DIY: Spoon Monoblock Brake Calipers (91-05)

[Chris_Lum]

Learn how to install Spoon Monoblock brake calipers on your 1991-2005 Acura/Honda NSX. First part of the video is an unboxing and my thoughts, while the second part is a step by step installation. This kit is NOT specifically for the NSX, but, like a lot of Honda/Acura parts, it can fit and is safe to run. I go through the steps for installation on an NSX and take the guess work out so you can install yours without worry since there aren't any specific instructions for the NSX.

Note: If you have a NA2 (97-05) You already have the correct size front rotors. Every other installation step should be the same.

Required:
-Spoon Monoblock Brake Calipers for Civic/Integra/TSX: https://spoonusa.com/spoon-monoblock-caliper-set-fwd-civic-integra-ek9-dc2r-98-fn2-zf1-cl7
-1997-2005 Brake Rotors of your choice. Here are Stoptech blanks: https://www.tirerack.com/brakes/bra...cura&autoModel=NSX&autoYear=1997&autoModClar=
-S2000 Brake pads of your choice. I used Stoptech Sport: https://amzn.to/3HnNuWU
Copper Washers: https://amzn.to/3J7I9Et

Special Tools:
-Aviation Snips: https://amzn.to/3kF4z5G
-Angle Grinder: https://amzn.to/3GXlsA9

0:00 - Unboxing Spoon Monoblocks
1:27 - NSX vs S2000 Pad Differences
3:00 - A Look at the Spoon Hardware
3:53 - Modifying the Brake Pads4:58 - A Look at the Different Washers Provided (for different applications)
5:52 - Why the NSX Requires the MBF (Forward Mounted) Monoblocks
6:46 - Test Fitting S2000 Brake Pads
7:25 - 97+ Rotors are Required
8:33 - Disassembling the OEM Brakes
9:33 - Modifying the OEM Heat Shields
13:07 - Why to use OEM Caliper Bracket Bolts Instead of Spoon
13:35 - Using the DC2/Thin Washers to Center the Caliper over the Rotor
14:24 - Mounting the Spoon Caliper
16:12 - Installing the Brake Pads
16:54 - Mounting the Bridge
17:57 - Transferring the Brake Line Over
19:18 - Finished!

 

[Mintifresh]

Just wish we could run a bigger rotor with this setup. Anyone make brackets and rotor upgrade ?

 

[Chris_Lum]

Don't know of anyone that makes a rotor upgrade for spoons.

 

[Mintifresh]

Don't know of anyone that makes a rotor upgrade for spoons.

Yeah not with ours , the s2000 world has ballade who actually came out with an upgrade however nsx no dice so far.

 

[I_M_Legend]

Is there really a benefit if the pads used with the Spoon calipers are smaller than the original? Seems counterintuitive.

 

[Mintifresh]

In my case , if I were to put them on would want a bigger rotor merely to fill the wheel. The look of the brakes with 17in wheel upfront makes it seem very small rotor size. Again my car is a weekend cruiser if that so mainly for looks however due to low mileage I am debating on selling the calipers .

 

[Chris_Lum]

Is there really a benefit if the pads used with the Spoon calipers are smaller than the original? Seems counterintuitive.

Not sure to be honest. You are upgrading from a 2 piston to 4 piston caliper so you should have better modulation, but I've not done any research on how the smaller pad area affects performance. What i do know is that Spoon ran the monoblocks on their racecar NSX back in the day so they can't be that detrimental (if at all). But no exact data is to be had unless some smart guy someday decides to do the math on the caliper + pad sizes and also do some real world testing.

In my case , if I were to put them on would want a bigger rotor merely to fill the wheel. The look of the brakes with 17in wheel upfront makes it seem very small rotor size. Again my car is a weekend cruiser if that so mainly for looks however due to low mileage I am debating on selling the calipers .

Yes this is a good mod for 16" wheel users. The small rotor behind a 17" wheel is precisely why i went bigger with a Stoptech BBK.

