Removing Wheel Studs (26 Feb 2011)

I started working on my car again...I bought some ROTA RB wheels for the car and the OEM studs were just too short. I ordered longer studs from Dean (DatsunParts.com) and pressed the old ones out and the new ones in (wish I would have bought the press years ago when I was taking brake rotors apart.

New Studs (26 Feb 2011)

This is the standard stud on the left and Dean's longer studs on the right...these are replacements for the front ONLY. These will provide plenty of bite for the lug nuts. A 311s member said I needed a minimum of 9 full turns for safe operation and with the ROTA's I was just shy of that.

Brake Block (26 Feb 2011)

The brake block is used to connect the hard lines on the wheels brakes to the flex line connecting to the vehicles hard lines. The factory "flex" lines are rubber, but I upgraded to a SS set that is sold by our Roadster vendors.

Brake Carriers (26 Feb 2011)

I had to remove the brake holders to remove the paint from the cylinder area. The hydraulic cylinders move in and out along the center circular areas…I had painted those areas and was afraid I would impede the movement of the cylinders.

Brake Cylinders (26 Feb 2011)

Here I have hung the brake holder and installed the front and rear brake cylinder. I bought these from Dean and appreciated the fact that the outside cyl is already “dressed up” as it does show thru my wheels. There are rebuild kits out there to rebuild these brake parts as new ones are very pricey. I went thru at least 6 sets trying to find some that weren’t pitted.  The brake fluid in older cars absorbed water and after sitting in an old cyl it would pit. Check the vendor sites for new replacements or Stainless upgrades.

New Brake Lines (26 Feb 2011)

Installing new brake hard lines...The originals came with a black plastic coating on the lines. It is strongly suggested that the rubber be removed as water can get trapped between the line and rubber and rust out the brake lines…add the pressure of pressing your brakes and the line will leak (really scary on pre 67.5 Roadsters as they have a single brake master cyl…loss of pressure at one wheel led to loss at all wheels).

Both Lines (26 Feb 2011)

Both new lines installed.

Brake Pads (26 Feb 2011)

New brake pads being installed. The brake pads slide right in and actually ride on a small tab located on the brake cylinder face...the brake pads have a slot that fits over the tab.

Brake Pad Keeper (26 Feb 2011)

Finally to finish up the brakes, you simply install the keeper over the end of the brake hub. I replaced the small bolt with a SS version to reduce the chances of rust in this area as the brakes are an area that will be serviced again in the cars future. (I just noticed how well you can see the length of the new wheel studs...thanks Dean!)

Rota RBs (27 Feb 2011)

I bought some ROTA RB Wheels in a 15 x 7 (4 x 114.3 with a +12 offset and a 73mm hub). The wheels were on sale at Racinglab.com and came in various rim colors. I had to modify the last few mm of the back of the rim to fit over the Roadsters large front hub, I also painted the front three inches of the roadsters hub to match the rim color as the Rota's center caps would not go over the large hub/dust cap. The rims are also thick in the mounting area which is why I bought the longer front studs. I had to order some "tuner" lug nuts online to get the correct thread pitch with a small enough outside diameter to get a lug wrench/socket over them.

Back of Rim (27 Feb 2011)

This is the back of the same rim, there are no clearance issues with these rims and their fit over the Roadsters brakes.