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BY
HOWIE
I felt it was necessary
to add the brake conversions page because of the Australian EXA's
sad braking package. Even if you were lucky enough to get the
post 90 EXA with rear discs, you may be interested in this page.
With the increasing
amount of people 'hotting up' EXAs I believe this is a necessary
upgrade and should be taken as seriously as the performance of
the engine. You have four main alternatives to significantly improving
the braking abilities of the EXA:
1. Changing to higher
quality pads.
2. Using discs from
the Japanese EXA.
3. Using 1991 Spec
Discs.
3. Using rear discs
from the local Pulsar Vector or Pulsar Reebok.
4. Use aftermarket
slotted and/or drilled rotors.
| Brake Pads |
Using
good quality pads (such as Endless, Pagid, Bendix, etc) will
yield excellent results without hurting the pocket too much.
Reduction in fade, consistant and increase braking power are
advantages. Another advantage is that most insurance companies
do not consider this a 'modification'. Expect to pay anything
from $80 a pair from Metal Kings to $200 a pair for Pagid
pads.
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| Using Japanese Spec
EXA Discs |
You
can use the rear discs from the Japanese Spec EXA as they
came with 4-wheel-disc brakes. However their front discs
are larger than ours and subsequently by just bolting on
the rear discs will cause braking imbalances. There are
two ways around this. One, use the front discs also (they're
bigger than the ours). Two, use a proportioning valve to
limit the braking force of the rear discs.
You
can find the discs from importers of Japanese EXA's for
spares.
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| Using 1991 Spec
Rear Discs |
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This is the road I took. Call up your local wrecker, ask
them if they have an EXA with rear discs for wrecking and
source the parts to carry this conversion out. Parts required
are the discs, calipers, and handbrake cable.
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| Swapping the N13
Pulsar Brakes |
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Peter
Timms writes: If you haven't done it already you can simply
bolt up the discs from either a Pulsar Reebok N13 or a Pulsar
Vector N13. You will need the hand brake cables as well
because they are different. I did mine a year ago and cost
$350 for both discs and handbrake cables. No changes to
the master cylinder are needed. I did mine because the engineer
wanted it done when I did the CA18DET conversion. Hope it
helps!
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| Using Cross-drilled
/ Slotted Rotors |
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If
you've ever seen a rally car, you'll already know what these
look like. They're basically discs that have grooves and
holes etched onto them. These rotors have many advantages.
Such as quicker dissipation of heat, less brake-fade, increased
stopping power, high durability, and also acts as a deterent
for foreign objects being lodged in the discs (thats why
rally cars must have them).
Even
if you have don't have rear-discs on your EXA, it is still
better to upgrade your front-discs first. Mainly because
a front-wheel-drive does 90% of it's braking with the front-discs.
I have recently spoke who has upgraded replaced his rear
drums with discs, and the front with DBA rotors - he reports
that the DBA rotors made more of a difference than anything
else.
If
you're interested in DBA rotors, you can order them online
at www.discpads.com.
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