Improving 2nd gen brakes
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- POC Jr. Poster
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Improving 2nd gen brakes
While i've got the whole front clip,front brakes and suspension stripped down i'm thinking I might as well improve the brakes a bit. I know there are aftermarket packages that you can fit but they're a bit out of my budget at mo.
Had been thinking of fitting the GM B body full size front brake spindles that come with 12 inch discs. Found a list of suitable donor vehicles for the spindles online,seems it's a common upgrade in US. Spindles are supposed to be a straight swap(same size upper and lower wishbone balljoints)and if you use the 12 inch 1LE discs from an 88-92 Camaro you keep the same wheel stud pattern and I think use the same wheel bearings if the spindle donor vehicle is 79 or later. 2nd gen calipers bolt straight onto the new spindles and as these only move out half an inch should still fit inside 15 inch wheels ok.
Will do some more research on this upgrade but wondered if anyone else has already done this ?
A quicker cheaper upgrade I found was to replace the standard D52 size front disc pads with D614 disc pads which as you can see from the photo use the same size metal backing plates but have a much larger surface area of braking material
Might try a set of these on my 79 to see what difference they make.
Again,has anybody else already used these on a 2nd gen or any other yank that uses the same size front disc pad ?
Had been thinking of fitting the GM B body full size front brake spindles that come with 12 inch discs. Found a list of suitable donor vehicles for the spindles online,seems it's a common upgrade in US. Spindles are supposed to be a straight swap(same size upper and lower wishbone balljoints)and if you use the 12 inch 1LE discs from an 88-92 Camaro you keep the same wheel stud pattern and I think use the same wheel bearings if the spindle donor vehicle is 79 or later. 2nd gen calipers bolt straight onto the new spindles and as these only move out half an inch should still fit inside 15 inch wheels ok.
Will do some more research on this upgrade but wondered if anyone else has already done this ?
A quicker cheaper upgrade I found was to replace the standard D52 size front disc pads with D614 disc pads which as you can see from the photo use the same size metal backing plates but have a much larger surface area of braking material
Might try a set of these on my 79 to see what difference they make.
Again,has anybody else already used these on a 2nd gen or any other yank that uses the same size front disc pad ?
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Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
i dont see what difference a bigger disc/rotor will make if you still use the original clipers, part of the bigger rotor will have no pad touching it ?
the bigger D164 pads sound ok but these still work on the original rotors
the bigger D164 pads sound ok but these still work on the original rotors
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- POC Jr. Poster
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Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
I wondered the same re the 12 inch rotors and same 2nd gen calipers mate but it must make a difference or a lot of 2nd gen owners in the states wouldn't do this swap on their cars would they ? Also,I think GM fitted the 12 inch rotors to the heavier Station Wagon models but kept the smaller 11 inch rotors on some of the B body saloon cars
Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
bigger rotor/disc gives greater leverage for the caliper so improves braking
- carterdj
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Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
Have you tried the bigger pads yet ? I am interested in these options too, as the brakes on my 77 are not the best. Are the pads on a 77 & 79 the same ?
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Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
We are doing a conversion at the moment to run corvette calipers and rotors.
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Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
what the C3 4 pot calipers?
their quite problematic.
personally I find the brakes on my '77 pretty good. but then compared to all round non assisted drums on my mustang, anythings good!
their quite problematic.
personally I find the brakes on my '77 pretty good. but then compared to all round non assisted drums on my mustang, anythings good!
Pontiac Firebird 403 Formula - 1977
Ford Mustang Convertible 289 - 1967
Chevrolet Corvette Convertible 350 - 1974
MG ZT 260 V8 SE - 2004 (Daily driver)
Rover 214Si 16V - 1994 (daily hack - owned since 1995!)
Ford Mustang Convertible 289 - 1967
Chevrolet Corvette Convertible 350 - 1974
MG ZT 260 V8 SE - 2004 (Daily driver)
Rover 214Si 16V - 1994 (daily hack - owned since 1995!)
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- POC Jr. Poster
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Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
Bigger disc gives larger swept area even with same 2nd gen calipers,prob slightly better brake cooling and less fade too.SUPERCHARGEDGTA wrote:bigger rotor/disc gives greater leverage for the caliper so improves braking
Slight increase in unsprung weight though.
Seems a lot of the B - body cars also had 11inch front discs and the 12inch discs were mainly put on the station wagons and heavy duty cars,ie,models that needed better brakes.
Link to one of the webpages i've been looking at - http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182800
This page has other links on it too.