 

[Mintifresh]

Not sure to be honest. You are upgrading from a 2 piston to 4 piston caliper so you should have better modulation, but I've not done any research on how the smaller pad area affects performance. What i do know is that Spoon ran the monoblocks on their racecar NSX back in the day so they can't be that detrimental (if at all). But no exact data is to be had unless some smart guy someday decides to do the math on the caliper + pad sizes and also do some real world testing.


Yes this is a good mod for 16" wheel users. The small rotor behind a 17" wheel is precisely why i went bigger with a Stoptech BBK.

Exactly , re thinking my wheel setup choices now. Still trying to track down some m7 v2 , found an og set but beyond my price range (20k).

16/17 with the spoon I think looks decent, and your upgrade to the plated bbk is an amazing look and makes it perfect with 17in. Still debating on doing something similar or just use my spoons which have sat in the box for a year for another car lol

 

[Chris_Lum]

Exactly , re thinking my wheel setup choices now. Still trying to track down some m7 v2 , found an og set but beyond my price range (20k).

16/17 with the spoon I think looks decent, and your upgrade to the plated bbk is an amazing look and makes it perfect with 17in. Still debating on doing something similar or just use my spoons which have sat in the box for a year for another car lol

It's important to note that the spoon calipers don't clear the OG M7 because they hit the bolt hardware on the inner barrel. Since the V2 have fake bolts, the inner barrel is smooth and has more clearance. I was thrilled when i found out and the 16" M7 V2 + Spoon caliper was a perfect looking combo.

 

[Mintifresh]

It's important to note that the spoon calipers don't clear the OG M7 because they hit the bolt hardware on the inner barrel. Since the V2 have fake bolts, the inner barrel is smooth and has more clearance. I was thrilled when i found out and the 16" M7 V2 + Spoon caliper was a perfect looking combo.

Wow ok this is great information, thank you!

If anyone knows anyone selling v2 let me know

And yes I agree the way the caliper sits within the wheel is an amazing look. Your setup is the reason I am actually searching for the wheel. To me it’s perfection.

 

[Chris_Lum]

I think it will clear OG but needs a 10mm spacer or something like that.

 

[MotorMouth93]

Even with the smaller pads, a larger rotor will be helpful since it can hold and dissipate more heat. Same for the aluminum caliper, it can shed heat faster than the OEM iron calipers.

The issue with using the Spoon caliper with a larger rotor is the inside of the caliper is machined with a radius meant to perfectly fit a ~300mm rotor with a few millimeters of clearance, and going larger than that will result in the pad hanging off the edge of the rotor. Pad overhang isn't the end of the world but if it hangs off too far the pad contact area starts to drop substantially. Here's some discussion about the Ballade big rotor kit showing this issue, along with their rotors cracking. https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-b...ort-330mm-rotor-spoon-caliper-review-1221162/

If I ever get bored I might try to come up with a budget option for fitting larger rotors in the 320 range, there's a few options I know of that might work and I can machine my own spacers, but I mainly did the Spoon calipers for looks and having the pads hang off is not really something I want.

 

[Chris_Lum]

Even with the smaller pads, a larger rotor will be helpful since it can hold and dissipate more heat. Same for the aluminum caliper, it can shed heat faster than the OEM iron calipers.

The issue with using the Spoon caliper with a larger rotor is the inside of the caliper is machined with a radius meant to perfectly fit a ~300mm rotor with a few millimeters of clearance, and going larger than that will result in the pad hanging off the edge of the rotor. Pad overhang isn't the end of the world but if it hangs off too far the pad contact area starts to drop substantially. Here's some discussion about the Ballade big rotor kit showing this issue, along with their rotors cracking. https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-b...ort-330mm-rotor-spoon-caliper-review-1221162/

If I ever get bored I might try to come up with a budget option for fitting larger rotors in the 320 range, there's a few options I know of that might work and I can machine my own spacers, but I mainly did the Spoon calipers for looks and having the pads hang off is not really something I want.

