Front brake conversion questions

Discussion in 'The whoa and the sway.' started by woodchuck2, Jul 10, 2019.

  1. woodchuck2

    woodchuck2 Well-Known Member

    Ok, so here is what I have done thus far. I have a 65 Skylark with drums, bought a front clip from a 78 camaro with disc's. I saved the spindles and steering box for the 65, bought new rotors, calipers, pads, seals and brake hoses. Now as many here know I picked the wrong damn yr for the upgrade, I should have gone with the 1st generation camaro. But I don't think I am porked as some research I have done I found the 2nd generation spindle is referred to as the tall spindle and actually was an upgrade for better handling as it changed the geometry for the suspension/steering when turning and it was found the front tire made better contact to the road under hard cornering. The spindle does offset the wheel stance by about 3/8ths of an inch outward but I still have tire/wheel clearance for that. From what I have read I will have to swap outer tie-rods for those from a G-body to compensate for that too. Now, here is my question. I already have new ball joints and the part numbers are different between the older A-body and the F-body so will my ball joints work with the F-body spindle or do I have to swap ball joints and then do the F-body ball joints fit the A-body a-arms? I chatted at my local parts supplier and I have to buy new ball joints to check myself as they wont order them to let them sit on the shelf which I cant blame them for that. Trying not to waste money on ball joints I don't need and I really don't want to get my car torn apart and have it sitting on my friends lift taking up space. Thanks
     
  2. 436'd Skylark

    436'd Skylark Sweet Fancy Moses!!!!!

    I did this conversion 15 yrs ago. You need to run the f-body lower balljoints. The taper is different. They will need to be turned down to in a lathe to fit the lower control arms though. The upper arms need replaced with tubular units otherwise you'll need over an inch of shims. you'll need f-body upper balljoints as well but they will come with the tubular upper arms. Its an ok swap, but seems to be outdated at this point.
     
  3. knucklebusted

    knucklebusted Well-Known Member

    Never did this swap but I did look into it before I went with something a bit more stock. Everything you say jives with what I remember, too.
     
  4. 436'd Skylark

    436'd Skylark Sweet Fancy Moses!!!!!

    The outer tie rods need changed too.
     
  5. woodchuck2

    woodchuck2 Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the info guys. So much for a simple easy swap eh, looks like I will be buying F-body upper and lower a-arms and the G-body outer tie rods. I am looking into a wheel alignment system now too. Closest shop that could do alignments was a 30 minute drive from here and the garage burned some time ago, don't see a replacement building in the near future either. Next shop after that is a 60 minute drive. So a buddy and I are going halves on a "Quicktrick" alignment system so we can align our own vehicles from here on. Thanks for the info guys.
     

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