02 Graphite GTS
Enthusiast
Dave\'s Big Brake Upgrade
I finally had some free time to do my brake upgrade.
After doing some research and talking with many people, I decided to go with the SRT10 Brembo calipers front and rear. I bought the entire package from Dave's Big Brakes.
Shown above are all the parts:
14" slotted and dimpled EBC rotors
SRT10 calipers custom powdercoated blue
Dave's big brake brackets
Stainless steel brake lines
14" emergency brake
EBC red pads
Brake fluid
I was originally planning on doing the upgrade in my garage at home,
but decided to do it at my shop since I recently put in a 2 post lift.
The lift made the upgrade soooooo much easier and in the end saved me a whole lot of time.
Once the car was up on the lift, I pulled the wheels off.
This is the stock rear brake with integral E-brake.
Stock front brake.
Both the front and rear calipers are bolted on with just 2 bolts.
Rather than trying to drain all the brake fluid out and removing all the old brake lines and caliper first, I decided to just unbolt all 4 calipers and hang them off the spring coils till I was ready to pull them off. This allowed me to pull off the stock rotors and do all the prep work with out having any residual brake fluid dripping all over the place from the open brake lines.
Shown above is the rear hub with the ears for the original calipers.
These ears need to be cut off and ground back in order for the rear brackets to be installed properly
I made the first cut using a sawzall with a Bi-Metal blade. It worked fine, but decided to finish cutting the rest of the ears off using a Porta-Band bandsaw which was really easy to control and quicker.
After cutting off the ears, I used a disc grinder to clean up the cut.
Once this was done, I pulled the 2 bolts which hold the bearing housing and positioned the rear caliper bracket. There is a small flashing spot that needs to be ground off the back side of the hub in order for the new bracket to sit flush.
Using the grade 8 bolts supplied, I torqued them down to secure the rear brackets.
The front spindles do not require any cutting, other than grinding the small flashing on the backside of the hub in order for the bracket to sit flush against the backside. The front brackets use 4 grade 8 bolts in the existing holes to secure them to the hub.
Once I had all 4 brackets mounted and torqued down, I installed the new rotors and slipped on the calipers. Since the SRT10 calipers do not have an integral E brake, a new E-brake had to be installed. It comes preassembled and was an easy bolt on item to add in.
Once I was sure that everything was fitted correctly, I pulled off the caliper and secured the steel braided lines and fittings. Once the new caliper was bolted in, I was ready to disconnect the old brake caliper and line. As soon as the old brake line was disconnected, I was able to connect the new steel braided line and had minimal dripping of brake fluid.
The fronts were done in the same fashion.
Special care must be taken to route and secure the E-brake line, Steel braided line and the Anti-Lock brake wiring. I found that after I had installed the wheels that the lines were rubbing against the inner rim of the wheel, so I had to go back and secure the lines so that they would not rub.
This is the backside of the front calipers.
Again special care must be taken when routing and securing the lines.
Everything was going smoothly till I discovered that one of the calipers had a stripped out hole.
My only real option was to repair the threading, so I drilled out the hole.
Tapped it to fit a special metric Heli-coil.
I carefully installed the Heli-coil, and machined the fitting face to be perpendicular to the threads of the heli-coil. It was a time consuming, but relatively easy fix.
Once all the calipers were installed, I flushed out all the old brake fluid and bled the brakes 2 times. Then I checked every connection for leaks and tightened any that showed signs of fluid.
I put on the wheels and checked to make sure I had enough clearance
The fronts caliper retaining nuts were extremely close to the inside of the wheel, so I filed them back to ensure that they would not rub.
The entire project took about 6 hours, (not counting the time to fix the stripped caliper).
It was a lot of fun to work on...and was very easy to do utilizing the car lift.
Finished pictures will be posted shortly.
I finally had some free time to do my brake upgrade.
After doing some research and talking with many people, I decided to go with the SRT10 Brembo calipers front and rear. I bought the entire package from Dave's Big Brakes.
