Todd, If I have an R53 what do I need to be able to be able to run larger rear disks? Can I run them with the factory calipers? or do I have to upgrade?

 

You can do the P1 rear kit that I offer now: 11.75" 2pc hats and rotors using the stock calipers on relocation brackets.

Plus 1: The Rear Rotor kit- $597
Billet aluminum rotor hats (choice of TCE or Wilwood style to match front)
11.75 x .375" solid rotors
Gas slotted and zinc plated
TCE spec stainless steel hose kit
All required hardware
Optional cross drilled rotor finish- ADD $135

 

I had them because I was using the Carbo XP10s on the track. The XP10s were fantastic on the track, but the Bobcats were just OK. They quiet and no dust, but they didn't have the "bite" of even the stock MINI pads. My preference would be for something more from my brake pads. I am saving up for a new Wilwood BBK for my current MINI and will probably try something different for the street.

Let us know what you think of the BP-10s. I would be interested.

 

Will do. I'm sure they'll be fine for my needs. I was going to start assembling my rotors this evening until I noticed I was out of high temp loctite red. I thought I had more, but the red I have left is the high strength variety. :-(

--Matt

Hmm... so the thread locker I have on hand is Permatex 27100, which is apparently the equivalent of the specified Loctite 271. I had Permatex 24026 for a previous job, not sure what, but it is rated for 600 degrees instead of 500 like Loctite 271/Permatex 27100. With brakes getting as hot as they do, don't I want the high temp stuff?

 

What part are you using loctite on? I thought the hubs and rotors were to be lock wired?

 

The rotors to the hubs. The torx fasteners that are included with this kit can't be safety wired, and Wilwood specs Loctite 271. They also call for it on the carrier to spindle bolts, but I'm thinking that's probably excessive.

--Matt

 

I had an older set that were lockwired. While a bit of a pain to do, it seems likely to be better than glue.
Are you tracking your car or is this just for the street? (sorry of you have already side, I jumped in w/o reading back through the thread) I would do the higher temp stuff if you are going on the track just because of the rotor temps that I have seen. But then it will be harder to get off. If it for street use, I would go with the lower temp stuff. Mostly the problem would be going with a lower temp stuff. I would expect/hope Wilwood knows what they are doing. Maybe Todd has some better advice.

 

Wilwood has replaced the drilled hex heads with button head torx bolts. (no clue why they didn't just do non drilled hex bolts...) And has noted install to be done with loctite now. They got called a few times on their own videos without the wire being done....Reality is that most buyers never did it anyhow.

 

No track time on this car. I spent enough replacing everything the havoc of tracking wore out on my GTI. I sent an email to Wildwood, but I'm assuming it'll be fine. The bolts thread into the hat, so the temps on the threads will ultimately be lower than they'd be if they threaded on the other way.

--Matt

 

I bought my Wilwoods used and they were already lock wired. After I found, on a track day, the bolts on my friends JCW hats were loose, I came to the way of thinking that lock wire was a great idea. I suppose I can do my own holes and lock wire if I find the locktite doesn't work. Just need to check them when changing wheels. My guess is you are right about bolting into the hat and that area being cooler.

Let us know what Wilwood says.

 

Wilwood said the stuff I have should be fine if it is equivalent to 271, and Permatex confirmed that the stuff I have is equalivalent to 271. I assembled them tonight. I'd like to have had the ability to lock wire them, but these button heads just can't. Maybe on the next set of rotors I can get some better fasteners from ARP or something. If I do ever track this car, I'll probably just try to find one piece rotors.

--Matt

 

You're really over thinking all this stuff on the bolts Matt. There are thousands of them in service and thousands more of them non-wired on my kits- threaded rotors not hats. They'll all fine if assembled with some good common sense. No need to lose any sleep over it.

 

Thanks Todd! You da man! Wish I would have purchased everything from you. I'll definitely look your way when it comes time to play with the rear brakes.

--Matt

 

I promised I would report back about the BP-10s, so here it is. I find them to be comparable in modulation ease to the stockers. Under heavy braking they're every bit as good as the EBC yellows they replaced, probably better but it's hard to really test them out with snows on. Small squeak when coming to a complete stop, but I assume it's because they have no chamfer and are new.

I'll try to report back once I have more than 20 miles, but I'm assuming they'll just get better.

--Matt

 

Nice to hear.

 

Hi all and Greetings from Chile !

Sorry if the info is out there, but I could not find it eventhough I went through all 8 pages of this thread.

I have the R121 Wheels (Conical Spoke), which does not seems to be very popular (or available at all) in the States. I know that the R121s are not listed as compatible with the JCW BBK, but I guess I can make it work using spacers.

Does anybody know if it will fit and which spacers (5, 10 or 15mm) should I get?

Thanks

 

You will want to check the wheel clearance on page 3 of the pdf HERE.

This will show you the required clearance inside a given wheel needed for the kits mentioned above. I also sell alternatives to these kits; most are larger and use bigger calipers. If the above kits do not clear then a 13" FSL caliper kit will certainly not clear.

 

I'm also curious about BBK fit on the R121's but I'm looking at Wilwood brake kits. Anyone out there have any success with this combo?

I've looked at the Wilwood diagram a few times and I'll be damned if I can figure out how to convert that info into real measurments on a wheel. Any suggestions?

 

Sure: take the wheel off the car and put a flat edge across the mount face of the wheel and measure down into the spoke pocket area. You'll be looking for how much room you have for "A" and at the radius of "C" primarily.

 

Thanks Todd. This is a handy diagram to compare to the Wilwood diagram. Much appreciated.

I left you a voice mail yesterday regarding pricing on the Wilwood BBK. Assuming it will fit on either my Conical Spokes (R121) or Pace Spokes (R110) I'm going to make a purchase soon.

 

I should note that you are not measuring "A" (as the caliper is not there) but rather how much room you have for "A" if it were there.

PM info to follow.

 

One more question Todd... what's your opinion on spacers? I've seen many references to hub centric spacers being added to allow for BBK clearance on wheels that don't fit otherwise. My local tire guy says no to spacers if I'm going to run track days, which is the whole point in adding the BBK for me in the first place. I see the H&R spacers mentioned a lot and assume the hub centric design is a better choice? Thanks again.

 

Hub centric spacers are preferred for their support, vs having the wheel stud centric- meaning the wheel is fully supported by the stud in shear. This is a necessity when you go to a fat spacer for the most part. Thin spacers that leave the wheel supported on the snout of the hub are fine but they can only be so thick before the hub is no longer there to use. Most spacers of 3-5mm will leave this but when you get beyond that they are too fat.

The no-mans land is the middle size where there's not enough spacer meat to machine a pocket on one side and a snout on the other and have any cross support between the two areas. Some folks have no issue with spacers at all, others don't like them.

Dunno.

 

Thanks. Sounds like it all comes down to the critical measurement of the available space for a BBK in the wheel. I'll figur that out and go from there.

 

I have experience with the 5 mm spacers and the MINI wheel will still engage the the hub just fine, as Todd said. If you use a thicker space without a hub centric ring for the wheel to engage, you can run into problems with the wheel not being centered. The bolts don't do a very good job of centering the wheel. I have seen other post about this problem with after market wheels with the wrong hub centric ring. The would be basically the same problem.

Also, if you use a spacer you MUST use longer bolts to ensure you have full thread engagement otherwise you can strip them out or break them.

BTW - The Wilwoods are great and Todd is great to work with. Which kit are you looking at getting?