front brake upgrade idea

[z34Phoenix]

Let me start... I bought ebay rotors back in Nov and now the ones that were drilled are forming stress cracks from the holes. i emailed the co and am waiting for a reply. i doubt they will replace them, so I need options.

 

I have been researching the F-body brake swap. and it looks like i can just buy 6th gen rotors and fab up a bracket for the camaro calipers (unless the new calipers are a direct swap)

 

I know that some like manitcor are planing the swap. i dont know of anyone who has done it yet. sadly i am on a deadline cause i dont want to go too long driving with these cracking rotors. i say 1 month if not less.

 

my questions are:

-are the F-body calipers a direct swap to our 5th gen's. or do i need to fab up a bracket?

-will the stock brake lines fit? or if i get F-body lines will the mount to our factory fitting

 

lastly, is it even practical to swap to a larger caliper? cause the brake booster will be the same... so wouldnt the force applied to the rotor be less due to the larger pistons?

 

another idea i had was since my Z already has the duel piston calipers upfront, i would just upgrade to the 11.9" 6th gen rotors and get a custom bracket or order one(if they exist) and run my factory calipers.

 

the larger rotor will give more heat disipation area, and since the caliper will bit on the edge it will give more leverage and not throw off the line pressure of having a bigger piston caliper.

 

 

any ideas or suggestions will be greatly welcomed

[fender2082]

After designing and manufacturing a set of brake rotors, I learned one thing... YOU CAN'T DRILL THEM YOURSELF... this goes for the redneck in a machine shop making a killing off of people by buying stockers, hacking them apart, and marking them up. Really good brakes have the holes cast into them... middle-of-the-roaders will have chamfered or, preferably, rounded edges on the holes and will have been heat treated post-drilling.

[9t9 GS]

JA9 'Autobahn' brake package from the '98-up W-bodies...look @ GLS Intrigues in the wrecking yard, or about $250 from GMPP as a possible, less expensive, and engineered package.

[pwmin]

i have the 12" brakes on my riv and i know the fbody calipers only need a sleeve to work on them, but as far as going from one to the other, i could check on my riv vs. gp sometime. i think the gp fronts are the same as the montes

[slick]

So, how much different are the 2nd gen w-body brakes from the 1st gen? I figure a custom mount, but maybe i'm wrong?

[Turbocharged400sbc]

JA9 'Autobahn' brake package from the '98-up W-bodies...look @ GLS Intrigues in the wrecking yard, or about $250 from GMPP as a possible, less expensive, and engineered package.

 

any more threads with info on this? I have been looking into an aluminum subframe/spindle/brake and strut swap onto the 442 i have been looking at an 02 impalla subframe and misc...whats the difference between 02 taxi brakes and this JA9 RPO?

 

Regards, James

[NaiChemsya]

I have been looking to swap brakes too. But I think I am just going to pony up the $1900 to RSM to get their upgrade kit for the whole car. But for those of us who are a little tech dumb yet. What cars are you getting your callipers off? I was wondering if there was a car I could steal bigger callipers from.

[timg]

I had everything needed to do a 2nd gen 12" brake upgrade. The rotors wouldn't fit over my struts and the bolts didn't even come close to lining up. I don't think there's any way to do it without changing out your entire front suspension.

 

Tim

[GhrarhG]

What would it take to make a bracket to move the caliper farther out? That way we can keep our origional parts. Or, has anyone looked into the RSM bracket? 13" vette rotors would rock.

[z34Phoenix]

i tried mocking up a 97 GP's rotor and caliper to a 95 monte the other day at the yard, and it wont work. the caliper mounts are diff on the 95 from the 96+ im going back to the yard later this week to try on a lumina. but to accomadate the larger rotor, yes you will need some custom adapter plate.

[Turbocharged400sbc]

I had everything needed to do a 2nd gen 12" brake upgrade. The rotors wouldn't fit over my struts and the bolts didn't even come close to lining up. I don't think there's any way to do it without changing out your entire front suspension.

 

Tim

 

I believe this to be the case as well....even if ya swapped the 2nd gen struts, the ball joint location varies (in control arm or the spindle/knuckle), this means swapping or making a custom lwr control arm, or swapping the 2nd gen lwr arm onto your subframe, welding on the revised mounting points....

 

or ya can swap a whole alum subframe/struts/arms/brakes etc. and just do a bit of TIG and mave the aluminum rear subframe mounts inward (not hard to do...but most dont have access to a Tig welder...) and lower the front radiator support mounts (it may be possible to mount the front part of these subframes "solid" to the 1st gen unibody without a mounting puck...i have more work to do and i'll know more when we find another 3800 fer the front of the 442 (might as well do it all since the engine/trans will be out) and be able to test fit.

the steering rack looks to mount in the same places and with the same mounts the 1st gens use...

 

lose weight, gain rigidy, more refined suspension design and better brakes...

 

 

 

i tried mocking up a 97 GP's rotor and caliper to a 95 monte the other day at the yard, and it wont work. the caliper mounts are diff on the 95 from the 96+ im going back to the yard later this week to try on a lumina. but to accomadate the larger rotor, yes you will need some custom adapter plate.

 

i was messing with a 00+ imp and i couldnt find any 1st gen W's...well i found one...about a foot tall at that point... so i couldnt mixnmatch...the 95 is the 1.5 gen MC right? what was different? hub center hole? knuckle to rotor clearance?

 

James