Handbrake install

Alright, here are a few photos from the install.

First, this is the ring that I made.  I took the factory shift ring off and made a duplicate out of 11ga. steel.

From there, we added 1"x3/16" flat bar's to bolt the handbrake to the shift ring, then threw in another 1" flat bar to triangulate the brackets together.

Once all that was done it was time to hook up the lines and run them.  Opposed to drilling holes through he chassis we cut the factory shift ring and rubber dust boot to make room for the lines to come out.  Using rubber vacuum line for protection of the lines, they come straight out of the shifter and go down along the passenger side of the transmission tunnel and under a factory plastic cover.

After coming out of the plastic cover, they tie into the factory mounting locations and run down the passenger side of the car. (This photo was before the lines got mounted under the holder bracket.

From there, the lines go up into the fender where the 350z has a factory junction block.  4 lines meet up here and was the perfect place to put the new lines.  Adding 2 "T" blocks made tied everything together.

So this is how the system is run:

1.  Brake master cylinder

2.  2 lines out of BMC

3.  2 lines run into ABS module

4.  4 lines come out of ABS (2 front and 2 rear)

5.  2 rear lines go into a junction block in the passenger fender under the liner and 2 leave this block

6.  The 2 lines going into the junction block get "Teed" together and a new line runs into the handbrake "feed"

7.  Another new line runs from the handbrake back to the fender and gets "Teed" into the 2 lines that leave the junction block

That's it.  It may sound hard, but its really pretty simple.  The problem is bleeding the system.  In order to do this, you have to disconnect the battery.  It's wayyy better to use a pneumatic vacuum bleeder but and standard hand pump bleeder will work.  It just takes a lot of time.

Here is my parts list

25ft. 3/16" brake line

8 3/16" brake line fittings 

2 3/16" "T" blocks

Double flairing tool

DOT 3 brake fluid

(though if you can get 2 10mm "T" blocks, 4 10mm brake line fittings and 2 10mm to 3/16" adapters would make a nicer install because you wouldn't have to cut the 4 factory lines to put on 3/16" fittings)

I also had access to a welder to make the brackets and a drill press to make the holes.

Lock em' up

Yesterday I started the task of installing my CNC staging brake in the Z.  I took the car over to Rich's house and we tore into it.

Everything went pretty smoothly up until it was time to bleed the system.  It turns out that in my car with ABS and VDC you have to remove the negative battery terminal in order to bleed the system.  Also with both rear brake lines being tied into one single line not to mention the added 20 ft. of brake line and another master cylinder.

After buying a pneumatic vacuum bleeder everything went really smoothly and now at 55mph with less effort than pulling the factory handbrake the wheels lock instantly.

I took pictures of the install and bracket's we made with Rich's camera and hopefully I can get them from him soon, but for now, here is the finished product.

If and when I get the pictures from Rich I'll make another post about the install and what happened with it.  Basically it took a bit over 13 hours to do.  Granted we did eat twice, goof off, chat, etc. during the time period and probably 3 hours was just trying to figure out bleeding the brakes.  Like I said, after we found that the negative terminal needed to be removed and using the pneumatic bleeder, it went quick as hell.

Zlammed!

Sunday I installed a set of stance coilovers on the Z.

Then after about 15min trying to get the car off of the lift...

Then shortly after taking this photo, I took the car for a drive and realized I couldn't go over tiny cracks without hearing metal hit the ground.  I returned to the garage and raised the front 1" and the rear 1/2".  It's really nice now.

Now I need to get some camber adjustment arms and some wheel spacers then get the car aligned properly.

Next thing on the list though is my hydraulic handbrake.  I'm hoping to install that this weekend.