For Delica L300
This Installation will show how to upgrade the stock single piston front brake calipers with larger dual piston front calipers for increased stopping power. The calipers from the gen 2 USDM Montero will be used for the upgrade. The original rubber brake lines will also be replaced with braided stainless steel lines. This upgrade will fit with OE 15″ wheels.
Note: You can do this upgrade with stock Delica rotors if they are in good shape. However if they wear down it is possible to overextend the caliper pistons and potentially throw a pad. This is because Delica rotors are ~2mm thinner than the Montero rotor, which is used in this upgrade. Keep this in mind if sticking with stock rotors, you should upgrade to Montero ones at some point.
Replacing the rotors at this time will also make trimming the heat shields (Detailed Below) much easier.
Tools & Parts:
- 12mm Socket/Wrench
- 10mm Wrench
- 17mm Socket/Wrench
- Pliers
- Hammer
- Flat head screwdriver
- Vice
- Grinder w/ cutoff wheel
- Drain pan
- 1992 Mitsubishi Montero front calipers (with Brackets)
- Available at any autoparts store
- 1992 Mitsibishi Montero front brake pads
- 1992 Mitsibishi Montero front brake Rotors
- 4X Russell 641411 M10 Flare 3AN Fittings
- *Sold in packs of 2
- 2X Russell 656032 15″ 3AN brake lines
- 2X rubber grommets (I.D. brake line, O.D. UCA bracket)
- Brake fluid
- Grease
- Modified Spindle Socket (Napa 3246)
Brake Rotors:
1. The first step to removing the rotor will be removing the hub (auto, manual, or locking plate). Put a screwdriver or punch in the rotor to prevent it from spinning. Use a strap wrench to remove the Auto-lock cover
2. Remove the 6 Allen bolts and clean out excess grease in the hub.
3. Remove the snap ring & shim. This is tricky and I prefer using two pics to spread and extract the snap ring. Snap ring pliers can also be used, but I found pics to be easier for this case.
4. The hub can now be removed. Set all the parts in the order they were removed to ensure correct re-assembly.
5. Remove the caliper and secure it appropriately
6. Remove the 4 Philips head screws that secure the locking ring. These are actually JIS heads, so I recommend using the correct bit as to not strip them. They should come out easily since they live in grease. Then remove the locking ring.
7. A special spindle socket will be needed to remove the retaining ring (under the locking ring). I made own using a Ford 1/2 ton truck socket and grinding off two of the four pins (Napa PN 3246).
The pins should engage with the larger holes in the retaining ring. Do not use the threaded screw holes.
Spin it counterclockwise to remove the retaining ring.
8. Extract the wheel bearing.
9. Remove the entire rotor and stud assembly. Be careful not to damage the rear grease seal on the CV splines.
This is the optimum time to trim the heat shields for the new calipers- See Step 11 in the “Calipers” section below.
10. Remove the 6 nuts & bolts holding rotor to the stud plate. Use a drift or large screwdriver and a hammer to separate the rotor and stud plate
11. Wow, that was annoying, now replace the rotor.
12. Some rotors have shorter bosses on the rear. This results in the bolt shoulder being proud of the rotor surface, and therefore the nut cannot be tightened down. Adding a flat washer or two to each bolt may be necessary to get them tight. The washer is added under the lock washer on the back. The StopTech rotors I used were just tall enough to not need the extra washer(s).
13. Critical Steps for re-installation:
-Repack the wheel bearing and hub with new grease
-Use anti-seize on all hardware
-Resetting the wheel bearing during re-assembly is critical and these steps should be followed:
- With the the wheel bearing reassembled use the spindle socket and torque the retaining ring to 130 ft-lbs. This will seat the bearing.
- Back off to zero torque
- Re-torque to 18 ft-lbs
- Back off 30 degrees
-When re-installing the hub, ensure that the key feature lines up with the keyway in the axle. If it is misaligned, then the hub will not sit flush. Tightening the Allen bolts when the hub is misaligned can damage the key on the hub.
