Looking at brake upgrades? Look no further than here.

Evan.

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Please note, I take NO credit whatsoever for this writeup. He's my friend and im merely posting it here as reference.


brake expert said:
-- EK (96-00 Honda Civic) Brake Upgrades -
(and Information on all 88-00 Civics / 90-01 Integras)

FRONT BRAKES OF YOUR 96-00 CIVIC

Prelude
Okay, there are too many questions, and I see too many people giving WRONG answers. Here I have collected brake setup information based on fact, experience, and no, I don’t accept a setup as proof without a picture of it. I will list interchangeable parts, and talk about what myths are real, and which are not.

For these upgrades, I will refer to SIMILAR, not EXACT parts. Meaning the part may not be 100% identical, but has all of the same characteristics to make it interchangeable, and function the same. Such is the case with 95 Civic Si ABS front knuckles and 95 Integra GS front knuckles. May not be the same part number, but the dimensions make it interchangable 100%. Some other parts MAY work, but I'm listing what I KNOW will work.

CIVIC BRAKES

I have made a chart to simplify "what can I do to my car?" Well first would be make sure its in OEM running condition, and then get good pads/fluid/rotors. This is a list of OEM Honda brake upgrades. After the chart is a desription of how to attain those brakes. Then I mention about upgrading master cylinders to cope with the increased caliper piston requiring more fluid to move the same amount.

Many people assume, and make up s**t. This chart I have here is all factual, and I will not add a brake system to it without pictures as proof.

At the bottom, I am talking about theory, and you can get numbers and debate all day about what you FEEL is better, but I will tell you, with cast iron rotors, and the same pad material, what brake setup is best. Stainless lines affect pedal feel, a bigger MC makes the brakes firmer, and we can discuss that, but given all OEM parts used on the car, this is how you make your brake system better. First get good tires, then good pads, then look into these OEM upgrades. I will not compare aftermarket calipers to OEM calipers, some are good, and some aftermarket setups are worse and more expensive than some of these OEM setups.

Please bump this if you see it, to spread the word about what is REAL, and what isn’t.

For now, the facts:
Common Interchangeability questions:

* 90-01 Integras (except the Type-R) and 88-00 Civics with rear disc brakes are all interchangeable onto any EK, EG, EF, DA, and DC Chassis.
* Integra rear disc spindles, compared to civic drums, are 7lbs heavier (per side of course.) Civic spindles with discs weigh less, but I don’t know how much.
* EK9 and DC2 take the same front and rear brake pads and rotors, so if you spent a s**t-load of cash on a CTR 5-lug suspension/brake swap, there’s your replacement parts.
* Legend/Vigor caliper ARE similar to the Prelude/Integra-R/Civic-R calipers, though since the Legend/Vigor had the caliper on the back, swap them left to right to keep the bleeder pointing up during bleeding. Not all castings have the same numbers but the dimensions are equivelent
* The Civic 88-00 EX rotor is the 10.3" rotor on all EX model Civics from 88-00 and the same rotor found on Integras 90-01 (exc. Type-R).
* DA and DC calipers are NOT the same.
* 94-96 Integras ALL take the SAME front and rear caliper, rotor, pads. WHY people think the GSR has better brakes I don’t know.
* 94-01 Integras and 97-01 ITRs use the same knuckle, and same wheel bearing.
* 98-01 Integra GSR and ITR models use a 1" Master Cylinder, the same as from a 97-01 Prelude, and will bolt onto the 96-00 Civic stock master cylinder and hardlines with no bending of brakelines, and the fluid resovoir is the same.
* 96-00 Civics, all LHD Civics, take the same brake booster. The 99 Si and 96 CX both take the same brake booster; from a RHD 96-00 Civic chassis, the brake booster still is the same cept the brake booster vacuum port is on the other side.


THE 1996-2000 Honda Civic Front Brake OEM Upgrade chart:
Weakest to strongest brake setup



These directions tell what Caliper/bracket/rotor to use that will attach to a stock 96-00 Civic DX, CX, LX. If you have an EX model, then where it says to bolt on the EX knuckle, obviously you don’t. The “>94-01 Integra” Upgrade would require you to put on DX/LX knuckles. If you have an EG, these upgrades are the same, and the EX knuckle for you EG people would mean the EX/SI knuckle from 94-95 ABS models, or whichever ones come stock with 10.3” front brakes. You can identify the front 10.3” brakes because the caliper mount has that hanger in the front. What it means, is that from stock, this tell what Caliper body, Caliper mounting bracket (what holds the caliper’s slide bolts and attaches it to the steering knuckle) and which rotors are used with the parts.

