Installing Z32 brakes onto your Q45
By: Wes Stinson
Here’s my parts list.
4 Brembo blanks (brand new)
Z32 30mm calipers
OEM pads
1 big and 1 small bottle of Valvoline synpower brake fluid
Caliper grease
Braided SS Z32 240 conversion lines OR You can use the factory lines*(SEE NOTE AT END)
Speed bleeders
Started with the rear, and everything went smoothly… The hard line fittings are on tight so use an impact wrench if you have it… The rear conversion lines are the same as the Q45 lines except with a shorter banjo bolt… They use a banjo fitting but the seat of the bolt has the inverted flare…
An important step here is the bolts are just ever so slightly too long and mine leaked. That said, if you use 3 copper washers (one on the bolt head side, and 2 on the caliper side) the bolt won’t bottom out and leak.
Remember to orient so that the bleeder is on the TOP… There’s no difference left to right except where the bleeder is.!!!
That being said, there’s really nothing special about the rear brakes, everything went right on. Be sure to use plenty of grease. Grease everything, wherever the pad contacts something.
Now on to the fronts. This is where a little bit of skill is required. Some people suggested removing that heat shield, but i didn’t see an easy way to do that. I decided to just cut mine. You’ll see where it sort of curves around and there’s a little tab. I just cut that so it was flat and it worked perfect, with plenty of clearance on both sides.
Put a jack under each control arm to simulate the suspension being laden to help align the fitting.
Overall, this was definitely a good mod to do if you have 17 in wheels or more (for clearance). I did the math, and doing this upgrade will cost about as much (slightly less) as rehabbing your Q45 brakes, and after that, will be substantially cheaper as the brembo blanks are about 1/2 price of what OEM rotors are.
With the double thickness in the rear and 2mm extra in the front that has to make things last longer. These are the brakes that should have been on the car, and had it not been for wheel clearance issues, I think Nissan would have used these to begin with!
**NOTE: If you want to use the factory lines, simply remove the bolt from the banjo fitting and cut it down a few threads..In retrospect, I probably would have gone this route rather than the SS lines, due to fitment issues…**
