Here are a few outdoor in the sun pics.

 

Colour looks fantastic, unfortunate the ending of the project isn't as exciting as the earlier parts.

 

Somewhat true. The unexpected cost of install, and the mushy pedal certainly affect my mood. But hopefully after they rebleed the system the brakes will be back to normal or better (because of the SS lines). I've made a follow-up appointment for next Monday morning to re-bleed the system. And eventually I'll come to peace with the money.

In the meantime, they are fcking beautiful, and that was the primary goal. Nailed that.

 

SS lines are more preventative than upgrade; you *shouldn't* notice a huge difference with street pads and normal road driving. Your 4th lap around Watkins Glen you'd be glad they were there LOL.

Bleeding these, especially with your Vossen open wheels - unless you've got Andre the Giant hands you could probably bleed them without removing the wheels or lifting the car. IE, have wife/daughter on the brake pedal and bleed away. Press-hold-open-close-up.

I'm interested in exploring using a pressure bleeder. I know a lot of Porsche guys gravity bleed - that is, hook up a hose to each bleed screw, run it up the bodywork and masking tape it down, and go away for a day or so to let all the bubbles out. I am not a fan of that method LOL.

 

I've been researching brake bleeding a lot since yesterday. While it would be nice and normal not to have this weigh on my mind, here I am. Anyway, I'm taking the car back to the shop on Monday, and if they can't resolve it then I'm on my own and will have to come up with a DIY technique that I'm comfortable with. Pretty sure Gravity Bleeding isn't it.

IDK if I can reach the backside bleeder valve without removing the wheel. Maybe. I would really like it if the shop did this without removing the wheels, since I just put the Vossens back on, and those wheels have never seen an impact wrench, not once in the last 10 years. I'd like to keep it that way.

 

Amazon has a relatively cheap pressure bleeder (looks like a pesticide/fertilizer spray bottle with a brake reservoir cap) that is supposed to be good for our cars and Zs.

I still bleed with the old hose-and-gatorade-bottle method. I've got two dedicated wrenches that are ratcheting box end wrenches (like GearWrench) that are reversible with a little lever, in 8 and 10mm - that way I pop it over the bleeder and can tighten or loosen without removing the wrench/hose.

 

Nope. Doesn't matter how small your hands are. However, if the car is up on a lift, then you can reach it from behind while the wheel is still on, easier than the outward bleeder for sure.

 

Just throwing this out from my fairly recent (8-9 months ago) experience with upgrading to the Z1 SS lines. I decided to tackle new pads/ SS lines with my dads 40+ year Acura master technician who had done brake work on my previous G35. Everything with the install went smooth without any hiccups. Once it was time to test drive the car, the brakes felt spongy with the pedal going almost to the floor. It turns out my master cylinder had blown near the seals. Apparently it has something to do with the ABS pump engaging which is why either the battery needs to be disconnected or the ABS switch needs to be disconnected prior to this project so the pump doesn't engage.

This may not be your particular case but I had similar issues with sponginess and they disappeared once the master cylinder was replaced. Maybe check with the shop to see if they disconnected the battery prior to the job.

Hopefully this helps.

By the way, the project looks great. Good color choice!

 

Hey ​​​​@BULL , not a perfect match, but close enough. Here's a pic:

 

Last step in this project, selling my old calipers.

https://www.myg37.com/forums/private...-calipers.html

 

Just got back from the shop. They re-bled the system, and caught air in the backside of two calipers.

Brakes are 100% now. Yay!

 

Last week I had the shop bag my old rubber brake lines, just because. And I thought to mention here, they were really worn out. The rubber looked and felt like it had been buried in the ground for years, and the blocks at each end were crazy corroded. That doesn't mean they weren't actually OK for use, it just means they looked and felt like junkyard crap. So I threw them out with the trash.

Now that the brakes are properly bled, I'm asking myself if the new setup with the SS lines is any better than before. And I honestly can't say. I don't think so. But with the old lines in my hands, for sure the brand new lines are better.

Lastly, for the last 3 to 4 years, every time I took the car out of the garage, there would be a loud squeal from the brakes as I rolled down the driveway and touched the brake pedal. It could be pretty embarrassing. However, the squeal would go away immediately so I never did anything about it. Well, with my new brakes installed, that squeal is gone. Also, that moment when I first back out of the garage after sitting all night, there would be this little "clunk" with the brakes, like they were stuck in place and releasing. And that behavior is gone too.

It's nice when small, annoying things just go away. The only thing I can attribute this to is that I rebuilt the cylinders on the new calipers. I mean, nothing seemed wrong with the original piston seals, but there was such an overwhelming recommendation that I replace them... perhaps that was the correct advice.

