Project Civic EJ: Fast Brakes Rear Disc Brake Conversion Kit
By Chuck Johnson
Photos by Joe Lu
After completing the install of the front Fast Brakes big brake kit, we knew that we had to do something about the drum brake lameness that was taking place on the rear of Project Civic. Project Civic had been retired to commuter car only status almost a decade ago and since then had only the basic maintenance performed. We were pretty suspicious that the rear drums weren’t contributing any work in the whole braking equation since there seemed to be an abnormal amount of front brake bias. Never mind that the rear drums and shoes had not been replaced ever even after 260,000 miles of use.
After pulling off the drums, it was pretty obvious that the rear brakes had checked out and gone on vacation over a hundred or so thousand miles ago. (Speaking of vacations, I could sure use one right now.) There was plenty of friction material left on the shoes, perhaps caused from poor adjustment or a frozen brake cylinder. Who really cares, though?
Honestly, drum brakes suck in almost every way. Well, except for trapping heat and creating a crappy pedal feel as they distort and grow under compressive and thermal loads. They’re pretty efficient at that stuff. Unlike disc brakes, drum brake’s friction surfaces are encased in a cast iron “shell.” This shell makes expelling heat a real challenge, causing heat to build up inside the drum. Also, the force of the drum brake’s shoe is not opposed by an equal and opposite force like on a disc brake. On a disc brake system, the pads are essentially squeezing against one another with the rotor in the middle. Why is this important? Without equal forces acting on each side of the drum, we are left to rely on the stiffness of the drum’s cast iron material to resist the compressive load of the shoe that’s pushing against it. Ultimately, the drum itself gives way and distorts elastically under this load causing poor brake feel and performance. I’m sure there are applications where drums might be preferred but again, they’re drum brakes and who really cares? I don’t. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind seeing them follow the dodo bird and the carburetor down the path of extinction.
So, instead of diagnosing the problem with Project Civic’s rear suck brakes, we quickly removed Project Civic’s drum brake assembly and pawned them off to the first scrap metal guy who drove by the MotoIQ garage. Our original thought was to replace Project Civic’s drum brakes with the rear disc brakes from a Civic Si, but there’s only one thing that we can’t stand more than crappy, knock off parts and that’s crappy, stolen parts. Stolen parts are just bad karma, so instead of risking getting a frozen pair of freshly stolen Civic Si calipers and seven years of bad luck, we opted for another one of Fast Brakes’ big brake kits. This time though, the Fast Brakes kit was not only a big brake kit, but also a drum to disc brake conversion kit.
23 comments
Reference: 2005 Honda Civic LX 4-door sedan.
Is there a conversion kit, from rear drum brakes to rear disc brakes, for left and right side?
If so, details requested.
Thanks,
L LUM (Mr.)
I have a 2007 honda civic LX with stock drum brakes in the rear.want to convert to disc .what do i need and how much will it cost for a conversion kit.
Following the links is your friend!
I have a 2000 Honda Civic ek1. The back is drum brake. I want to change it to disc brake. But I don’t know what to buy and where to buy. Can you give me some advice. And what I need to buy pls.
The EK should be the same as this car.
How much do I looking at if I wanna do it for back left and back right side.
I have91 Hondacivic 4d sedan and l need rear brake conversion kit from drum to disc brake with red color .Is it possible?
What rear brake conversion kit do I need for my 98 Honda civic lx?
Thanks for this awesome write up, my question is exactly what kit was used. Sure following the link sends me off to fast brakes, but I can’t seem to find this kit unless I’m missing somthing.
They have a kit for an 88-95 drum to disc
And a kit for the integra or 96-2000 civic with disc brakes.
I have a 1998 EJ6, from what I’ve read on the forums the 88-95 kit could possibly work.
So im just asking for clarification.
Call Fastbrakes and talk to them.
Have a honda civic lx want to give my rear drum brake a conversion for disc brake..what brake kits that will fit for my rear brake
Um there is a whole article about that here.
MotoQ gentlemen,
good morning!
I have a Civic LX 2002/03 made Brazil, and I would like to install the disc kit on the rear wheels. This kit is ideal. Where can I buy?
Thank you very much for the post. It is very enlightening. Hug! Marco.
Hello i would love too no how can i get this Brakes Rear Disc Brake Conversion Kit its for my 1999 honda civic ex
The article gives all the info
Would this fit a 1998 honda civic ek hatchback?!
You suck!!
Part numbers for kits you write about would save people time.
Following the links in the story can be useful.
Will this fit on a 2002 Honda Civic 4 dr VTEC?
Hey I am now finding this and want to rear disc swap on my civic build of a 99 Civic EX Sedan. I have looked around and alot of places say I need to replace the trailing arms on the car to get the swap. Does the fast brakes kit require us to replace the trailing arms? If so where can I go to get the right ones I need?
So hey I have a 99 civic Sedan and everything I read it’s saying that I need to but new trailing arms to do the rear brake swap from drum to disc. Is this kit able to keep the trailing arms I currently have or do I need a separate one?
Need a conversion kit for a 2002 Honda Civic Ex 4dr Sedan, tried looking for it but couldn’t find anything? Is there one for this make and model?
How much is kit