Shod the ER34 with Volk Racing TE37 and slap on the Endless brakes??

This month seems to be the topic of footwork for the ER34. We've been talking about tyres, wheels, brakes and suspension. :)

Well, since we are at this topic, let me wrap up this month's blog entry on the discussion of possible replacement wheels for the ER34.

What got me thinking was that the good folks at JDM Auto Link have a set of used Volk Racing TE37 enroute from Japan. What's so special about the wheels is that it's finished in one of RAYS optional colour.

The standard colour of TE37 is just bronze and white. I mean, only two colours? Yes, only two colours are available off the shelf. However, they do carry some optional colours which needs to be ordered from their factory. The list of optional colours are:-

Optional Colours:
Mercury Silver
Platinum Silver
Titanium Gunmetal
Hyper Flat Black
Diamond Black
Takata Green
Gold (aka Top Secret Gold)
Magnesium Blue
Orange
Chameleon Blue/Purple

And they also have some special edition colours as below:-

Special Edition:
Black Time attack with red lip TE37 only
Seibon edition (similiar to black/red time attack) TE37 only
Silver Green time attack TE37 only
Blue Yellow time attack TE37 only

Before we go into the specs of the possible new wheels, let take a look at my journey from the stock ER34 wheels to my current Work Emotion XD9. I took me a long while to decide what wheels to shod the ER34 with in order to ditch the fugly standard items.

After many hours, days, weeks, months of research, looking at pics, etc ..... only then I decided to go for the Work Emotion XD9. I was very careful with my wheel order, thus with advise from Work I got the recommended specs for the ER34. Now lets look at what difference did it make to the ER34 on stock versus the Work Emotion XD9.

Stock ER34 wheels specs:-
17 x 7.5J PCD +40 - Front
17 x 7.5J PCD +40 - Rear

Work Emotion XD9 specs:-
18 × 8.0JJ+35 - Front
18 × 9.0JJ+38 - Rear

With the switch to Work Emotion XD9, the ER34 had the below changes:-

FRONT
Inner Clearance: 1mm LESS
Outer Position: EXTEND an extra 11mm

REAR
Inner Clearance: 17mm LESS
Outer Position: EXTEND an extra 21mm

Pic 1: This is how Volk Racing TE37 in Mercury Silver looks like

Now if I shod it in with the Volk Racing TE37s that have the below specs:-
18 X 8.5J＋30 - Front
18 X 9.5J＋40 - Rear

The ER34 will have the below changes from what it is currently:-

FRONT
Inner Clearance: 1mm LESS
Outer Position: EXTEND an extra 11mm

REAR
Inner Clearance: 8mm LESS
Outer Position: EXTEND an extra 4mm

After checking my wheels yesterday, I have the extra space up front and rear to move the wheels outwards a bit. That means those Volk Racing TE37s will be perfect for the ER34. PLUS I will be able to fit in my Endless 6 pot brakes. Woohoo!!!

But but but I have not really decided to go for it tho. Decisions ..... decisions. I am still ok with selling off my Endless brakes at this moment. So yeah, in a bit of a dilemma now. :(

Well if you are interested in those wheels, you can check it out with JDM Auto Link. :)

What Endless Brakes?

Pic 1: Endless 6 pot brakes clearance

Yes I can't wait for those lovely Endless 6 pot brakes to be installed into the ER34!!

Two days ago, I try-fitted in the Endless 6 pot but was utterly disappointed that there is a clearance issue. Between the caliper and the inner wheel, there's just about 2mm of clearance. The clearance is so close that even the wheel balancing counter-weighs couldn't pass through the gap. Yes it's that small. With the balancing counter-weighs removed, even the residue two-way tape underneath touches the caliper as the wheel is spun around.

Pic 2: It will hit on the balancing counter-weighs at the bottom left of the picture

A couple of guys said it's ok as long as the caliper does not touch any part of the wheel as it turns, but me being a little bit more careful gave it a hard thought and conjure out some worst case scenarios. I was thinking of:-

- Wheel flex under hard load (eg. while cornering) could have physical impact with the calipers
- A bent wheel (if I hit a massive pot hole) could also have physical impact with the calipers
- If a pebble/stone gets lodged between the caliper and the wheel, the inner wheel would have been scratched to kingdom come.
- etc.....

All of these thoughts made me realise that I cannot be driving with full confidence with these in my head. It is just not worth it to be thinking of the what-ifs while driving enthusiastically.

I do know the problem is due to my wheel design which is a Work Emotion XD-9 but changing to a new wheel now is not the solution. I tried-fitted in a Volk Racing TE37 and it has ample clearance. So much that a kid could be swimming in between! Well ok, I exaggerated a little bit but you get the picture.

