h23prelude

a few months ago i did this and i finally have the time to do a write up, i know there are other write-up's on brake swaps, bu a lot of them lacked specific information and pictures. so ill do one here.

one of my factory calipers was sticking so i decided to swap to larger rotors and dual piston calipers from a 1995 Acura Legend

these are the parts you need to order (all of them are from a 1995 Acura Legend GS)



-Calipers, semi loaded with pad shims springs and brackets (rock auto- $87 each with 30 core refund)
-brake pads Akebono street ($78 tire rack)
-Rotors ATE slotted rotors ($44 each)

total cost-$340 (without core refund, $280 with core refund)

the rotors are larger in diameter and in thickness too, the diameter is the same as the VTEC rotors, but they are about 5mm thicker



step 1: remove your old caliper, rotor, and pads



step 2: clean all mating surfaces and be sure all surfaces are free from debris.

step 3: either you can do this, or take it to a local machine shop and they will do it for you for cheap.

the legend rotors are 5 bolt and need to have three more holes drilled to make them fit the 4X114 hubs of our prelude's.



i did this by carefully measuring with a metric ruler and using my old 4 bolt rotor as a guide.

center-punch each center once you are sure thats where the hole needs to be drilled.

use a 1/8" drill bit and a drill press to start drilling, the step it up until you get the hole opened up to 1/2"

test fit the rotor and it should go on the hub with relative ease, if its too tight use a round rat-tail file to open the holes up a bit.

this step sounds difficult but if you have a drill press and patience it will turn out great.


step 4: install caliper brackets on knuckles with factory prelude bolts

step 5: install pad shims, and brake pads



step 6: install calipers on OPPOSITE sides, if you did this correctly the bleeder screw will be on the bottom.

step 7: re-install brake line with NEW crush washers

step 8: remove bottom caliper bolt and swing the passenger side caliper so the bleeder screw is on top.

place a 2X4 piece of wood so the pistons have something to push

proceed to bleed brakes as normal. the reason for flipping the caliper up is so all air can br properly bled from the calipers.

repeat the process for the driver side.

NOTE: this is a good time to up-grade your brake fluid too, just flush your rear calipers too, this is optional

step 9: re-install both calipers and re-check all bolts, check for any leaks



step 10: install wheels and follow the proper break-in procedure for your new pads/rotors



if i missed anything please let me know and i will edit it.

and after driving on it for about 2 months the brakes are substantially better in every way, the "Akebono street" brake pads are amazing, great street performance with allmost NO dust! the rotors are quiet and absolutely no vibrations. this swap is completely worth the money and the performance is great.

shutta

where did you source the new calipers and everything? price list?

prelude-all-the-way

how big are the rotors compared to the 11 inch non vtec and the 12 inch vtec rotors?

h23prelude

hey guys, i added the prices and the rotor size differences. i knew i was forgetting some stuff

prelude-all-the-way

thank you vry much and great write up

shutta

wow, that's a lot cheaper than i was expecting... for everything. i'm sure there are a million pad choices from $20 to $100+ so that can fluctuate the price a bit. Someone should FAQ this and make sure the pics get hosted so years down the line we can see them

h23prelude

ill keep the photos hosted at my photobucket so there not lost

MLBZ521

iTrader: (6)

??

No Prelude has 12" Rotors stock..

The Prelude (4thGen) S and Si have 10.2" Rotors and are 23mm thick.
The Prelude (4thGen) VTEC have 11.1" Rotors and are also 23mm thick.
The Prelude 5thGen has 11.1" Rotors are are 25mm thick.
The Legend GS Rotors are 11.1" and are 28mm thick.

I have the info posted here in my S2k/RSX Brake Swap thread.
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-prelude-4/new-oem-brake-upgrade-option-s2000-rsx-type-s-installed-tested-reviewed-2248376/


OP, did you happen to weigh the Pistons before installing them? And also, did you happen to measure the size of the pistons?

h23prelude

the piston measurements are 42mm and 38mm, i was planning on weighing the difference but it didn't feel like much of a difference between the single piston and dual piston, and i don't have a very accurate scale therefore the numbers would be inaccurate.

i'd be suprised if its more then 5-8 lbs more then stock, perhaps more with the brake fluid.

