Mill down 6th gen brakes to fit on stock rims?
 

Well,
since this section is suspension and brakes, has anyone milled down 6th gen calipers to fit 97 SE rims? I now have access to a milling machine and was wondering, since I roll stockers, and even if I had rims I would still have them on for winter. I have no intentions of being like irish with 5 different sets of rims in his basement.

No, please dont. I am pretty sure you need at least 17" rims to run the 12.6in rotor.

I woudln't recommend it. the calipers are designed the way they are for a reason. taking a milling machine to them will severely weaken the structure... and it's stuff like that that will only fail when you need it to work the most... which usually results in VERY BAD things happening to you and your car.

caliper milling is usually not recommended due to the reasons Matt93se mentioned already.

You don't want to do anything that will compromise the structural integrity of the calilper.

If you are talking about milling down a rotor then you shouldn't waste your time starting out with a 6th gen instead start with something smaller like a Z32 or J30 rotor.

As they said milling caliper is a bad idea.

I think one of the problems you would face, even with light milling, is the high offset of your stock wheels. But....I think that certain 16's WOULD be able to clear the 6th gen setup, assuming it is a wheel with a low=profile inside edge and an offset around 35 or lower. John, next time we get together, we can test one of your wheels on my car and see exactly how much clearance is needed. My 17" 5zigens have plenty of clearance on the calipers, I'd say close to an inch.....

I though I saw it done on a dirt stock car when I lived in NE Pa, that kid (who did it) works as a mechanic in a NASCAR crew in Atlanta or Darlington, can't remember which, but I can't get a hold of him for him to tell me it was unsafe he was just trying to win a race.

Ok guys, I know I've heard about putting some quick release connections on the calipers so at least I could change from stock to 6th gen calipers and then put the stocks back on for winter. Anyone else, or am I going to have to dig through my old GRM's and what not to prove that I'm not making it up?

Thanks,
not sure when I'll take you up on that, but I will.

It's one thing to remove a little casting flash or minor surface roughness. It's quite another to trim any significant amount of thickness from the bridge. Caliper stiffness starts to suffer as a [thickness]^3 function, with the end result being a slightly softer pedal since the extra flex requires more fluid for any given line pressure. For reference, the loss in strength isn't quite as fast, only being a [thickness]^2 relation.

Norm

Not making what up? I see quick releases on brake line fittings all the time for racing..
machining down the caliper? yeah, I've seen it done as well. I've also seen people lighten crankshafts with disc grinders, and heat their springs with oxy-acetylene torches. that doesn't make it right though.