Due to the above fears, I have decided not to mount on the Endless 6 pot brakes. It's totally sad as I was looking forward to having some good uprated braking power. Plus it's like my dream set of brakes. Sob! So I guess these brakes would be up for sale if there's any interested parties out there. :(

Pic 3: Newly skimmed Project Mu SCR Pro rotors

Well because I can't get those lovely Endless brakes in, I've decided to uhm ..... 're-new' my current brakes. I had the Project Mu SCR Pro rotors skimmed a wee bit and also changed to new Endless Super Street - S-sports brake pads (EP230 SSS). These are rated to 500 degrees which would be sufficient for fast road usage.

Pic 4: Endless Super Street - S-sports brake pads (EP230 SSS)


Pic 5: Endless Super Street - S-sports brake pads (EP230 SSS)

Endless System Inch Up Brake Kit (6 pot)

Pic 1: 6 pot Endless System Inch Up Brake Kit

Going back in time to April 2007, I posted an entry on the painting of the stock ER34 Sumitomo calipers to blue. Why blue? Well I always liked the blue Endless calipers; and thus, did the next best thing back then, i.e. blue stock calipers. Yeah, I'm sure some readers will be scorning at the decision. LOL :D

I've been on the lookout for stock BNR34 Brembo brakes (front + rear) off and on for a while now. Just too bad that I have yet to stumble upon a set that is reasonably priced and in mint condition. As luck would have it, out of the blue (pun intended!) and totally unplanned and un-budgeted for, I ended up with a set of front Endless System Inch Up Brake Kit.

Pic 2: 6 pot Endless System Inch Up Brake Kit

This set of Endless System Inch Up Brake Kit came off a R34 Skyline and thus is just plug and play into mine. Unfortunately I only have the front pair tho. Looks like the rear will have to do with stock calipers with the current Project Mu rotors. I hope there will not be too much of an irregular brake balance. But then it is said that only 20% of the brake force is at the rear, the front is doing most of the stopping anyway.

The set I got is in relatively good condition and it comes complete with:

1) 2X Endless 6 pot calipers
2) 2X Endless 345mm rotors
3) 2X Endless brackets to suit R34 fitment
4) 2 pairs of Endless brake pads (plenty of meat!)

Pic 3: 6 pot Endless 6 pot Calipers


Pic 4: 6 pot Endless 6 pot Calipers

Out of curiosity, I weight the parts on my home electronic scale and got the below readings:-

Endless calipers with brackets - 4.9kg each
Endless rotors - 9.7kg each

I would have expected it to be lighter tho, afterall it's made from diecast aluminium composite material. I can't wait to fit this on the ER34!!

PS. Looks like my Project Mu SCR Pro 2 piece floating rotors will be up for sale soon. :P

Pic 5: Endless 345mm rotors


Pic 6: Mockup behind a stock BNR34 wheel

Oil change and new brake fluids

Pic 1: Undergoing oil change

I finally got time to service the ER34 after my trip back. It's supposed to be done right before I leave but guess timing was not right on my side. Well I guess to be serviced and be left undriven also serves not much purpose. :P

This time round, I decided to give the Motul 8100 Ester E-Tech 0W-40 a try since I don't have any stocks of my regular Torco SR-1 5W-40 lying around at home. Together with an oil filter change from Nissan (Part No. 15208-53J00), I'm set to go.

Pic 2: The Motul 8100 oW-40 E-Tech

Of late, I also notice my brake pedal isn’t that 'firm' anymore. I guess it's time for a brake fluid change. Rummaging through my store, I found a bottle of Truth Endless Dot 4 Brake Fluid at home, so I might as well get my brake fluids changed too. :)

Having all these changed feels great. Finally with new blood in the system, I would 'dare' to push the ER34 a 'lil harder. Miss driving her for 3 weeks! :(

Pic 3: The Truth Endless Dot 4 Brake Fluid

Pic 4: Bleeding the brake hoses. Exhaust is bigger than a human head. :P

Nismo Stainless Steel Braided Brake Hose

Pic 1: Nismo Stainless Steel Braided Hose exterior packaging

Yesterday my Nismo Stainless Steel Braided Hose (Part no. 46200-RSR40) arrived via EMS from Japan. Before purchasing the set, I've also considered the unit from APP (Aviation Performance Products). Due to cost considerations I've decided on the Nismo unit, which I reckon is perhaps of equal quality and performance.