Good call out on aluminum vs iron. The larger rotor being an upgrade is only applicable to NA1 though so NA2 have less of a benefit.

Interesting read about the ballade kit. I see they still have a bad reputation on S2ki. I would say that putting a larger rotor won't inherently cause pad overhang. Ballade notes on their site that the upsized rotor should fit fine with their Ballade Twinblock caliper, but has pad overhang with Spoon Monoblock or OEM S2K calipers, presumably because of slight dimensional differences. It's completely possible that the monoblock can fit w/o overhang if a new adapter bracket was made.

So this is to say, if someone were to create a 330mm rotor for the NSX, it does not necessarily mean it will create pad overhang like the ballade kit. It could happen, but does not necessarily mean it will happen. I don't personally know how much extra room Spoon monoblocks have for a larger rotor so i can't pretend to make any solid claims either way.

 

[MotorMouth93]

"It's completely possible that the monoblock can fit w/o overhang if a new adapter bracket was made."

Unfortunately this just isn't true, due to the radius cut into the spoon monoblock caliper that I mentioned previously. Preventing pad overhang would mean the rotor would have to pass through a solid part of the caliper. As crappy as Ballade may be, they didn't just hang the pads way over due to incompetence, they did it because otherwise the caliper would hit the rotor. It boils down to the fact that a 330mm peg will not fit into a 300mm hole, and in this case the caliper is the 300mm hole.

In theory, you could cut the "ears" on the pads to allow them to slide further in, but then they wouldn't be centered on the pistons anymore which introduces other issues.

 

[Chris_Lum]

"It's completely possible that the monoblock can fit w/o overhang if a new adapter bracket was made."

Unfortunately this just isn't true, due to the radius cut into the spoon monoblock caliper that I mentioned previously. Preventing pad overhang would mean the rotor would have to pass through a solid part of the caliper. As crappy as Ballade is, they didn't just hang the pads way over by accident, they did it because otherwise the caliper would hit the rotor otherwise.

In theory, you could cut the "ears" on the pads to allow them to slide further in, but then they wouldn't be centered on the pistons anymore.

No, i know how it works and I get what you mean. But comparing ballades problem with their china/taiwan twinblock copy that they made a rotor upgrade for where it fits fine with their twinblock and creates overhang with the authentic spoon monoblock, is comparing apples to oranges. Ballade doesn't hang the pads over on purpose--again--that kit is made for their twinblock. they just retroactively list it as fitting the monoblock--with caveats (shaving pad ears down). This info is all on their site and/or on that thread you posted btw.

It's completely possible that the monoblocks will create overhang with a 330 mm rotor, but you can't say for sure just because Ballade has this problem. Their setup is completely different.

So the ballade kit, again, being made for their twinblock has a bracket that sets the caliper X amount from their 330mm rotor. We can assume that putting a monoblock on with the ballade bracket sets the caliper farther away from the rotor since it causes pad overhang. So the fix, as stated by ballade and in that post, is to shave the ears down so the pad can sit lower in the caliper. If someone were to create a all new kit for the NSX with a 330 mm caliper, maybe the could get the monoblock to sit closer to the rotor. Now, I am not guaranteeing the monoblock has enough room to be positioned in a way to eliminate 100% of the pad overhang but it's a thought.

You're probably right in that there will always be SOME overhang, but I'm just thinking there may be ways to minimize it and make it acceptable. Such as, shaving or machining a minimal amount off the inside of the caliper (minimal being 1-2mm) and or doing the same for the pad ears (1-2mm won't make a discernable difference when it comes to pad offset from pistons).

 

[Chris_Lum]

Not sure to be honest. You are upgrading from a 2 piston to 4 piston caliper so you should have better modulation, but I've not done any research on how the smaller pad area affects performance. What i do know is that Spoon ran the monoblocks on their racecar NSX back in the day so they can't be that detrimental (if at all). But no exact data is to be had unless some smart guy someday decides to do the math on the caliper + pad sizes and also do some real world testing.