Not tried the bigger pads yet,might pick some up this week if shop has them - seems these bigger pads come in two thicknesses,we need the thinner of the two as the thicker ones wont fit in our calipers even with the piston fully retracted.carterdj wrote:Have you tried the bigger pads yet ? I am interested in these options too, as the brakes on my 77 are not the best. Are the pads on a 77 & 79 the same ?
All 2nd gens use same size front pads as far as I know,as do a lot of other yanks.
Does the Corvette conversion you are doing fit inside standard 2nd gen 15inch wheels ?Rocky wrote:We are doing a conversion at the moment to run corvette calipers and rotors.
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Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
The conversion Im doing at the moment will not fit inside a 15" wheel but there are others available.
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Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
Got a set of the Powerstop 1995 Chevy Impala 614 pads via Rock Auto the other day to use in place of the standard D52 pads that came with their pad and rotor kit.G20BlazerTA wrote:While i've got the whole front clip,front brakes and suspension stripped down i'm thinking I might as well improve the brakes a bit. I know there are aftermarket packages that you can fit but they're a bit out of my budget at mo.
Had been thinking of fitting the GM B body full size front brake spindles that come with 12 inch discs. Found a list of suitable donor vehicles for the spindles online,seems it's a common upgrade in US. Spindles are supposed to be a straight swap(same size upper and lower wishbone balljoints)and if you use the 12 inch 1LE discs from an 88-92 Camaro you keep the same wheel stud pattern and I think use the same wheel bearings if the spindle donor vehicle is 79 or later. 2nd gen calipers bolt straight onto the new spindles and as these only move out half an inch should still fit inside 15 inch wheels ok.
Will do some more research on this upgrade but wondered if anyone else has already done this ?
A quicker cheaper upgrade I found was to replace the standard D52 size front disc pads with D614 disc pads which as you can see from the photo use the same size metal backing plates but have a much larger surface area of braking material
Might try a set of these on my 79 to see what difference they make.
Again,has anybody else already used these on a 2nd gen or any other yank that uses the same size front disc pad ?
Just test fitted them in calipers and they are fit the same as the standard pads(no modification needed) but have more brake lining surface area so should improve stopping power a bit.
Here's a pic showing difference between the two sets of pads.
http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/Blaze ... d.jpg.html
I reckon there must be an extra 10% or so increase in lining surface area in contact with rotor.
- bhm1712
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Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
The brakes on my second gen feel ok but I would love more stopping power. Might do a disc conversion at the rear one day, but those larger pads do look like they will potentially increase the stopping power if just slightly. Have you tested them yet?
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- POC Jr. Poster
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- Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2011 9:10 am
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Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
No mate. I fitted the larger surface area D 614 pads to Bullnose but am a long way off testing them on that.bhm1712 wrote:The brakes on my second gen feel ok but I would love more stopping power. Might do a disc conversion at the rear one day, but those larger pads do look like they will potentially increase the stopping power if just slightly. Have you tested them yet?
As I then had a spare set of the Powerstop standard size D52 ceramic pads I fitted those in place of the semi metallic pads on my 79 TA and noticed an improvement. So I guess the larger D614 pads should improve brakes a bit more but don't know for sure
- bhm1712
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Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
Ok.
Ideally id like to go for a larger rotor on the front, drilled and grooved as well as vented, with some double pot callipers as a minimum, with a pair of 12 inch rotors at the rear with standard single pot callipers. That should nicely do my engines power... but at the same time, theres so many things i want to do to improve mine i just cant spend all my spare cash on it! as much as id love to, i would end up sleeping in the shed. Problem is i dont have a shed anymore.
Ideally id like to go for a larger rotor on the front, drilled and grooved as well as vented, with some double pot callipers as a minimum, with a pair of 12 inch rotors at the rear with standard single pot callipers. That should nicely do my engines power... but at the same time, theres so many things i want to do to improve mine i just cant spend all my spare cash on it! as much as id love to, i would end up sleeping in the shed. Problem is i dont have a shed anymore.
Ian Hopkinson - Membership Manager & Forum Administrator
Northern England & Midlands Rep
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- bhm1712
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Re: Improving 2nd gen brakes
Interesting to note that AutoPontiac are now offering front disc conversions to SSBC twin pot callipers that fit under 15" wheels and also rear disc conversions for Drum brake rear axles. Photos can be found on the Autopontiac facebook page for those of you who partake in the facebook.
http://www.autopontiac.co.uk
http://www.autopontiac.co.uk
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