You must be registered for see images attach
Shown above are all the parts:
14" slotted and dimpled EBC rotors
SRT10 calipers custom powdercoated blue
Dave's big brake brackets
Stainless steel brake lines
14" emergency brake
EBC red pads
Brake fluid
You must be registered for see images attach
I was originally planning on doing the upgrade in my garage at home,
but decided to do it at my shop since I recently put in a 2 post lift.
The lift made the upgrade soooooo much easier and in the end saved me a whole lot of time.
You must be registered for see images attach
Once the car was up on the lift, I pulled the wheels off.
You must be registered for see images attach
This is the stock rear brake with integral E-brake.
You must be registered for see images attach
Stock front brake.
You must be registered for see images attach
Both the front and rear calipers are bolted on with just 2 bolts.
You must be registered for see images attach
Rather than trying to drain all the brake fluid out and removing all the old brake lines and caliper first, I decided to just unbolt all 4 calipers and hang them off the spring coils till I was ready to pull them off. This allowed me to pull off the stock rotors and do all the prep work with out having any residual brake fluid dripping all over the place from the open brake lines.
You must be registered for see images attach
Shown above is the rear hub with the ears for the original calipers.
You must be registered for see images attach
These ears need to be cut off and ground back in order for the rear brackets to be installed properly
You must be registered for see images attach
I made the first cut using a sawzall with a Bi-Metal blade. It worked fine, but decided to finish cutting the rest of the ears off using a Porta-Band bandsaw which was really easy to control and quicker.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
After cutting off the ears, I used a disc grinder to clean up the cut.
You must be registered for see images attach
Once this was done, I pulled the 2 bolts which hold the bearing housing and positioned the rear caliper bracket. There is a small flashing spot that needs to be ground off the back side of the hub in order for the new bracket to sit flush.
You must be registered for see images attach
Using the grade 8 bolts supplied, I torqued them down to secure the rear brackets.
You must be registered for see images attach
The front spindles do not require any cutting, other than grinding the small flashing on the backside of the hub in order for the bracket to sit flush against the backside. The front brackets use 4 grade 8 bolts in the existing holes to secure them to the hub.
You must be registered for see images attach
Once I had all 4 brackets mounted and torqued down, I installed the new rotors and slipped on the calipers. Since the SRT10 calipers do not have an integral E brake, a new E-brake had to be installed. It comes preassembled and was an easy bolt on item to add in.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
Once I was sure that everything was fitted correctly, I pulled off the caliper and secured the steel braided lines and fittings. Once the new caliper was bolted in, I was ready to disconnect the old brake caliper and line. As soon as the old brake line was disconnected, I was able to connect the new steel braided line and had minimal dripping of brake fluid.
You must be registered for see images attach
The fronts were done in the same fashion.
You must be registered for see images attach
Special care must be taken to route and secure the E-brake line, Steel braided line and the Anti-Lock brake wiring. I found that after I had installed the wheels that the lines were rubbing against the inner rim of the wheel, so I had to go back and secure the lines so that they would not rub.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
This is the backside of the front calipers.
You must be registered for see images attach
Again special care must be taken when routing and securing the lines.
You must be registered for see images attach
Everything was going smoothly till I discovered that one of the calipers had a stripped out hole.
You must be registered for see images attach
My only real option was to repair the threading, so I drilled out the hole.
You must be registered for see images attach
Tapped it to fit a special metric Heli-coil.
You must be registered for see images attach
I carefully installed the Heli-coil, and machined the fitting face to be perpendicular to the threads of the heli-coil. It was a time consuming, but relatively easy fix.
Once all the calipers were installed, I flushed out all the old brake fluid and bled the brakes 2 times. Then I checked every connection for leaks and tightened any that showed signs of fluid.
You must be registered for see images attach
I put on the wheels and checked to make sure I had enough clearance
You must be registered for see images attach
The fronts caliper retaining nuts were extremely close to the inside of the wheel, so I filed them back to ensure that they would not rub.
You must be registered for see images attach
The entire project took about 6 hours, (not counting the time to fix the stripped caliper).
It was a lot of fun to work on...and was very easy to do utilizing the car lift.
Finished pictures will be posted shortly.
way better than I did 
You need to send this to Dan for our New mag. 