Legend:
B = The part bolts on, no modifications needed. You need only common car tools.
Pad choice is dictated by bracket, not caliper body.
Therefore, pads ALWAYS go with the CALIPER MOUNTING BRACKET.
An asterisk (*) means that there is some machine or customization.
23T = The caliper bracket mount found on the Integra Type-R, Legend 91-95 (non GS), the 96 Prelude VTEC, the Acura Vigor.


Stock 96-00 Civic DX
This is the OEM brake system. DX knuckles, DX calipers, DX rotors.

to 96-00 EX/Si
Take the complete knuckle (with bearing, hub, calipers, caliper hangars, rotors, and pads and swap them onto the Civic DX.

to 90-93 Integra
Take the EX/Si knuckle (with bearing and hub) and bolt on the 17CL14VN 90-93 Integra calipers, caliper mounting brackets, rotors, and pads and swap them onto the Civic DX.

to 94-01 Integra
Take the EX/Si knuckle (with bearing and hub) and bolt on the 17CL14VN 94-01 Integra calipers, caliper mounting brackets, rotors, and pads and swap them onto the Civic DX.

to >94-01 Integra
Use your stock knuckle (with bearing and hub). Get the caliper mounting bracket, 23T, grinded 3.2mm off of the surface where it mounts to the knuckle. Grind down 97-01 Integra Type-R pads at the middle of the backing material. Use a bench grinder to take off material off the inside of the backing plate of the two outer front brake pads. Take off enough material so that it doenst touch the rotor’s hat, about two inches width wise and take the backing material back to the pad material. Go here for details: http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1484555 Take the 17CL15VN ITR calipers, 23T GRINDED caliper mounting brackets, Civic EX rotors, and GRINDED pads and swap them onto the Civic DX.

to 97-01 Integra R
Take the EX/Si knuckle (with bearing and hub) and bolt on the knuckles. Get the caliper mounting bracket, 23T, grinded 3.2mm off of the surface where it mounts to the knuckle. Get 1996 Prelude VTEC rotors re-drilled to fit the 4x100 hub. Take the 17CL15VN ITR calipers, 23T GRINDED caliper mounting brackets, Prelude VTEC rotors, and ITR pads and swap them onto the Civic DX. You can also press the ITR hub into the civic EX bearing, and not grind the bracket, use 97-01 ITR rotors, but then you have 5-lug and will need new wheels. You may use Legend or Vigor calipers, but you should put the right caliper on the left, and vice versa, so to keep the bleeder pointed up.

to 91-96 NSX (2pot)
Take the EX/Si knuckle (with bearing and hub) and bolt on the knuckles. Get the caliper mounting bracket, 23T, grinded 3.2mm off of the surface where it mounts to the knuckle. Get 1996 Prelude VTEC rotors re-drilled to fit the 4x100 hub. Take the 91-96 NSX caliper bodies, 23T GRINDED caliper mounting brackets, Prelude VTEC rotors, and ITR pads and swap them onto the Civic DX.

to 94-95 Legend GS (2pot)
Take the EX/Si knuckle (with bearing and hub) and bolt on the knuckles. Get the caliper mounting bracket, 23T, grinded 3.2mm off of the surface where it mounts to the knuckle. Get 1996 Prelude VTEC rotors re-drilled to fit the 4x100 hub. Take the 94-95 Legend GS caliper bodies, 23T GRINDED caliper mounting brackets, Prelude VTEC rotors, and ITR pads and swap them onto the Civic DX. Because the Legend used calipers on the backside rather than the front, your bleeder will be pointing down, so rotate the caliper 180 degrees around the upper caliper mounting bolt, and place a block in its throat while bleeding the brakes, so that you will have no air in the brake lines.

to S2000
Take the EX/Si knuckle (with bearing and hub) and bolt on the knuckles. Get 2004 RSX Type-S rotors re-drilled to fit the 4x100 hub. Get a plastic hammer and carefully bend the dust shield back so that the rotor's back surface does not touch. Take the S2000 calipers, caliper mounting brackets, and pads, RSX Type-S redrilled rotors, and swap them onto the Civic DX.
 