MLBZ521

iTrader: (6)

Oh really? I had read that they were 36mm and 38mm where the NSX Pistons were 34mm and 36mm.

You're sure they are 38mm and 42mm?? I'll have to change it in my thread then. Thanks for the info.

autoluder

how do you flip the calipers on the other side of the rotor if the knuckle caliper bracket is on the side closer to the front of the car?

lrayford

thats pretty nice for being fairly cheap, but why dosent any one ever do the rear brakes 2? hard to come acrossed the parts or something?

shutta

if you look at the pictures, I don't think he's saying left caliper on right side, but the caliper will basically be rotated 180*

it is a bit misleading in the write-up he says install on opposite sides, but clearly it shows the caliper marked L on the left side of the car..

MLBZ521

iTrader: (6)

The Legend Calipers have to be installed different on the Prelude.. The orientation of how the Calipers sits is different.

On the Legend, the Caliper sits on the back side of the Rotor, closer to the door.
On the Prelude, the Caliper sits in front of the Rotor, closer to the nose of the car.

So for the Legend Caliper to work on the Prelude how it was designed to, we have to swap sides they were intended to be on. This ends up putting the bleeder screws on the bottom on the Prelude, where they're on the top on the Legend.

Also the Smaller Piston should hit the Rotor first, then the Larger Piston. So the Smaller Piston sits on top when oriented on the Prelude.

h23prelude

im sure there is a good brake swap for our rear calipers, but the cost and the performance you're gonna feel dosent make this a very effective modification.

the rear brakes on our preludes are properly sized and oriented for the E-brake cables, so a modified or different caliper would complicate things even more.

if you wanted an auto-X or track prelude and needed every advantage possible then it might be worth swapping the rear brakes to a larger, better size.

for all us street drivers, throw some quality pads and fresh rotors and they'll work great

MLBZ521

iTrader: (6)

I've looked and discussed a larger rear brake setup before with someone, but there's nothing that would directly swap from another car onto the Prelude without some custom work..

There might be aftermarket setups, but I'm not sure..

autoluder

But the mounting holes for the caliper bracket is on the nose side of the rotor, not the door side.

MLBZ521

iTrader: (6)

On the Prelude it's on the Nose. On the Legend it's on the Door Side.

autoluder

thats what i just said,

my point is how could the caliper mount on the door side at all. if there is no holes to mount the caliper on that side of the knuckle??????????????????????

PirateMcFred

Nice write up, H23Prelude. I wanted to do this years ago but I never could find a GS in the bone yard.

Now I have a firend that has some big *** Willwood aluminum calipers I might be able to grab. If that's the case I'll install some S2000 rotors after redrilling them to 4x100.

BTW MLBZ521, thanks for your other brake install thread. I'll probably use it later on when I upgrade.

Pirate

dk4ever

Powerslot makes a rear brake upgrade, but in my opinion the cost isn't worth it. I've seen people use the NSX rear brake setup before but that's just as costly. Like it was previously said, a great set of pads, and a good rotor with some SS lines and new Dot 4 fluid will be more than enough.

carnot

can you do this caliper swap and still use stock 15" wheels?

MLBZ521

iTrader: (6)

Um.. I kinda confused..

The Legend Knuckle has the Mounting points on the Door Side.. The Prelude on the Nose Side. So you install the Brackets on the Nose side of the Prelude.. You install the Brackets where the mounting points are available.

Did I answer you question yet?

4x100? What're you going to be installing those on? Guess not a Prelude..
And welcome, hope it helps.. I've heard of one other person doing the S2k + RSX-S Setup, so I'm glad someone got some use out of it.


I'm pretty sure the stock 15" wheels will clear on the Legend GS Setup.. On my brake setup, before mentioned S2k Calipers and RSX Type-S 11.8" Rotors, only a few 15" wheels will fit.. Otherwise 16" will be needed.

lude_lover

About drilling new holes, how did you make sure it was accurate and such? I know you said a ruler but it seems like there would be some error. So is the 114.3 the distance apart from the center of the holes i presume?

Ive been slowly piecing the s2k.rsx s setup but its just been sitting in my garage lol

dk4ever

He also used an old rotor as a template to cancel out all possible errors.