Front brake discussion

[Movin]

Has anyone tried to fit the early Miata front caliper and bracket to a Festiva Knuckle ?

[Advancedynamix]

Early miata rotor is nearly identical to aspire auto. Just no countersunk screw holes for the retaining screws.

[Movin]

If the Miata caliper and bracket could be mounted there are some Miata brake pads that are available with improved coefficients of friction.

The best I could find for Festiva was this.

http://www.carid.com/1993-ford-festiva-brakes/chrome-brakes-brake-pads-26741390.html#product-details-tab

I did find some ebc yellow for the auto aspire, anyone using that ?

[Bert]

I did a full Aspire brake/suspension swap 5 years ago and thanks to one broken Aspire caliper bolt discovered that those through-bolts were not replaceable by any of the former Festy stuff. Kia (Mazda/Ford?) up-sized everything of consequence when it got the 'go-ahead' to manufacture Aspires. Seemingly simple things like this become a curse when the only source of useable parts is a Dealer (think exorbitant $) or having to scope through/scavenge for hours at JYs and U-Pulls for something that might work.
One nice thing about this quest of yours is that there are lots of Mazda/Kia-made 'become derelict scrap' makes and models awaiting $1 a pound recycle.

[Movin]

Bert, I didn't really want to add the weight of a conversion, but wanted stock Festy stuff with a brake pad rated GG like the EBC yellow for the aspire or the miata. The Miata has even more options but it looks like it is a lot more weight too. Conversions also involve proportioning valves and master-cylinder changes to get the desired brake pedal feel. I wonder if the aspire pads could be ground down to festy size ? No ceramic dust. Asbestos is not in products made in the USA.

The washboards on mountain gravel roads are severe. Adding sprung weight like a heavier tire is a huge difference in the wrong direction.