Civic Drum to Disc Conversion
28-Oct-2004, 04:45 PM
#1
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 55
Civic Drum to Disc Conversion
I know that there is someone out there that has successfully completed a drum to disc conversion on a 92-95 civic with parts from and integra, right? I don’t have the dough right now to go out and get an aem kit or something like that, so I would like to take the do-it-yourself route. I've been looking on ebay for people selling the “conversion”, which consists of the caliper, hub bearing, back plate, brake pad, hand brake wire, and rotor of an integra. I'm in Iraq right now, and a lot of automotive sites are blocked so I cant check to see what is involved for the install, and if this is indeed all that I would need to buy. I wanted to have it installed before come home, so I want to find out all that I can now. So, who’s got the know how?
28-Oct-2004, 04:57 PM
#2
it's easy... replace the trailing arm assembly with the Integra or del Sol one and route the new ebrake cables and you're done. I did ny 98 with 00 SiR parts, but all the SiR/del Sol/Integra assemblies are the same.
28-Oct-2004, 11:10 PM
#6
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ontario
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What I meant was, do you drain all the brake fluid? Cause under stationary condition, all the brake fluid are inside the MC right? So there should be no fluid inside the brake lines so no need for bleed and whatnot? Just unbolt the brake lines and bolt on the new ones?
29-Oct-2004, 12:10 AM
#7
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Location: Mississauga West Side
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no, there will be no air in the lines at any time
if all the brake fluid stayed in the MC resevoir and you had air in the lines good luck stopping
it should always be a closed loop system, no air in the lines at all thats why you bleed them
whenever you unbolt the lines or any component you need to bleed and make sure any air that got into the system is removed
the resevoir ontop of the MC just holds excess brake fluid, so when you push on the pedal the fluid is pushed into the pistons in the calipers and wheel cylinders
if all the brake fluid stayed in the MC resevoir and you had air in the lines good luck stopping
it should always be a closed loop system, no air in the lines at all thats why you bleed them
whenever you unbolt the lines or any component you need to bleed and make sure any air that got into the system is removed
the resevoir ontop of the MC just holds excess brake fluid, so when you push on the pedal the fluid is pushed into the pistons in the calipers and wheel cylinders
29-Oct-2004, 12:32 AM
#9
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Location: Mississauga West Side
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yes you will loose a little or alot depending how much air you have in your lines
you could reuse the brake fluid if its still new and clean stuff
but if your doing brake work and the fluid is old and dirty, whatever is coming out will need to be tossed, if you purge your whole system and make sure all the fluid in there is new and clean, if you go to do work soon after i guess you could reuse your fluid if it still comes out clean without any particles in it, but im not advising you do that
get at least 1l of brake fluid so you dont have to stop halfway if you still have air bubble in the line
a one man air bleed kit is also a good idea as well
princess auto has some with a pump attachment for a good price
you could reuse the brake fluid if its still new and clean stuff
but if your doing brake work and the fluid is old and dirty, whatever is coming out will need to be tossed, if you purge your whole system and make sure all the fluid in there is new and clean, if you go to do work soon after i guess you could reuse your fluid if it still comes out clean without any particles in it, but im not advising you do that
get at least 1l of brake fluid so you dont have to stop halfway if you still have air bubble in the line
a one man air bleed kit is also a good idea as well
princess auto has some with a pump attachment for a good price
29-Oct-2004, 12:38 AM
#10
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ontario
Posts: 18,367
The whole brake system was bleed back in July, with fresh fluid, that's why I asked if I can reuse some, if not, all of it. Seems like like a waste to toss them away.
Thanks Matt. I am also thinking of getting an air compressor tank so I can tackle some simple bolt-ons and whatnot.
Thanks Matt. I am also thinking of getting an air compressor tank so I can tackle some simple bolt-ons and whatnot.
29-Oct-2004, 09:13 AM
#12
there is NO WAY I'd reuse brake fluid. even on the can itself it says to NOT USE if seal is broken. Any brake fluid exposed to air or other contaminants is garbage. It picks up moisture from the air and causes a lowered boiling point. 
to reusing fluid.
gatherer... if you think drums are so great, explain me this:
90 Civic stock... drums in the rear:
insane vibration under braking, the source is from the rear (also feel it if you pull up the e-brake while coasting, therefore it's the rear). Seems that drums are out of round... but I just replaced the drums 2 weeks ago and it's been like that the whole time. Now... you'd think wheelbearing. So last night I took everything apart, wheel bearing is PERFECT, there is no play in it, and the hub itself tracks true. The mounting surface is clean. When I retract the shoes all the way, the drum spins freely. When I bring them out, the drum catches in 3 spots while spinning. So I figure they musta sold me a warped drum?? So I go buy another. Bring that home, same thing. Visual inspection while spinning indicates that the drum is true. So I'm looking at the backing plate and shoes. I didn't replace the shoes 2 weeks ago cuz I looked at them and they were very high quality parts and someone spent hella time/money rebuilding them. I mean, the hardware is high quality and it's new. And logically speaking, it cannot be the shoes fault, it's gotta be the rotating assembly (drum or hub out of round). But I go ahead and replace the shoes and reinstall and readjust everything. Then the test drive... the problem is FAR less pronounced now, though I still feel it. I mean, the car doesn't visibly shake like it used to LOL
rotors and pads in front are new as well, so it's not the front in case you're wondering, but I will redo the front again to dbl check the condition of the sliding pins... make sure the calipers aren't binding and cocking.
