyone know prices from Honda or where to find them used?

 

this seems like a lot of extra work and money spent for the sake of saying " hey I have NSX brakes" Why not just go to fastbrakes.com ??

 

If things go right I can do it cheaper

 

nsx calipers r 2 pistons and most of the fastbrake kits r 1 piston. do this urself will b cheaper

 

How about we all work on our phonics and this will go on much better.

Don't worry on trying to find NSX calipers, since you will have to search hi and low or spend a crap load of money from the Acura dealership to get a pair. From what I have gathered only ~14 NSXs are sold a month in the continental United States so I would expect not many replacement parts to be found for cheap. Run on over to your local pull yard instead and grab the Legends and work from there.