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to 99-00 RL
Take the EX/Si knuckle with bearing and press the 97-01 Integra Type-R hubs into the bearings and bolt on the knuckles. Take the 28T caliper mounting brackets and place a 1.5mm washer between the knuckle and bracket, and use the 99-00 RL caliper mounting bracket bolts, as they are longer. Take the 99-00 RL calipers, 99-00 RL rotors, and 99-00 RL pads and swap them onto the Civic DX. This does use the 5-lug ITR hub, so you will need new wheels.

to >91-96 NSX (2pot)
Take the EX/Si knuckle with bearing and press the 97-01 Integra Type-R hubs into the bearings and bolt on the knuckles. Take the 28T caliper mounting brackets and place a 1.5mm washer between the knuckle and bracket, and use the 99-00 RL caliper mounting bracket bolts, as they are longer. Take the 91-96 NSX calipers, 99-00 RL rotors, and 99-00 RL pads and swap them onto the Civic DX. This does use the 5-lug ITR hub, so you will need new wheels.

to >94-95 Legend GS (2pot)
Take the EX/Si knuckle with bearing and press the 97-01 Integra Type-R hubs into the bearings and bolt on the knuckles. Take the 28T caliper mounting brackets and place a 1.5mm washer between the knuckle and bracket, and use the 99-00 RL caliper mounting bracket bolts, as they are longer. Take the 94-95 Legend GS calipers, 99-00 RL rotors, and 99-00 RL pads and swap them onto the Civic DX. This does use the 5-lug ITR hub, so you will need new wheels.

to 06 TL Type-S (display purposes; do not attempt)
**I do not have the specifics posted here on this setup yet.
Machine the ITR hub’s outer diameter and the inner hubcentric bore down to the contact face. Take the EX/Si knuckle with bearing and press the 97-01 Integra Type-R hubs into the bearings and bolt on the knuckles. Use a hubcentric spacer and put it on the modified Type-R hub. Machine the TL calipers where they meet the steering knuckle. Take the modified TL Type-S calipers, modified TL Type-S rotors, TL Type-S pads and swap them onto the Civic DX. This does use the 5-lug ITR hub, so you will need new wheels. This setup will not clear 16” wheels.

THE BRAKE SYSTEM:

Pedal – Brake Booster – Master Cylinder – Hardlines – Prop. Valve – Hardlines – Brake Hoses – Caliper – Brake Pad – Rotor.

How to upgrade your stock system (simplest to most complex):

TIRES!!!!!!! Your car will ONLY stop as fast as your tires allow before they slip.
Spend the money on tires. ITR brakes on your ABS civic with s**t tires will not stop as soon as stock brakes with great tires on your ABS civic because the ITR brakes will lock up the wheels.

First off, your stock rotors…unless you are a professional racer, worrying about CONSISTENT lap times in the wet with a full stripped racecar, you do NOT want drilled or slotted rotors. Your best rotors are blank cast iron rotors, such as OEM ones, or Brembo blanks. F1 cars do not have holes in their rotors, nor do rally cars. If you must have bling, go with slotted, but do not use drilled.

DO NOT use drilled rotors on any street Honda, this is why: http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1437507

For pads, your OEM pads will work well, but ceramic pads will work better. If you have some cheap pads and drilled rotors, put back on your blank rotors and semi-ceramic pads, and you’ll brake better. Some people THINK drilled and slotted rotors work better, but this can be braking feel, opposed to the actual minimum 60-0 distance the car will do with ABS. The truth is that drilled and slotted rotors decrease surface area where the pad contacts. The same pressure from the piston to the pad is applied to less area, thus increasing the pressure. This means that drilled/slotted rotors heat up quicker. Now on a road this may be beneficial if you live in a cold area, but when your braking consistently, they are going to fade sooner, and those holes don't do crap for cooling, the rotor's surface and vents are going to provide a lot more cooling surface area than a few extra holes will net you.


