the weather has been bad for many weeks and I was losing hope to get to drive my z in nice fall scenery, as it seemed the continuous rain just makes everything brown and muddy. However, today we had a beautiful sunny day and I went for a nice drive. You'll find more images on my blog http://kingofapes.blogspot.com/ but here's a couple anyway.

I also learned that the stock brakes are deceptive. I've noticed before that if I drive civil they're fine. If I drive a little faster they fade a little. If I drive fast they fade more. And if I drive really fast suddenly they're not there anymore. I was blasting through this mountain road when suddenly I had no brakes. I mean zero. Luckily I had noticed they started to fade so just a 200 meters earlier I lifted off a bit. then there was this hairpin, and I stepped on the pedal but nothing happened. the car went straight and stopped a mere 2 feet from a rock wall.. phew.. That could have been an expensive and painful lesson. But I still would have preferred the wall instead of the 400 meter vertical drop that would have been waiting for me in the previous hairpin, where the brakes still worked. Oh boy, did I slow down after that..

Great pictures King!! I especially like the well placed leaf in the last photo!

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Phil
1981 280zxt - Now in the care my son!
2014 370Z Sports Touring Roadster

Awesome pics!

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Bill James
Western Nebraska
1979 280zx coupe parts car
1980 280 zx coupe
2005 Pathfinder
1971 240 z
1982 280zx, 1977 &1974 corvettes

Truly wonderful pictures. Now we all know you secretly live in southern California! That looks just like many areas of the USA.

Your brakes should never do that. They should be there for you at any time.

What do they feel like when they stop working? Do you get a full pedal or does it sink towards the floor?

Glad you (and the Z) are OK.

Frank

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1970 240Z

Thanks for the compliments Gentlemen! I have to say I had to push my 3 year old and badly abused Nokia cellphone to its limits to get these photos, as the light condition was not easy and the cellphone has no optical zoom, so every picture I take is without zoom as the digital zoom just blurs the images.

As for the leaf, the idea for the one on the hood was simply stolen from CygnusX1's post. It's like the leaf from south of France is saying hello to her cousin in Connecticut

When the brakes faded I recall the pedal sunk down - perhaps not completely but quite a bit anyway. When I slowed down to the hairpin at first the brakes worked but as I had a lot of speed, I went on full braking for quite long. Just at the hairpin finally the brakes were so hot the pedal went down but luckily the speed was already down so the car stopped just in time. So I think there were still a little bit of braking power left but not as much as there should. I believe they faded simply because they got so hot. The smell from the brakes was really, really strong.

Then they quickly cooled down a bit and became just normal. The rest of my trip I drove very carefully to get the feel of the brakes and they were all normal apart from being WAY noisier than before.. Either I warped my disks or got pads severely glazed.

I do feel like I need a brake upgrade. Believe me, the brakes in my Z are in fully working condition, it's just that they won't cope with driving like that. I had driven that windy mountain road quite fast for a few miles and the last couple of miles really fast. A lot of hard braking. There was the preceding hairpin where the brakes got already really hot, then a new acceleration up to probably 90-95mph and full on brakes. They got just too hot. I think before getting any power upgrades I need to save money for some bolt on brake conversion kit (bolt on as I have no time or equipment to fabricate something by myself)

Would you guys think some high end performance pads and shoes would help initially (before I can afford new rotors and read disks?)

oh you mean the photo on this post, not the last one on my blog.. they both have a leaf in an interesting place. the one on this post was there by itself, I didn't put it there I liked it so I didn't remove it. I think the leaf is still on the car

In answer to your question: yes, high performance brake pads will make a huge difference in hot braking performance. Hawk makes good ones. I highly recommend you try better front brake pads before you make any other modifications as z brakes are actually very good in stock form. I know many autocross competitors who use them with good pads and have no complaints.

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71 on a rotisserie, two more in pieces in my shed...and a 69 1600 waiting for me to get to it

That's good to know Mark, I'll try and get those. what about the rear shoes?
who sells Hawk pads?

in answer to my own question:MSA

Amazing pictures. As for the brakes, they are good enough for street driving but not when you live near the Alps! If you are doing long descents with switchbacks, I would not be at all surprised that you found the limits of the stock brakes. Get yourself some GOOD brake pads that work well when hot, and it is VERY important to have the best and the freshest brake fluid possible. The fact that your pedal sank, means that the fluid boiled. You must change it now. I like ATE-Super Blue fluid because of its performance/cost ratio. I also know that Ford sells a great racing fluid right at their dealerships.

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Blue-Brake- ... B000JL0YMO

I believe I photographed your car last year, here in NY state.

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-Dave
76Z Turbo'd
72 In Progress---DONE!

Thanks Dave for the compliment and advice! I'll try and get new pads and shoes asap and also change the fluid at the same time. And until then drive slow. (on my way back from my adventure the brakes did work fine in normal driving, apart from the unbearable noise..)

and while we're at the subject, I put a few more pics on the blog. Autumn is such an inspiring season I could spend days out in the wild looking for great spots to photograph Datsuns preferably in orange, yellow or red paint.. or green or black or white or 920gold

I really enjoy seeing pictures from around the world.
It amazes me how we/others view it. In the end we all have one common goal
" The purZuit of happiness "
Thanks for sharing !

I agree with Mark. Hawk pads are the way to go. They will definately help eliminate some of your brake fade issues

oh hey, yes it's my car it's so funny she's travelled all the way from CT to germany, then across germany and over the alps to south of france. she's a brave girl!

Hey Mike, I agree it's about purZuit of happiness. For some reason this season is especially important to me. when I was a child I had a brochure of a yellow Datsun 120a fII in a beautiful yellow forest and that image just stuck in my mind for decades. It was so beautiful I always wanted to photograph my own datsun in a scenery like that. yesterday when I finally did, it was like I was a child again. And being like a child is great. for a few hours all the burdens of work, tiredness, all things related to being grown up were gone and I felt like a 7 year old. A 7 year old who is actually driving his Z and having a great time! this is why I love my car and this club, where people understand why I'm happy and what sort of satisfaction I get from my Z. so people, keep being happy!

ok maybe the forest wasn't yellow but this is the image I had and always remembered. a couple of years ago I came across the same brochure on ebay and got it.