 

You shouldn't, in street driving, notice much if any difference. It's when you're diving into a corner braking at 9/10ths over and over and over again that they shine.

Having said that - braided steel lines really don't wear out, and rubber obviously does when exposed to the elements. So it IS an upgrade, albeit one of reliability long-term rather than performance.

Re squeal and clunk, those are common with working, but slightly sticky, calipers. So huzzah!

 

Indeed. Thanks, Mike.



[edit]

...and my old calipers were just sold to someone here doing a BBK upgrade on their AWD G.

Excellent. Hope he's happy with them.

 

Time to wrap up this thread with some final thoughts. In the grid below I’m listing every single thing that went into this project. Also note the column for “Essentials”, with suggested costs based on hindsight, assumptions and lessons learned. If you’re looking to do the same thing that I did, which is to end up with nicely powder coated Akebono calipers on a G that already has the BBK, you could save a LOT more money compared to what I spent.

Remember, this was a swap project, BBK for BBK. If instead you’re upgrading from non-sport calipers, you’re going to need the big rotors, sport brake pads, OEM pad shims, maybe brake lines (IDK about that), and you’re going to have to deal with the non-sport dust shields. And lastly, you’ll be needing wheels that clear the big front calipers. Upgrading is a much bigger project.




DONOR SET

In order to maintain access to your car while taking your time with all this, then start by finding a donor set. Akebono calipers are always available on eBay, but your minimum outlay will be $550 to $600 plus shipping, often for a cosmetically damaged set. However, I got lucky when my friend Mike sold me an old, twice-painted set for $300 shipped. That guy is a prince.

My point is, you should be able to sell your old calipers for the same price that you paid for the donor set. In big round numbers, figure $500 out at the start, and $500 back at the end. (Obviously money-back isn’t an option for a BBK upgrade.)



BRAKE LINES

I upgraded my original brake lines with a set of stainless-steel lines from Z1 Motorsports. After seeing my originals up close, that was probably a good move, but IDK really. It isn’t always necessary, so you make your own assessment.



INCIDENTALS

I had a lot of little purchases, some stupid, some necessary, and some because I just didn’t have the right tools. If you rebuild the cylinders and disassemble the calipers, you’re going to need an air compressor, and a torque wrench.

You might be tempted to get new bleeder valves, but I bet you can just clean up the ones from the donor set, assuming they’re available. Do not buy Z1 bleeders, they are not OEM and will not work well on the front facing sides. However, they will work just fine on the backsides, which is something I didn’t realize until I was done, because I’m slow that way, LOL.

You should probably get the piston rebuild kits (seals, rings and dust boots.) I hemmed and hawed on that for a long time, and finally gave in. Likely the right choice.

The pad plates and pins are sure to be pretty gross from your donor set. You could put in the effort to clean them up like I did, but a brand new set for all four calipers is only $25. Just buy them.

Now that I’m done, I strongly recommend rebuilding the cylinders on your donor set. It might seem a big deal up front, but once you get into it, things really aren’t complex. It just takes time and practice, and I believe the results are worth the effort. I mean, when are you ever going to have the opportunity to do that again?



POWDER COAT

You could rattle-can or paint gun, but the right advice is to get them professionally cleaned and powder coated. It’s the best way to paint parts like this. Cleaning can take a variety of forms… chemical bath, sand blast, bead blast, vapor blast, laser blast; whatever tech your painter uses.

However, regardless of kind words here in this thread, I am convinced that I didn’t need to paint the backsides, just the outwardly facing pieces. That could have easily saved me a couple hundred dollars in powder and labor.



INSTALLATION

If you’re a DIY guy, then by all means DIY the install and bleed your own brakes. And if you’re not a DIY guy, then shop around for the right installer at the right price. I respect my go-to shop, but they charge $160/hour for a bring-your-own-parts project. And unfortunately, they charged me for 5 hours on the lift. After tax, I spent $846 just to have the brake lines and calipers swapped and bled twice. It was a serious gut punch. I’m embarrassed about it, but what’s done is done.



FINAL THOUGHTS

Looking at these freaking gorgeous brakes, I absolutely love how this project ended up. However, I should have approached the installation better prepared and DIY the final swap. I’m fortunate enough with money to not have this project break me (no pun), but like I said once before here, I consider myself fiscally conservative, so it just hurt. Simply put, if you had told me I could be at the end of this project, with results that I love, for a whopping $1700, I would have laughed in your face and dropped it right there.

But I’ve also been saying for a long while that I needed a new car project, and this one occupied my thoughts for almost two months. Sometimes obsessively so, manifesting each step along the way. Just ask my wife about that, LOL. Throughout it all, I learned a whole lot, and came away with a great deal of personal satisfaction in what I accomplished. In the end, that’s kind of priceless.

Cheers!