In the future, I want to convert the rear of my 71 Skylark to disc brakes and upgrade the front disc brakes. I know there's a lot of conversion kits from good companies but there pricey and they need modification of the rotor or axle. But I want to know to has someone found out the correct pieces to make their own kit? I would like to go to the parts store and piece together rotors, pads, calipers, etc that work well! Idk if anyone has taken the time to do this, but im asking! let me know, thanks!
I have factory front discs and that works great. Don't reinvent the wheel on that one. For the rear, I have the Right Stuff kit on mine. It works, stops well but there are some design flaws. First, you must turn down the outside diameter of the axle to clear the rotor. Not a huge problem but needs to be done. Second, the caliper mount doesn't place the bleeder at the top. You must take the wheel off, unbolt the caliper, move it to where the bleeder is at the top, block the caliper with a block of wood THEN you can bleed it of air. Third and worst, the factory Buick wheel will not clear the caliper. I detailed my trials and tribulations with this kit in a thread here. http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/right-stuff-rear-disc-brakes-buick-wheels.219455/ I'm strongly looking at the Scarebird brackets for my 71 GS 350 4 speed car with the following components. I believe this to be a solid solution that fixes all the ills I've had with the Right Stuff kit. I'd be interested to see what you do. Scarebird brackets, mount the caliper horizontal instead of at a 45°: https://scarebird.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=66 Cadillac calipers with rear parking brakes: https://www.ebay.com/itm/GM-REAR-DI...E-CALIPERS-WITH-REAR-BRAKE-HOSES/321546787333 Parking brake conversion cables: https://www.ebay.com/itm/64-65-66-6...REAR-DISC-EMERGENCY-BRAKE-CABLES/222037223869 Master cylinder for a 4 wheel disc: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rsd-dbmc04/overview/ Rear rotors from a 3rd gen F-body: https://www.carid.com/raybestos/professional-grade-rear-brake-rotor-mpn-5066r.html
What do you mean by this? Did you mean trim the outside diameter? Yeah I looked at the right stuff kit but I want to keep my wheels so gotta keep looking. I have a friend that works at a parts store and If i can get the measurements and make templates from kits like right stuff and baer or wilwood, I can go into his store and find the right size rotor and caliper and whatever I need. How did you piece this new kit together?
Yes, the internal diameter of the 2nd gen Trans Am rear rotor hat is smaller than the outside diameter of the 8.5 axle our cars have. It isn't much that needs to come off. More like a clean up cut. Some folks do it with a grinder but I prefer a cleaner cut done by a machine shop. Scarebird provided the details to the parts needed to make their bracket/conversion work. It looks like a better design. I have not bought or installed this. I have only spec'd out the parts based on Scarebird's parts list. The rotor is a 3rd gen F-body rotor that has a deeper hat depth of 2.4" and a smaller size of 10.5" so it will clear more easily than the 11" ones I used, which will move the caliper farther away from the wheel. Our factory wheels having the same center as a 14" wheel makes for an interesting rim shell with a really small inside diameter. I'm not using a proportioning valve in my 70 Stage 1 and it stops very quickly with almost no lock. I converted the 71 350 to front power discs but am aiming to do the rear discs this winter if I get time.
Ok i went on scarebirds website and found this. What confuses me and granted I've never done a brake conversion before. but why is the bracket 4 holes when we have 5 lug pattern wheels? https://scarebird.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=66 Did you email them to find out the required parts for the conversion? or is somewhere public to read in detail?
I don't know if it is public but this was the response they sent me: Yes, the RDB should clear the stock 15" wheel. We have not been told that it doesn't. Some 14" wheels clear though most do not. Additional parts needed are: Application (in bold): General Motors (5 on 4-3/4” bolt center – GTO, Camaro, Nova etc.) Part #’s 1983-98 S10 4WD front rotors (NAPA #85668, Wagner #BD102075) Buick 1965-70 (5 on 5” bolt center – Riviera, LeSabre, Electra)* Part #’s 1976 Ford T-Bird rear (NAPA# 85646, 47 Wagner# BD60445,46) Chevrolet 1965-70 (5 on 4-3/4” bolt center- Impala Caprice) Part #’s 1982-87 Camaro rear rotors (NAPA# 85820, Wagner# BD60631) Your kit will use the following calipers and pads: 1979-85 Cadillac Eldorado rear calipers (NAPA# SE4689, SE4690) (Wagner# CR107094, CR107095) Flex hoses – use a SAE/Metric piece (1979-81 Camaro front).
