39 replies to this topic

[TexanIdiot25]

Our cars are great at a lot of things, but in my opinion, stopping isn't one of them. The TINY solid disks are adequate for city use, but on the highway and in the hills I find them sketchy and prone to shaking and fading when hot. After a week of driving in Austin, I knew it was time to upgrade.

It was mentioned here that 88-91 Civic EF disk brakes bolt on, so I thought I'd give it a try. Many of the pro's included more available brake parts, larger diameter disk, bigger calipers, and most importantly for me- vented disks!

Off to the junkyard I go. I got 91 Civic sedan disks and calipers for a total of $55 bucks. Prices may range as high as 60-70 at regular price. I've made friends with the owner of this yard and he slices off a little discount for me. However, the regular price was $15/disk and $15/caliper at this yard, so keep that in mind when pricing around.

Parts needed
-EF front disks & Calipers (Save the caliper bolts too)
-Brake lines (If your current ones are in need of replacement. Stock CRX lines will bolt on)
-Pads (if your junkyard donor didn't have any, or are worn. Mine had lots of life left)
-10mm box wrench (for brake bleeding)
-14mm socket (brake line bolt)
-17mm socket (caliper bolts)


So, off go the wheels and off go the old parts! It's amazing how small these brakes really are. Take note of the size of the stock disk compared to the dust shield.



The screws that hold the disks on are a BITCH. All of mine were stripped, and thank Jesus-H-Tap-Dancing-Christ for the el-cheapo striped screw remover I had. May have destroyed it in the process, but it managed to dig out all screws with little issue.


When removing the old caliper, leave the brake line attached and just set it behind the strut on top of the axle. This saves a bit of trouble for later when it comes time to bleed the brakes.


Now that everything is off, lets compare-




Pretty much an inch bigger, and a good bit thicker due to the vented design. The calipers are also larger with more pad surface.

Mock everything together. Give the disk a and brake pads a good bath of brake cleaner before assembling. It's OK that the rotor rubs and makes a slight scraping sound on the caliper. The surface rust is causing it. Surface rust is not an issue, but I would make sure to ask how long the car has been in the yard before taking the disk. A good yard inventories, and will know. This car wasn't here a month ago when I was there, so I was OK with it. It wouldn't hurt to carry a set of measuring calipers either to check rotor thickness. I didn't think of this, but there's no concerning wear marks or lips in the rotor, so it seems to be a-ok.

Also, notice how the dust shield is totally behind the disk! Big difference in size.

Time to check for clearances between the disk and dust shield. I found it easiest to put a tire iron on a lug and spin it. The sound of the shield hitting is a much higher pitched scrapping sound. The dust shield should clear fine, but if it's bent it may scrub.


Now that everything is good, go ahead and transfer the brake line to the new caliper. The brake line bolts will interchange between the two, one had stubborn crush washers that didn't let the old bolt slide out of the brake line, so I went a head and stuck it into the EF caliper. Same thread, no length problems, no leaks. Good for me.

Now, bleed the brake and double check all of your bolts. Hit everything down again with brake cleaner and put on the wheels.

HX wheels JUST clear the caliper.


Rinse and repeat for the next side. I would also recomend following the bedding in process like you would for new brakes to clean off the surface rust from the rotors. After this, my rotors were completely clean of rust, and looked just as good as the disks that came off.




And there you have it! Bigger brakes and calipers for under $100 bucks. Hawks HPS pads seem to be the general recommendation for a good set of pads around here. The CRX stops with much less drama than before, and most importantly is fade free after a series of 60+ mph panic stops.

[flashmatrix]

Im sure its a night and day difference! It looks just like I did them with 89 teg brakes.
It fills up the wheel just right. Hah! But congrats on the upgrade. :Thumbs up:

[TexanIdiot25]

I need to bleed the brakes again it feels, but I'll know how it does in a few days once the pads wear in again and I get back to Austin. Sucker bites hard though.

[ChrisF-dude]

Nice write up.

[GeezRX]

OK- I want to do this upgrade to my '86 Civic Si and am unclear on one item - DO you or do you NOT need the caliper "brackets" to accomplish this project? Thanks for the clarification on this.

Skip

[DEIVIONCRX]

Yes you need the caliper and brackets. Just pull the 2 bigger bolts that hold the calipers to the knuckle off whatever car, and your good to go.

[GeezRX]

Yes you need the caliper and brackets. Just pull the 2 bigger bolts that hold the calipers to the knuckle off whatever car, and your good to go.

Thanks for the quick reply! - since I plan on doing this all with new/reman parts from Rockauto (where I can get calipers with the brackets included) are the bracket mounting bolts the same for '86 as later models or will I have to source these from a yard?

[DEIVIONCRX]

The calipers and brackets match each other. You'll need the brackets from whatever caliper your buying.

If your not going to change the rear brakes, look for 88-89 CRX Si calipers, they share the same piston diameter as the stock calipers so your master cylinder doesn't require changing. The 88-89 and 90-91 CRX Si are exactly the same size rotors, just the piston diameter is bigger in the 90-91 because they came with rear disc and a larger master cylinder.

[TexanIdiot25]

Yup, the calipers and brackets bolt onto the CRX hub. If you were pulling these from a yard, it's the 17mm bolt. They'll more than likely pull it with the caliper, it's usually one-and-the-same for used parts.

The big brakes are handy out here in Austin. No fade, shake, or problems!

[Alexander]

What is the diameter brake discs? 242mm or 262mm?

[JEA86]

i picked up a set of 1990 CRX calipers and they are HUGE compared to the 84-87 Calipers lol i was like man those look like a small truck caliper in comparo lol

now i got to get pads and rotors

[blazerman]

Anyone know if stock si wheels will still fit?

[kaymo]

they should as long as you dont have EX brakes.

[blazerman]

So if I go with the et brakes like in this thread, I should be good? Only reason I ask is I have to special order pads for the stock 87 si pads thru my work. And if I can change to a set up that has more available parts I would like to.

[DEIVIONCRX]

Yep just pick up a set of calipers and rotors from a 88-91 CRX Si, 88-91 Civic Si, or 92-00 Civic DX/CX and bolt on 1/2" larger rotors and a lot larger selection of pads.

If you are not wanting to do any other upgrades like rear disc or swapping the master cylinder, pick up the 88-89 CRX Si calipers and rotors, they share the same size piston as your stock calipers, so all the fluid dynamics stay the same. If you go with the 90-91's you will need the 7/8" master cylinder from a 85 Prelude Carburated, it bolts on perfect and is the correct size for the larger pistons in the 90-91 CRX Si calipers.