Master Cylinder relative to the Caliper
When you go to bigger caliper than use a larger piston, you are pushing more fluid through the brake lines. Therefore, you should want a larger master cylinder to push this more fluid.

General rule is…with your stock Civic DX, with the stock front calipers, keep your 13/16” MC. Any bigger and your pedal will be too stiff.
With EX/Si calipers, use a 7/8” MC from a 96-00 EX or 99-00 Si because of the more fluid going to a larger piston.
With ITR/Legend/Vigor/Accord V6 or Integra DA or DC calipers, use a 15/16” MC from a 98-01 Integra LS to accommodate for the even more fluid. Any smaller of a MC will cause the pedal swing to be too long.
With NSX or Legend GS calipers that have two pistons, or an aftermarket caliper with multiple pistons, you’ll want a 1” MC because of even more fluid required to push all the pistons. Get the 1” MC from a 98-01 Integra GSR or ITR MC as it bolts onto the EK brake booster.

When changing out a master cylinder, be sure to 'bench bleed' it first. This involves having fluid in the resovoir and pumping it unconnected to allow fluid to fill the internals. If you don't do this, you can still bleed the car, but you may be at it all day, since air pockets may stick in there. Research bench bleeding before you attempt this on your own.

A bigger caliper usually has a bigger bracket, thus holds a bigger surface area pad. This is generally better, and that’s why on a Civic, you swap on an Integra caliper, because the piston is bigger (more fluid, that doesn’t help) but the pad is bigger, and the piston disperses its energy over more area because of a larger contact surface with the shim.


Now, an ITR brake system on a Civic with crummy pads, drilled rotors, stainless lines and old, water absorbed brake fluid may stop just as well as an Integra GS brake system on a Civic with good tires, semi-ceramic pads, new fluid, and blank rotors. This page is telling how to upgrade, and yes, with the same other factors, you will have a shorter 60-0 distance and less brake fade. But there are many other factors of your brake system. If you have air bubbles in the lines, it will suck. So don’t complain if you went to an aftermarket kit, or a 5-lug full ITR suspension and don’t feel like it stops as well as your civic did bone stock. It may be worse, may be better, but I can’t tell you exactly HOW much worse or better it is without knowing everything specifically.

BRAKE SOFTLINES

Brake softlines, or brake hoses, are the rubbery hoses that can flex since the hardline is bolted to the frame and the brake moves up and down with the wheel. Honda uses rubber lines as OEM. They are very durable, and unless you take a box cutter to them directly, or are in an accident, this brake hose won't leak out the sides. They will leak if you get dirt on the contact point where the softline and hardline meet if you make a dirty mess when installing. Make sure the surfaces are clean. Now many people will attest to having a firmer brake pedal with stainless steel brake lines, and this is true. Though they flex from the hydraulic pedal same as rubber OEM hoses, they do flex less.

Stainless steel brake lines affect pedal feel, not 60-0 distances. They make the pedal a bit less soft because the stainless braided lines flex less than the OEM rubber hoses, and affect pedal modulation, but on an ABS equipped car, testing the before and after 60-0 distance will show no difference.

If you do choose to use steel braided brake hoses, be sure to get some that come with some kind of coating outside the steel mesh. Any track racer will tell you that this mesh can get dust and grit in it, and this can cause wear to the brake hose inside this steel mesh, possibly causing wear, or even a leak. When connecting a banjo bolt for any reason, be sure to always use a new crush washer. Crush washers are a one time use part. Its annoying to spend the money and change em out whenever a caliper is disconnected, but you don't want a leak. Any leak in the hydraulic brake system will squirt fluid at a high pressure, and thus less pressure is going to the actual brake to stop the car.

REAR BRAKES OF YOUR 96-00 CIVIC

All but the OEM drums are considered upgrades because…I can't find any OEM larger drums that will bolt onto a civic. Even if I did, you'd still have to unbolt the drum spindle, so it’s just as much of a pain in the ass, if not more so, because most disc swaps…people swap the whole trailing arm. You may debate whether or not drums stop better than discs, but on a Civic, yes; discs ARE better at stopping you. Drums may last longer, but were interested in smaller 60-0 distances.
 


Evan.

