VTEC brakes first impressions - Honda Prelude Forum

jsmooney · 05-08-2007, 11:11 AM

okay, at first I wasn't too impressed. I'm being honest. But as they get worn in little by little (i've been maybe 150 miles with light braking, nothing heavy) they seem to grip more. I am noticing that I don't have to press the pedal down as much to stop the same amount. I'll be going to the mountains soon (Tail of the Dragon or Blue Ridge Parkway) to further test them out.

Installation wouldn't have taken as long if:
I would have known more about "modifying" the dust shields
I would have known to take things apart bleeder screws and hydraulic fittings before I got the caliper on the car. I took the air impact to it.
I would have known that they would have been that hard to get apart after sitting for a while.

IF I had not had slight "problems" during installation and it would have been a direct swap, it can be done easily in 1.5 hours, including jacking the car up/down and bleeding.

Red Baron · 05-08-2007, 11:15 AM

Thanks for sharing! I'll be doing a swap soon and those are good things to keep in mind!

spin_r_g · 05-08-2007, 11:37 AM

Odd I didn't have to do anything the dust shield at all. As for removing the bleeder screw why did you have to do that? When I did my swap I had the vtec calipers with the bleeder screw still on. I removed the si calipers brake line then unbolted everything and swaped in the vtec one. Didn't give me any problems.

ludehawk · 05-08-2007, 11:58 AM

yay about time! =)

05-08-2007, 12:12 PM

Wish I had done this last year before I bought all new rotors/pads/painted calipers.... :/

jsmooney · 05-08-2007, 12:32 PM

sorry....I'll update it

I wish I would have undone the hydraulic line and bleeder screw before because the calipers had been sitting in the basement sine Jay sent them to me and no telling how long before then. They were TIGHT. But, as I said above, the air impact had no problem. I just loosened them and tightened them back up before I put the caliper on the car. It's easier that way.

Just basically loosen everything and tighten it up before you try to put the caliper on the car - it makes it much easier, trust me here. So fat, it works great. I had to bend the Si dust shield back or else it would rub on the rotor...

ludehawk · 05-08-2007, 01:12 PM

I think I actually ended up taking them off of my 5g. Never looked back.

jsmooney · 05-08-2007, 01:57 PM

then they had been sitting for several years...with dirty brake fluid

ludehawk · 05-08-2007, 02:36 PM

it wasn't dirty when i pulled them

lol

jsmooney · 05-08-2007, 04:29 PM

just wondering, but how long had they been off the car?

petern101 · 05-08-2007, 09:41 PM

yay....

i think i had a big thread w/pics of my swap. all done by me in about 1 hour (had to catch a flight and was bored...)