Edwin, I'm very capable with a wrench. I'm not sure the drum brake hub is the same as the disc brake hub though. I thought the drum brake hub was thinner than the disc version. Rishie brought up a wheel fitment issue in another thread due to the depth of the rear disc hubs. I'll check with Mazda Motorsports. If it will work, that will certainly help the swap along. I'd still need the spindles, which should be the same as the 2001 disc brake equipped spindles, parking brake cables, brake lines, calipers, and rotors.
Biknman, I was planning on a master cylinder upgrade anyway with the front Wilwood calipers. I'm not entirely happy with the stock pedal travel from the stock master cylinder anyway, so I would consider this a must on the 3rd gen Proteges.

 

Here my two cents based on experience: I've been doing diagnostic testing with my brakes as I upgrade and changes things. As of today: Upgrade from LX 9.?" rotors to ES 10.2" rotors stopping distance improved by 10-15 feet on OEM rubber size, with Victoracers 205s distance was even shorter. With ES 10.2" rotors Carbon Fiber KVR pads and Stainless Steel lines the front disc lock really, really easy you can really feel the pads biting into the rotors; braking distance even decreased more from the LX to ES swap and depending on rubber either street 185s or Racing 205s or the Toyo Proxies TS-1 205s the distance is better or worse. But it seems with the bigger rotors and carbon pads the bite into the rotors is much more pronounced I can lock and unlock the front disc at well and I can really feel it in the brake pedal.
For daily street driving I'll go with the big Wilwood rotors for the coolness factor mainly with my Subzero, and for AutoX I'll probably though on the OEM ES rotors on with some HAWK or EBS Reds, racing pads for really aggressive braking because the red pads ware out the rotors and themselves really fast if your using them all the time.
In down hill racing I use to use EBC green pads for training and course pre-runs then switch to the EBC reds for the race. My first time trying the EBC reds I used them for two days of pre-runs down the mountain and by race time on Sunday the pads where toast and there was noticeable ware in the rotors, and bicycle hydraulic disc brakes are a lot more sensitive to ware (tolerances are under 1mm) than with the automobile stuff. But the reds bite the rotors like no others and conditions don’t matter they eat mud and rain. In fact they would ware out twice as fast in muddy conditions than when dry with the same performance. Also with the greens to reds the reds would squeal like a bitch compared to the greens because they are eating the hell out of the rotors causing all kinds of stress (super high density vibration) and heat buildup on/in the brake components.
Hope this helps folks out with their brake.

 

Edwin comes through!!! Yes, the '99-'00 rear drum brake hubs will work for disc brakes. However, not with the US '01+ rear disc spindles. We need Jspec rear spindles from a 2WD Sport 20. Mazda actually makes four different rear spindles for the Sport 20. A 2 wheel drive version for both drum and disc brakes, and a 4 wheel drive version for both drum and disc brakes. The backing plates, parking brake cables, brake lines, calipers, pads, etc. are all the same as the US '01+ models. The 4 lug rotors are available from Mazda Motorsport. Now I need to decide whether to use the stock rotors, or get larger rear rotors and caliper relocation brakets from Precision Brakes? Now I know I'm going to need a larger master cylinder. Anyone know if we can use one from a 626 or Millenia? Hmm, add some Bridgestone Potenza S03 tires and 60 to 0 in less than 100 ft?

 

Eric F

Where or how are you going to obtain the J-Spec Sport 20 spindles? I'm interested to if its not going to cost an arm and a leg. If you get a rear brake kit from Precision Brakes let them go ahead and engineer/design a proper master cylinder for ya!

You know I was looking though the SCCA solo II bible and any other brakes other than stock size would though you out of STS class, right?

 

60 - 0 in less then 100 ft. would be insane in the protege!

I'd love that type of braking and who wouldnt ?

Could save your life.

 

Biknman, I ordered the spindles from Mazda Motorsports ($51.50ea).

 

Thanks,
Is that team price? Looks like I need to hit the salvage yards for OEM calipers, E-brake cable, and brake lines, spindles from MM and big rotors and master cylinder from Precision. Maybe I'll just get all new OEM parts from MM under the team deal. I forgot all about the STX class. Again thanks for the useful info.

 

No problem. Mazda Motorsports sells non stock parts to anyone for the same price. Team support membership gets you stock US parts for the vehicle you have registered for discounted prices. Turns out it's not going to be easy to locate the stock '01+ rear calipers used. MazdaMart is the only place that had them, and doesn't want to seperate the full set (front and rear from the spindle out). I think Brian said they were ~$300 new, which is more than the Wilwood billet dynalites.

 

Seem like you are going through alot of trouble just for the brakes??

 

I'm waiting for my Team Membership from MM any day now. As for the rear disc brake conversion looks like a project for next winter. I think once the Mazdaspeed bumper and skirts come in and I get them on the car painted along with hopefully the CF Hood. I'm done with mods to the car till this winter. I'm still working on getting the parts to turbo charge the car but probably will not be complete till this fall. Plus I want to see how AutoX goes this season as I'm thinking about getting a deal on a MR2 or Miata for AutoXing only for next year. The deal is via two friends who are looking at something new this summer and will be unloaded their little sportsters cheap.
Good luck with the rear disc conversion!

 

A lot of trouble? Your in the wrong place, this is a car enthusiast Forum. This ain't trouble, it's fun.

Brian finally gave me a support number becuase I was calling and ordering so much. I think he got tired of taking my information down over and over again. I'll be official this year anyway, but it's nice to get a head start. I got the rear disc spindles from them yesterday. I talked to Darryl at Precision Brakes Co. about upgrading the rear rotors and calipers also. He's looking for upgraded calipers that would include a parking brake for me, as well as larger DBA rotors with the same offset as the stock rear rotors. I want an awesome handling and braking street car first, then I'll look at the engine after the Callaway turbo system parts become available later this year.

 

i thought all ES's had 4 wheel discs, or did this just start in the 01 model?

 

yup, you got it

99-00 ES has drum rears

 

All ES, LX 2.0L, and MP3's had both front and rear disc brakes starting in '01. For '99-'00, all US Proteges were stuck with rear drum brakes for some reason, even though they had rear discs in other markets.

 

Edwin, I'll have to get them when I get home. You can call Mazda Motorsports and get them, if so, why not get the part numbers for the DX and LX owners to upgrade the front brakes to ES specs also?

Front Parts needed:
258mm front rotors
correct mounting offset ES mounting brackets, calipers, and pads
larger ES brake backing plate (dust cover)

Rear parts needed:
JDM 2 wheel drive disc spindles (-$51.50)
use stock drum brake hubs & integral bearings
'01+ disc brake backing plate (dust cover)
JDM 4lug rotors (B26Y-26-251 -$32.85)
'01+ mounting bracket, caliper, and pads
'01+ hydraulic brake lines
'01+ left and right parking brake cables