to reusing fluid.gatherer... if you think drums are so great, explain me this:
90 Civic stock... drums in the rear:
insane vibration under braking, the source is from the rear (also feel it if you pull up the e-brake while coasting, therefore it's the rear). Seems that drums are out of round... but I just replaced the drums 2 weeks ago and it's been like that the whole time. Now... you'd think wheelbearing. So last night I took everything apart, wheel bearing is PERFECT, there is no play in it, and the hub itself tracks true. The mounting surface is clean. When I retract the shoes all the way, the drum spins freely. When I bring them out, the drum catches in 3 spots while spinning. So I figure they musta sold me a warped drum?? So I go buy another. Bring that home, same thing. Visual inspection while spinning indicates that the drum is true. So I'm looking at the backing plate and shoes. I didn't replace the shoes 2 weeks ago cuz I looked at them and they were very high quality parts and someone spent hella time/money rebuilding them. I mean, the hardware is high quality and it's new. And logically speaking, it cannot be the shoes fault, it's gotta be the rotating assembly (drum or hub out of round). But I go ahead and replace the shoes and reinstall and readjust everything. Then the test drive... the problem is FAR less pronounced now, though I still feel it. I mean, the car doesn't visibly shake like it used to LOL
rotors and pads in front are new as well, so it's not the front in case you're wondering, but I will redo the front again to dbl check the condition of the sliding pins... make sure the calipers aren't binding and cocking.
29-Oct-2004, 09:23 AM
#13
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Location: Durham
Posts: 993
bbarbulo,
Even though the drum may be new, it may not actually be round. It is cheap to put the drum on a brake lathe and turn it so it is truely round. One last thing to check would be contamination of the material on the brake shoes. If there is any oil/grease/fluid on any of the shoes it will cause the pads to "glaze" giving an out of round feeling to the rear brakes. Best thing to do would be to rough up the shoes with some sandpaper to ensure they are clean and free of contamination. For all the dust and crap in the rear brake assembly, use brake clean and lubricate all the pivot points including where the brake shoe slides on the backing plate.
Even though the drum may be new, it may not actually be round. It is cheap to put the drum on a brake lathe and turn it so it is truely round. One last thing to check would be contamination of the material on the brake shoes. If there is any oil/grease/fluid on any of the shoes it will cause the pads to "glaze" giving an out of round feeling to the rear brakes. Best thing to do would be to rough up the shoes with some sandpaper to ensure they are clean and free of contamination. For all the dust and crap in the rear brake assembly, use brake clean and lubricate all the pivot points including where the brake shoe slides on the backing plate.
29-Oct-2004, 09:33 AM
#15
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Durham
Posts: 993
Just making sure as I've done alot of brake work. I had some issues with aftermarket rear discs(honda wanted $110 ea. at the time). It was doing the same thing as you described so i just turned the rotors.
29-Oct-2004, 09:49 AM
#17
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Durham
Posts: 993
Another thing I forgot about:
The old shoes may take a little time to seat into the new drums as the machined surface of the new drum isn't all that smooth in comparison with the old drum. Just drive it.. haha
The old shoes may take a little time to seat into the new drums as the machined surface of the new drum isn't all that smooth in comparison with the old drum. Just drive it.. haha
29-Oct-2004, 09:58 AM
#18
all good advice trackhack!! thank you!!
it's just puzzling but I've got it fixed "good enough" for now. prolly gonna end up with a rear disk setup if I plan to keep the car. I love rear disks.
it's just puzzling but I've got it fixed "good enough" for now. prolly gonna end up with a rear disk setup if I plan to keep the car. I love rear disks.
29-Oct-2004, 10:38 AM
#19
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: on a race track
Posts: 17,846
it's the shoes...
I had the same issue on my 93 civic ... so in my effort to fix things I did what any paranoid freak would do and had CivicSir replace the rear shoes and drums... issue dissappeared...
then I set about figure out why it happened... (I wanted to know and since I didn't use any energy changing them, I had energy to spare..
ok so dad has one of those fancy measuring devises you know the accurate kind that can measure tenths of a mm... (maybe someone can tell me what they are called I can use them but I don't know the name of the tool) so I measured the drums... well they were nice and round... (measured in 8 different diameters) so then I checked pad thickness from one side to the other... on the shoes on the driver side they were out by 0.5 mm.... on the passenger side it was more pronounced there was a chunk of pad missing from one of the shoes...
anyways why I like Drums better then rotors in the back:
Simply put there is a simple and easy way to adjust the front to back brake bias using the adjusters in the drums and parking brtake adjustments you can easily set up a better brake bias and if you don't like it you can easily change it...
with Rotors you can't do that
I had the same issue on my 93 civic ... so in my effort to fix things I did what any paranoid freak would do and had CivicSir replace the rear shoes and drums... issue dissappeared...
then I set about figure out why it happened... (I wanted to know and since I didn't use any energy changing them, I had energy to spare..
ok so dad has one of those fancy measuring devises you know the accurate kind that can measure tenths of a mm... (maybe someone can tell me what they are called I can use them but I don't know the name of the tool) so I measured the drums... well they were nice and round... (measured in 8 different diameters) so then I checked pad thickness from one side to the other... on the shoes on the driver side they were out by 0.5 mm.... on the passenger side it was more pronounced there was a chunk of pad missing from one of the shoes...
anyways why I like Drums better then rotors in the back:
Simply put there is a simple and easy way to adjust the front to back brake bias using the adjusters in the drums and parking brtake adjustments you can easily set up a better brake bias and if you don't like it you can easily change it...
with Rotors you can't do that