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Common Interchangeability questions:

*When doing a rear disc conversion on an EK, you ONLY need the spindle, NOT the whole trailing arm. The spindle is held on by four T50 torx bolts and one 24mm bolt on all EF, EG, EK, DA, and DC chassis. Yes, the Torx bolts are hard to get out, and torque hard.
*88-00 Civic and 90-01 Integra Trailing arms are all interchangeable; all but the center bushing is the same.
*On an EK, use your stock LCAs, UCAs, and compensator arms or you will affect suspension geometry.
*Not all calipers may be 100% identical, but calipers and mounting brackets are Interchangeable between calipers on the following models: 88-91 CRX Si, 90-91 Civic Sedan EX, 99-00 Si, 94-95 Si with ABS, 96-97 Civic del Sol VTEC, 90-93 Integra,94-01 Integra (all models exc. Type-R)
*Civic drum rear brakes are lighter than Integra disc brakes by 7lbs spindle verse spindle.
*Civic Rear Discs are lighter than Integra Rear Discs (as a complete spindle, the rotors are identical), I don't know by how much.
*As of now, I know of no way to swap front calipers to use on the back. The caliper mount points are much farther apart for front caliper brackets, and most Hondas take solid rear discs, which are solid opposed to ventilated rotors, and they are much thinner. Also, you would have no e-brake mechanism because front calipers don’t have integrated e-brake parts.

THE 1996-2000 Honda Civic Rear Brake OEM Upgrade chart:
Weakest to strongest brake setup



Legend:

7CLP13S = 99-00 Si Caliper/CRX Si/90-01 Integra Caliper
Not all (7CLP13S) calipers/brackets may be 100% Identical, but calipers and mounting brackets are Interchangeable between calipers on the following models:
88-91 CRX Si, 90-91 Civic Sedan EX, 99-00 Si, 94-95 Si with ABS, 96-97 Del Sol VTEC, 90-93 Integra,94-01 Integra (all models exc. Type-R)
Si = Refers to the 7CLP13S (or equivelent) caliper and relative bracket
9CLP14S = EP3 Calipers/ RSX calipers
3EP = RSX/EP3 rear caliper bracket
*To use RSX/EP3 Calipers on a Civic/Integra with civic/ Integra e-brake cables, the e-brake attachment lever will need to be switched from any 7CLP13S caliper body.
*91-95 Legend rear calipers on a Civic/Teg with the 10.4" rotors uses the lighter Legend caliper, because it’s a caliper with just a piston, so it eliminates the e-brake cable and parts (for track cars). The 91-95 Legend used a separate drum for an e-brake.
** = The NSX Calipers on a Civic/Teg is NOT an OEM bolt on, and requires a custom bracket, one is available at http://www.fastbrakes.com


Stock 96-00 Civic DX
This is the OEM brake system. DX drum spindles, DX slave cylinder, DX drums

to 88-91 CRX Si
Take the rear spindle (with bearing, hub, calipers, caliper hangars, rotors, and pads) and swap them onto the Civic DX. Use the 99-00 Civic Si e-brake cables.

to 92-95 Civic Si / 96-97 Del Sol VTEC
Take the rear spindle (with bearing, hub, calipers, caliper hangars, rotors, and pads) and swap them onto the Civic DX. You can use the 92-95 Civic Si or 96-97 Del Sol VTEC e-brake cables if 99-00 Si cables are not available, but they may be a bit long, so use the adjustment screw.

to 99-00 Civic Si
Take the rear spindle (with bearing, hub, calipers, caliper hangars, rotors, and pads) and swap them onto the Civic DX. Use the 99-00 Civic Si e-brake cables.

to 90-01 Integra (exc. ITR)
Take the rear spindle (with bearing, hub, calipers, caliper hangars, rotors, and pads) and swap them onto the Civic DX. You can use the 94-01 Integra e-brake cables if 99-00 Si cables are not available, but they will be a bit long, so use the adjustment screw.

to >90-01 Integra (exc. ITR)
Take the rear spindle (with bearing, hub, and calipers) and swap them onto the Civic DX. Use 02-03 Civic Si (EP3) caliper bracket mounts, 90-01 Integra brake pads, and EP3 rotors. Since the EP3 uses a 4x100 10.2” rear rotor, you will use the small Integra brake pad, but with the bracket will be spaced out farther from the center. You can use the 94-01 Integra e-brake cables if 99-00 Si cables are not available, but they will be a bit long, so use the adjustment screw.