Yes this is a good mod for 16" wheel users. The small rotor behind a 17" wheel is precisely why i went bigger with a Stoptech BBK.

I forgot to also state that Spoon went from the twinblocks w/larger pad on the DC2 to the monoblocks w/smaller pad on the S2K and DC5 both cars being heavier than the DC2. (Meaning: Twin blocks were originally marketed for DC2 and monoblocks for S2000 and DC5). So that info, along with the fact that Spoon ran the monoblocks on their race NSX at some point, made me believe that it's an upgrade that is OK to run. I'm sure someone out there has posted about their experience on track with this setup....

 

[MotorMouth93]

A year ago or so I mocked up the Spoon monoblock calipers with a 320mm rotor and even with the rotor touching the caliper there was quite a bit of overhang. So I definitely can say for certain that the monoblocks will create overhang with a 330 rotor lol.

Grinding that inside area of the caliper would be downright stupid, and that's a huge understatement. That area of the caliper is critical for maintaining rigidity of the caliper under hard braking and is one of the most stressed parts of the caliper and should not be modified. Would it work? Maybe, or maybe you'd stomp the brakes and crack the caliper in half, there is no way of knowing what safety margin is designed in or how modification affected it.

 

[Mintifresh]

No, i know how it works and I get what you mean. But comparing ballades problem with their china/taiwan twinblock copy that they made a rotor upgrade for where it fits fine with their twinblock and creates overhang with the authentic spoon monoblock, is comparing apples to oranges. Ballade doesn't hang the pads over on purpose--again--that kit is made for their twinblock. they just retroactively list it as fitting the monoblock--with caveats (shaving pad ears down). This info is all on their site and/or on that thread you posted btw.

It's completely possible that the monoblocks will create overhang with a 330 mm rotor, but you can't say for sure just because Ballade has this problem. Their setup is completely different.

So the ballade kit, again, being made for their twinblock has a bracket that sets the caliper X amount from their 330mm rotor. We can assume that putting a monoblock on with the ballade bracket sets the caliper farther away from the rotor since it causes pad overhang. So the fix, as stated by ballade and in that post, is to shave the ears down so the pad can sit lower in the caliper. If someone were to create a all new kit for the NSX with a 330 mm caliper, maybe the could get the monoblock to sit closer to the rotor. Now, I am not guaranteeing the monoblock has enough room to be positioned in a way to eliminate 100% of the pad overhang but it's a thought.

You're probably right in that there will always be SOME overhang, but I'm just thinking there may be ways to minimize it and make it acceptable. Such as, shaving or machining a minimal amount off the inside of the caliper (minimal being 1-2mm) and or doing the same for the pad ears (1-2mm won't make a discernable difference when it comes to pad offset from pistons).

Went down the same route I went in search of a rotor upgrade , contacted ballade but again nothing for the mono block. Great info here.

 

[Chris_Lum]

A year ago or so I mocked up the Spoon monoblock calipers with a 320mm rotor and even with the rotor touching the caliper there was quite a bit of overhang. So I definitely can say for certain that the monoblocks will create overhang with a 330 rotor lol.

You should lead with that information next time save us a lot of time and effort!!

 

[Mintifresh]

I see racing brakes makes an oem caliper upgrade with mounting brackets , since designed for oem calipers (although they need to be shaved) wouldn’t this allow the spoon caliper to utilize a bigger rotor or would we be dealing with overhang as well?

 

[Chris_Lum]

I see racing brakes makes an oem caliper upgrade with mounting brackets , since designed for oem calipers (although they need to be shaved) wouldn’t this allow the spoon caliper to utilize a bigger rotor or would we be dealing with overhang as well?

Need more details. Link? What size rotor and what part needs to be shaved?

