Brake Upgrade

262MM Accord front brake upgrade and rear disk conversion with custom Accord rear hub bearing setup

Ok so this was a bit of a job and a half! Basically it took several months of research and cross referencing to find out exactly which part numbers to order and the best options to get my desired result. my thinking was to upgrade the brakes to a more modern size and design so I could find parts for longer.

In Canada all base model 2gs got rear drum brakes all the way to 1987. so obviously I wanted to put discs on the rear, the problem is the base model front rotors measure 228mm which is technically smaller tan the factory rear rotor. Now years ago I had acquired some 89 Acccord LXI front knuckles and USDM prelude rear control arms with disc brakes, but they sat in the back of my shed for nearly 15yrs. The Accord knuckles are a direct fit onto the Canadian prelude, we got the larger SI transmission and axles in all years from 84 up to 87, and of course the whole rear brakes and control arms are a direct bolt on.

Having all this in place I realized I needed to upgrade my master cylinder and brake booster to accommodate the larger calipers. I also would need the brake prop valve from a four wheel disc car of the same age, I used a 90 prelude prop valve but the accord one would have worked if I had taken it. I found the Accord master cyl fits perfectly onto the SI prelude booster which also fits the base model chassis lol. so that was all sorted out!

Next I focused on the rear rotors. I really wanted to use bearing hubs instead of the oem captured bearings which reside in the rotor itself. a friend of mine had made an adapter kit years ago and still ad a set available so I acquired those. This kit was made up of a sleeve to fit the tapered shaft on the spindle, a spacer to hold the bearing face, a domed cap for the nut, and some spacer washers. Once the sleeve is installed you, slide Accord/integra rear bearing hub onto the sleeve, fit the spacer and reinstall the factory nut on the spindle.

When it came to the brake hoses and parking brake cables, I had to reuse the original prelude front hoses but swap the rears to the disc type that fits the caliper. The parking brake cables also had to be changed for disc type cables. All these parts were available aftermarket so it wasn't a big deal. I used all new hardware wherever possible, like the rotor assembly screws and the brake hose retainer clips. All these little points really make it nice to work on next time and keep it looking great.

That pretty much completed my upgrade with a lot of cleaning and painting in the middle. Everything got a fresh coat of black enamel paint and bolts got a coating of anti seize. The overall look is great and the car really stops a lot better on the highway it feels very responsive and smooth compared to the factory ones. The last fun point of all this was that it was a significant upgrade using all factory Honda parts, kind of feels good for my OCD lol.