Calipers:
1. put the drain pan under the caliper and remove the caliper hardline using a 10mm wrench on the two flare nuts.
-If they are stuck, do not force it. The wrench can round off the flare nuts. If this happens buy a 10mm brake line wrench to prevent flare nut damage.
-If they still won’t budge, spray the threads with some penetrating oil (like liquid wrench), wait 10 minutes and then carefully hit the flare nuts with some heat from a torch, then try to break them free.
2. Pull out the brake fitting retaining clip with pliers.
3. Remove the brake hose from the bracket. I had a plug lying around, so I plugged the fitting to prevent it from dripping.
4. Remove the brake fitting bracket using a 12mm socket. There are two bolts that secure it in place. Save these bolts as they will be reused later.
5. Clean the brake caliper hard line and ensure all flare surfaces are smooth.
6. Using a hammer and flat head screw driver, expand the tabs in the brake fitting bracket so that the Russell 641411 fitting drops in. The bracket needs to be expanded by about 1mm.
7. Using the grinder with cutoff wheel cut the brake fitting bracket as shown.
8. Put the bracket in a vice and re-bend it with pliers to increase the offset as shown.
9. The bracket modification is complete. I recommend painting it to prevent rust.
10. Now comes that hard part. Assemble the hard line into the caliper until almost tight, but so that it can still spin. Assemble the Russell 641411 fitting onto the bracket and install the hard line into the fitting, tight, but so it can still spin.
-Carefully manipulate and bend the line into place. It shouldn’t take much. The offset will need to increase and the height will need to shrink.
-Reinstall the retaining clip
Put the left over bracket bolt into the unused hole of the caliper to keep gunk out.
ALTERNATIVE METHOD:
Instead of dealing with the stock flared hard lines, an M10x1.0 to 3AN banjo fitting can be used directly on the Montero Calipers. There are some special considerations if using this method, which are outlined below:
1. The M10x1.0 fine thread that the calipers require is less common for complete banjo bolt kits, so you will likely need to source the bolts and fittings separately. Do not use aluminum fittings.
2. You will need to get a longer brake line, so 17″ instead of 15″, as the banjo connection will be lower than the OEM hard-line.
3. The sealing surface on the caliper casting may be rough and require sanding/lapping to get an nice sealing surface for the banjo bolt copper washer. These reman calipers were rough.
4. The banjo bolt is too long. The banjo bolt will either need to be shortened, or the brass flare insert in the caliper can be drilled out. We shortened the bolt.
11. Trim the brake shields using sheet metal cutters or cut-off wheel. This may take a couple of tries to get right. I cut mine without removing the rotor/hub. If you are replacing rotors, this is much easier to do with the rotors off the car. The cuts will look something like this:
12. Load the pads into the caliper and mount the caliper.
13. Put the rubber grommets on the brake line, roughly in the middle. I ended up buying smaller grommets to put on either side of the main grommet for a tight fit.
14. Remove the chassis hard line clip bolt with a 10mm wrench. This allows for extra flex when installing the new line.
15. Unscrew the brake line coupler located in the middle of the rubber line (on the UCA) with a 17mm wrench. Remove the original brake line by unscrewing the upper flare nut with a 10mm wrench and removing the two retaining clips. Put a rag or paper towels below the upper fitting to catch the leaking fluid.
16. Once the original line is out, install the new line. Ensure all the flare surfaces are clean. Make the connections at the caliper and at the chassis (adding the Russell 641411 at the top). Once the connections are made and tight use a flat head screw driver to squeeze the grommet into the original brake line coupler located on the UCA.
17. The upper brake line mount on the chassis has a hex stamped plate on the underside that will hold the adapter fitting. It is tight , and may require you to loosen and rotate the fitting into place. My 641411 fitting did not seat all the way, so I had to flatten the retaining clip a bit with a hammer before reinstalling it.
18. Congratulations, you are done! Bleed the line and check for leaks. Rinse and repeat for the other side.