 

[Mintifresh]

RB 2 Pc Rotor Kit (324/330) BBK for Acura NSX NA1 (91-96) or NA2 (97-05) (P/N 2076-K & 2077-K) - Caliper Modification is required (See Description)

RB 2 Pc Rotor Kit (324/330) BBK for Acura NSX NA1 (91-96) or NA2 (97-05) (P/N 2076-K & 2077-K) - Caliper Modification is required (See Description)

racingbrake.com

Here is the kit, my idea was since it works with oem caliper perhaps the spoon bracket can be bolted onto it? Pricing and rotor design aside (not a fan of either lol) but the idea is there.

 

[Chris_Lum]

Yeah your idea is correct. The spoon caliper should be able to bolt onto anything the oem caliper is designed to bolt onto but the dimensions of the two calipers are different as well as the material, Iron vs aluminum. Who knows how much the spoon caliper would need to be grinded down due to dimensional differences. Might not be safe.

I’m not sure how big of a desire it is for larger rotors on a spoon caliper but you may want to look at different caliper options if the 298mm rotor is that undesirable.

 

[Mintifresh]

Yeah your idea is correct. The spoon caliper should be able to bolt onto anything the oem caliper is designed to bolt onto but the dimensions of the two calipers are different as well as the material, Iron vs aluminum. Who knows how much the spoon caliper would need to be grinded down due to dimensional differences. Might not be safe.

I’m not sure how big of a desire it is for larger rotors on a spoon caliper but you may want to look at different caliper options if the 298mm rotor is that undesirable.

True , this was the only option I saw far as running a larger rotor however shaving an aluminum caliper is not on my to do list. I was thinking maybe the spoon caliper has better clearance in the areas that need shaving however that would be a $2700 test haha

 

[MotorMouth93]

Spoon monoblock calipers use radial mounting bolts, so all you really need to do make room for a larger rotor is add a spacer (or a stack of washers if you want to go the cheap and ghetto route) on the mounts and use longer bolts. But you still run into the issue of clearance at the top and bottom of the caliper that we have been discussing, which if you're ok with a bit of pad overhang isn't really the end of the world.

This is a photo of the Spoon mounting bracket, and you can see the bolt holes sticking out the side where the calipers go.



As far as rotor choices go I've come across these that will sort of fit:

Vehicle	Thickness	Diameter	Height	Center Bore
1997-2005 NA2 NSX	28mm	298mm	36.2mm	70.3mm
1994-2004 Mustang Cobra	28mm	330mm	43.6mm	70.3mm
2014-2019 Nissan Rogue	28mm	320mm	44.0mm	68.1mm

The height measurement is the questionable part, the Rogue and Mustang rotors have ~1mm clearance with the bottom of the front knuckle so could potentially cook the ball joint. This is a Rogue rotor mounted on the front with hubs that I machined to have 68.1mm center bore. Whether this is a dealbreaker or not...I don't know, there's a few potential workarounds for this, such as a spacer ring to move the hub a few mm out of the bearing, or as simple as putting a spacer between the rotor and the hub. Stoptech brakes get rid of the heat shield too and IIRC those have about 1/8" clearance, maybe @Chris_Lum can confirm/deny that.



Depending on what wheels you have, Porsche 996 brake calipers are a potential option and fairly easily available. But they are pretty wide, and most wheels will have trouble clearing them thanks to Honda's love for very flat brake rotors. This is a 996 caliper with a 320mm Rogue rotor that I mocked up a few years ago. The 996 caliper is nice because it shares the piston sizes with the NSX (40/36) so it won't throw the bias out of whack.



What I learned from all this though is that you will probably be happier just buying a BBK that suites your needs rather than trying to hack something together. In the end, none of this ended up being useful since the 996 calipers wouldn't fit behind my ZE40s without a massive spacer. @RYU went through more BBK setups than anyone I know and I think he ended up with Stoptech calipers on the front and a RFY big rotor kit on the rear that uses the stock calipers sort of like the Racing Brake kit. I'm here mainly for the bling, so I ended up with the Spoon monoblocks which were cheap with a favorable exchange rate on the front and NA2 calipers on the rear which still gave me +20mm rotors compared to the NA1 brakes, and all the fanbois love Spoon.