Does anyone have any photos of the finished installation?
I’m installing the disc brake conversion on my 2002 gem, and the instructions that came with it are for a ford think, and it looks like they’ve been phtotocopied 200 times, and the picture is 100% unusable. It seems pretty straight forward, and I think I know how they go together, but would be nice to have some confirmation. I’ve found a few older threads on this board, including a really nice walk through from @grantwest - but all the photos are missing. Thanks.
If you need photos to install a Disk Brake kit your not off to a good start
Sorry the photos are gone that photo buckets problem they are A$$ Holes F them.
ha! Like I said, I’m pretty sure I have it right, just would be nice to confirm. I had to grind the brackets to make them fit on the calipers… I also decided to paint the bracket, so I’m waiting for the paint to dry right now…
Before modifying the bracket:
After grinding the bracket:
Wow that’s to bad that NEV kit requires you to grind the Bow Ties to make it fit. That’s lame
Come to think of it out of the three or four disc brake conversion that I have personally done I remember all of them had someone different calibers. I’m not sure if it’s a supply thing and Calipers that nev accessories is selling Are coming from different manufacturers and that’s why fitment may be an issue
Yeah, the fit and finish of the kit leaves something to be desired. In addition to the bracket not fitting, the threads were tapped really poorly, and were heavily rusted. I had to clean them up with a wire brush, and a good tap to make the bolts thread easily. The instructions they sent were for a Ford Think, instead of a Gem, and the only picture was too dark to see anything… And IMO, not painting the brackets is kind of lame.
I’m confident it will be worthwhile and successful in the end, but the experience hasn’t been too impressive so far.
I agree. My Calipers were not painted either. The other kits I had installed the calipers started surface rusting almost immediately. And yes the BowTies they need to be painted as well. So yes I agree, they could be finished better but your right the end result is a great stopping gem.
I’m surprised, I installed the same kit back in February and was actually pleased with the fit/finish. I didn’t have to do any grinding to get the bracket to fit on my 2002 e825. Good luck!
I put one of their kits on years ago and was impressed by the stopping power. Fit and finish was similar to factory, which is to say poor. A little paint and fitting was easy. Stopping was phenomenal, which is what I was looking for. All in all great bang for the buck.
Btw. Installation is very straightforward, pix may actually complicate things.
Just wanted to follow up on this thread, and say that I was putting the bracket on the wrong side of the caliper, which is why it didn’t fit 
Once I put the bracket on the correct side of the caliper it was fine.
I used blue (low strength) loctite on the hub bolts, and anti seize on the brake caliper bolts, which attached to the conversion bracket.
Here are some photos of the drivers side assembly I took showing it together correctly. I painted the bracket red:
Without the Rotor attached:
With Rotor attached (top view)
With Rotor attached (Side view)
Just a little tip about installing the calipers, make sure the caliper slide bolts are fully retracted. You can see in this photo, where they are not fully retracted, and I wasn’t able to get them installed cleanly. I even called NEV accessories like a dufus, and they were very helpful, and pointed out my stupid mistake to me
I also repaired a torn outer CV boot at the same time. I spent 45 minutes f*cking with the snap ring trying to remove the outer axle, before deciding to take the whole axle out of the vehicle, and quickly realized I should have done that right off the bat. Removing the axle from the differential was incredibly easy. It’s just held on with a spring clip, and a big screwdriver will pry it off with almost no effort. The manual said you’d need two people, and made it sound like a PITA, but it was very very easy. The only thing I had to do was remove one of the bolts from the shock tower, so I could get the axle out of the knuckle. If you’re replacing CV boots DEFINITELY take the whole axle out of the car, and put it on your bench. With the new CV Boot (from NEV accessories) I couldn’t get a socket on the hub bolts anymore, because it has a much thicker base than OEM, so I had to use closed/open end wrenches to tighten the hub bolts.
The snap ring is kind of obstructed by the CV assembly, so having snap ring pliers with a notch in them, made all the difference. Without them, it would have been more of a PITA. I’ve owned these pliers for a lot of years, but I think these are them: https://www.lislecorp.com/specialty-tools/lock-ring-pliers
And finally, I needed new rubber on 2 out of 4 wheels, and I either needed larger wheels, or spacers to make the new brakes fit inside my existing 12" wheels. I found a killer deal on some almost brand new tires on some 13" honda 4x100 mm wheels. They fit, and don’t rub on anything, but just BARELY. Everything is super close, mostly because they have so much more backspacing than the OEM wheels, so I ended up ordering some 4x4 (4x101.6) to 4x100 wheel adapters/spacers off ebay. Before I put the spacers/adapters on, you can see in this photo the tiny bit that the 4x100 wheels are “off” from the 4x4 hubs, and you can see how tight the brakes fit inside the wheel (there was about 1/8" of clearance at the tightest spot).
The new brakes are definitely a big improvement, but not earth shatteringly amazing. I’m assuming after they have a few more miles on them, they’ll be be even better.
Also, just for fun, here’s how nasty my brake fluid was before I bled the brakes. 
Yes once you get a few more miles on the Rotors they should stop better