to 02-03 Civic Si
Take the rear spindle (with bearing and hub) from any 88-00 Civic with rear discs, or 94-01 Integra and swap them onto the Civic DX. Use 02-03 Civic Si (EP3) caliper bracket mounts, 02-03 Civic Si EP3 brake pads, and 02-03 Civic Si EP3 rotors. To use RSX or EP3 Calipers on a Civic/Integra with Civic/Integra e-brake cables, use the e-brake attachment lever swapped on from any 7CLP13S caliper body. Use the 99-00 Civic Si e-brake cables.

to 02-06 RSX/ 04-05 Civic Si
Take the rear spindle from any 88-00 Civic with rear discs, or 94-01 Integra and swap them onto the Civic DX. Bolt the 5x114.3 hub from a 97-01 Integra Type-R on. Use 02-03 Civic Si (EP3) caliper bracket mounts, RSX brake pads, and 97-01 Integra Type-R rotors. To use RSX or EP3 Calipers on a Civic/Integra with Civic/Integra e-brake cables, use the e-brake attachment lever swapped on from any 7CLP13S caliper body. Use the 99-00 Civic Si e-brake cables. You will need 5-lug wheels.

to 96-00 Civic Type-R
Take the rear spindle (with bearing, hub, calipers, caliper hangars, rotors, and pads) from a 96-00 Civic Type-R and swap them onto the Civic DX. Use the 96-00 Civic Type-R e-brake cables. You will need 5-lug wheels.

to 97-01 Integra R
Take the rear spindle (with bearing, hub, calipers, caliper hangars, rotors, and pads) from a 97-01 Integra Type-R and swap them onto the Civic DX. You can use the 97-01 Integra Type-R e-brake cables if 99-00 Si cables are not available, but they may be a bit long so use the adjustment screw. You will need 5-lug wheels.

to 91-95 Legend
Take the rear spindle (with bearing, hub, rotors, and pads) from a 97-01 Integra Type-R and swap them onto the Civic DX. Use the 91-95 Legend calipers and caliper hangars. You will no longer have an e-brake. You will need 5-lug wheels.

**to 91-96 NSX (Need picture mounted on car)
Take the rear spindle (with bearing, hub) from a 99-00 Civic Si and swap them onto the Civic DX. Use the NSX calipers, pads, caliper mounting bracket, and 10.3" front Civic EX rotors and bolt them onto the Civic DX. Use the 99-00 Civic Si e-brake cables.

Drum to Disc Conversion - Brake Fluid Line Interchangeability

When you remove rear drums and convert to discs, if you are using 99-00 Si spindles and brake lines, everything is fine. However, other brake lines may not work. You do want 99-00 Civic Si or 96-00 Civic Type-R brake lines because the drum takes a different fitting. Regardless of what caliper you use, all rear calipers (and front) take a banjo bolt for the brake fluid, so they use an O-shaped connector opposed to the female fitting that connects to the hardlines on the frame of the car. So when converting from drum to disc, or disc to drum, the brake fluid lines are not the same, and regardless of which rear caliper you use, use brake hoses intended for a 99-00 Civic Si (OEM or aftermarket.)
 

Evan.

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E-brake

The emergency brake cables meant for a drum setup has a totally different end at the caliper/drum part, so those for a drum are not the same as those for a caliper.
Ideally you want to use 99-00 Si e-brake cables, but those from a 94-01 Integra work, as I have them on my 96 Civic right now, just adjust the adjusting screw more toward the front. Also the clamp that holds both cables in place wont line up, but you can move it to where it will, though only one bolt will go into the frame, not both.

Brake Bias - Front and Rear Caliper Pairing

Generally, when you go to bigger caliper than use a larger piston, you are pushing more fluid through the brake lines. Therefore, you should want a larger master cylinder to push this more fluid.

However, since the rear brake’s drum slave cylinder, or caliper piston, take much less fluid than the front brakes. Also, since you should have more powerful front brakes on your front wheel drive, front-engined car (70% to 80% of braking on the front wheels) then it is not necessary to consider rear brakes when upgrading master cylinders. Converting from drums to the 99 Si discs, about the same fluid is used, so the stock MC will be fine. If you had the DX front brakes and put on ITR rear calipers and EP3 discs, then you may want a step for master cylinders, though I recommend against this because the rear disc will be larger than the front, and the rears will lockup well before the front, meaning your rear wheels brake traction before the front brakes can do their job effectively. This means the bigger brakes can't do their job.