Pic 2: Nismo Stainless Steel Braided Hose interior packaging (front)

Pic 3: Nismo Stainless Steel Braided Hose interior packaging (rear)

The original brake hoses are made of rubber and it is not particularly good at heat resistance. In addition, rubber hoses will be swollen (rubber expands!) as an effect of hot brake fluids upon hard braking. With swollen brake hoses, more brake fluid will be required to fill in the voids, which in turn leads to spongy brake pedal feel.

The Nismo Stainless Steel Braided Hose has Teflon PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) tubing inside with stainless steel wire mesh on the outside. In addition, it has clear rubber tubing on the outer most layer to protect the stainless steel mesh. With the strengthen hoses, there will be virtually little or no loss of brake pedal feel.

Pic 4: The contents (4 brake hoses, warranty card and installation manual)

Upon installation, the improvement in brake feel is very noticeable!! The already short brake hoses of the ER34 might dampens the effect if it were to compared with a car of longer rubber brake hoses (for eg. my previous ride's brake hoses are at least 2 times longer!). But after some hard driving I'm amazed at the stronger and firmer brake feel as compared to the stock brake feel.

Pic 5: Front hoses installed

Pic 6: Rear hoses installed

Since my stock hoses will be out, I took the opportunity to change my brake fluids to The Truth Endless Dot 4 Brake Fluid. I had no idea what sort of brake fluids were in the car nor how long it has been in the ER34. Brake fluids being hydroscopic and not knowing the age, it's better to have it changed just to be on the safe side.

Pic 7: The Truth Endless Dot 4 Brake Fluid

At the same time, I had my hand brake cable tighten. Now it's so tight, I'll just need a 'click' of the handbrake when parking. I hope I don't do many handbrake turns till it’s loosened. Hahaha :P

ER34 front rotors warped again....

After I got my front rotors skimmed and slotted back in August 2006, the car feels great. No more shuddering upon hard braking. However, it only lasts me for 2 weeks (!!!) before I managed to get 'em rotors warped again.

Sigh......I seriously hope it's just uneven rotors and not associated with other more minute details concerning the braking system. I had lived with it for close to 4 months now and it's beginning to irritate me badly. I can't drive hard with confidence knowing the car will vibrate upon hard utilization of the STOP pedal.

Pic 1: Brembo F50 brake kit

There are indeed many stock replacement rotors out there as with a total big brake upgrade kits. If one have the budget (> JPY 800,000), the Brembo F50 brake kit with 15" rotors seems to be like the big daddy of brake kit for the Skyline.

However, back to reality, I have tried the budget way, that is to skim and reuse back the OE units. Now, it's perhaps time to go aftermarket and opt for a replacement unit. I have surveyed around for the available models that I would consider. Looked at offerings from Dixcel, Project Mu and also Endless.

Pic 2: Project Mu's SCR Pro

Pic 3: Endless' 24 Slit Rotors

In the end, I narrowed down my choice to either Project Mu's SCR Pro or Endless' 24 Slit Rotors. Just wire transferred the cash to my contact in Japan yesterday and would hope to get it delivered via EMS as soon as possible over here.

Which rotors did I ordered? Will let you all know once it arrives..... :P

Waits in glee!!!

Slotted Rotors and Endless Brake Pads

If you have read my post on "ER34 goes corner carving in Cameron Highlands", you would have noted me mentioning about the front rotors on the ER34. Well, they are in dire need of some doctoring. The car judders a LOT during hard braking up to the point of me losing confidence on the effectiveness of the brakes.

Pic 1: 310mm rotors in pretty bad shape

Finally today I took the car to a workshop and got the rotors removed. I've decided to skim the rotors, get it balanced and slotted at the same time. With the rotors removed, it is apparent on how bad it is. The surface are no longer smooth and the contact patch with the brake pads are uneven. It's also a good opportunity to inspect the piston rubber seals on 4 pot calipers. So far so good. Looks like they don't need replacing. :P

Pic 2: Skimming the rotors

Pic 3: Newly skimmed rotors

After the rotors are removed, it is sent to the machine shop for skimming. Over in the machine shop, it is then meticulously measured and slotted. I had 5 slots done per side of the rotors.

Pic 4: Slotting the rotors

With 'new' rotors, the old pads need to be ditched. It comes from the factory with Hitachi pads (Part No. HP57H FF). These were replaced with Endless Vita Nuova VN9500 (Part No. EP230VN) brake pads.

Pic 5: Endless Vita Nuova VN9500

Pic 6: Part No. EP230VN

Pic 7: Endless brake pads

After everything was done and put back in place, I did a couple runs to bed in the new brake pads. After which, tried some hard braking and the juddering is gone. Woohoo!!

The whole darn process took 5 bloody hours to complete. Can't imagine how I hung around while it is being done. :O

Pic 8: Completed!!