General rule for brake biasing is…
-With your stock Civic DX, with the stock front calipers, keep the drums it has.
-With EX/Si front brakes, upgrade to the rear 7CLP13S caliper and 9.4” rear discs.
-With Integra DA or DC calipers, or ITR calipers over a 10.3” rotor, upgrade the rear to the 7CLP13S caliper with the EP3 mounting bracket and over EP3 rotors. This gives you 10.2” rotors, however you still use the smaller brake pad and caliper, just spacing it out further, to reduce nose dive, and give a bump in back brake power since the 57mm piston of Integra calipers is more clamping power than the 2” piston of the Civic EX calipers.
-With ITR/Legend/Vigor/Accord V6 or with NSX or Legend GS calipers that have two pistons, or an aftermarket caliper with multiple pistons, or any front setup using a 11.1” rotor or bigger, OR if you did the 23T over 10.3” rotor hybrid, and are using two piston calipers with them, use the 10.2” rear rotor with the 9CLP14S rear calipers. If you have a track only car, I recommend 91-95 Legend rear calipers, as they are simpler, lighter and have no e-brake mechanism to deal with.


Brake Bias - Proportioning Valve

Swapping to a 96-99 CX or 99-00 Si prop. valve when installing rear discs.

The 99-00 Civic Si comes with the same shaped proportioning valve as any 96-00 Civic, so swapping the proportioning valve is a bolt on job, which can be done with a few offset brake line wrenches. The stock drum proportioning valve, when the brake pedal is applied, sends fluid to the rear drums only. This is because the drum shoes are a few millimeters from the drum, so the fluid initially moves the pads to touch the drum, whereas with a pad and rotor, the pad is so close that it brushes along the rotor while driving. After the shoe touches the drum, the proportioning valve sends fluid to the front calipers as well, and then acts as a hub for the fluid. So a rear drum intended prop. valve in a car with four wheel discs is not the end of the world.

The 99-00 SI proportioning valve acts as a hub more of the time, since the back brakes are calipers, there is no need to send so much fluid initially to the back brakes because they are calipers, and use pads that also brush against the rotor constantly. Therefore, a rear disc intended prop. valve in a car with front discs and rear drums would be very bad.

When you swap from drum to disc rear brakes, obviously its best that you use a prop. valve that was meant for it. Though I recommend that you install the 99-00 Si prop valve on your 96-00 Civic when you put rear discs on it, because of how it works, I do not have it on my rear disc equipped 1996 Civic. I do not track race, and have good tires, and on the streets, have not locked up the rear tires before the fronts because I can brake very hard and not lockup the tires. I do not have ABS.
 


SiRcivic27

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brake overload... and I didnt even read it all! Looks good from what I read
 

RickIX

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thank you, will you post up the charts again?
I have a 99 civic cx, and my brother gave me some integra front calipers is the only thing i need to bolt them are the integra or civic ex(si) spindles? thank you.
 

Sundown

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nice, but isnt there something similar on h-t? Its like a chart with rotor sizes and interchangability options. Good info nontheless :thumbup:
 

RickIX

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Sundown said:
nice, but isnt there something similar on h-t? Its like a chart with rotor sizes and interchangability options. Good info nontheless :thumbup:
link please?
 

Sundown

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pm'd ;)

I didnt want to threadjack, even though its a really good link =)
 

Evan.

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yes, heres the link to the same page on h-t:

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1513752

the only reason I posted it here is because people wont search honda-tech to find it / click the link to read it. I found it more resourceful if its actually listed on our site.
 

Redline57

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Brake charts from the BrakeExpert

Ladies and gentlemen, I see people are interested in brake information. I'm the guy that wrote all of this by the way (Sk8shorty ya could have asked, I would have put this here for these guys.)

Here are the charts, they will be updated in a while with info on the new RL upgrades.




>to 11.8" 06 RL Advics
Get 02-06 RSX Type-S rotors re-drilled to fit the 4x100 hub. Get a set of custom made hub centering rings for the rotor. Get a set of custom made radial caliper bracket mounts. Take the 06-07 RL calipers, custom brackets, 02-06 RSX Type-S rotors, and 06-07 RL pads and swap them onto the Civic DX. This will take at least 16 inch wheels.




FYI, I do sell all of these upgrades and offer machine work for anyone that needs it (like redrilled rotors or the 23T brackets.) The 12.6" RL brake upgrade is coming shortly.

ALSO, the NSX rear brake upgrade is NOT a bolt on, I was misinformed. It takes an adapter bracket that I should have built within two weeks.
 

kyle10182

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I think he mentions "ABS equipped" on way too many situations...like when he says drilled rotors are bad, and that certain things wont affect 60-0 times....like stainless lines. on an ABS equipped car, there isn't much u can do besides the obvious to improve 60-0 because all braking will go through the ABS module either and be altered...but for most people w/o ABS this article has a lot of info that is misleading..
 

Redline57

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To what do you refer as the obvious? Better pads, bleeding the lines, etc? Brake temperature can have a huge effect on its coeffecient of friction at any given time. So for people that are either totally fading their brakes or running them with a pad and getting that pad above its optimal performance temperature, these upgrade DO work. I just went from the 11.1" to 11.8" rotor and say what you will but they are a LOT nicer. And no, I don't have ABS or a 60-0 distance for you yet. On an ABS car or any other car, the obvious brake upgrade is usually "tires". Shall we start a new thread on the functionality and use of ABS?

I think he mentions "ABS equipped" on way too many situations...like when he says drilled rotors are bad, and that certain things wont affect 60-0 times....like stainless lines. on an ABS equipped car, there isn't much u can do besides the obvious to improve 60-0 because all braking will go through the ABS module either and be altered...but for most people w/o ABS this article has a lot of info that is misleading..
 

kynetguy

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Is there a guide like this in existance for 92-95 Civics? I am wanting to upgrade my rears to discs. I don't think I need to upgrade the front, but you all know this stuff way better than me. I am new to this world. (honda/imports)
 

Redline57

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All the upgrades for 96-00 Civics are the same for 92-95 Civics. Two front knuckles, DX and EX. The 9.5" brakes are the DX and 10.3" are on the EX, but dont ask me which has which regarding ABS, Si, etc, cause i don't know.

Front brakes do about 70-80% of the work, so its much more worth it to upgrade the fronts. The rear disc conversion is nice but isnt as much of an upgrade in stopping power as upgrading the fronts.

If your looking to do one of these upgrades in the near future, PM me.
 

kynetguy

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All the upgrades for 96-00 Civics are the same for 92-95 Civics. Two front knuckles, DX and EX. The 9.5" brakes are the DX and 10.3" are on the EX, but dont ask me which has which regarding ABS, Si, etc, cause i don't know.

Front brakes do about 70-80% of the work, so its much more worth it to upgrade the fronts. The rear disc conversion is nice but isnt as much of an upgrade in stopping power as upgrading the fronts.

If your looking to do one of these upgrades in the near future, PM me.

THANK YOU! Thank you for a USEFUL reply.

I have been refered to that SAME long ass post about rear upgrades about 3 times. Its posted on every major Honda forum worth reading. It SPECIFICALLY states "I only know about 96-00 and am writing t his for that purpose" or something to that effect. You are the first person to actually EXPLAIN that its the same for the 5th Gen.

I am new to import tuning. Always been a classic muscle car fan myself. When I had my CRX's back in the day, this stuff was not the trend. We did things like lower them, give them a 75 wet shot, cams, and things. But the parts availability now is just MAD! (I owned a new 87 CRX Si and a new 88 CRX Si) (yea, I am old compared to most of the people around here, 36) But f**k it, I drove these baby's NEW, everyone else has to come in behind other peoples screw ups. LOL Hell, I have totaled more cars than most people around here have driven. . .

And for the record and against popular opinion, stock for stock, I like the 3 valve 87s a LOT.

I am building parts up now. So I will take you up on that PM. Rear brakes are on the top of my list, along with lowing springs, LCA's, Strut bars, etc etc. I am going to make this thing handle and stop, then worry about motor.
 


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