... I AM ONLY AWARE OF THE FULL-SIZE GM FRONT BRAKE/G-BODY GM CONVERSION ... But not with long-style headers (upper/lower control arm interference issues). ANYONE "BEEN THERE DONE THAT," PLEASE?
I just installed the Wilwood aluminum calipers, I already had the lightweight front rotors from Jegs. These calipers bolt right on, no worries about clearing anything.. The way it was before with the old calipers and the lightweight rotors, combined with the S-10 wheel cylinders and using all four longer brake shoes on rear.. I can make the 2nd turn off at most track I race at.. I don't know if the new calipers will stop the car any better but I sure did take 8 pounds off the front of the car..:TU:
I used the power master, master cylinder assy, off a Grand National with its own vacuum source and (camshaft lift/duration) had no effect on the braking system. When I had a BBC motor in the car the camshaft was 714 lift/306 duration but the braking system didn't know the difference. I also used the large rear brake shoes and S-10 wheel cylinders. The brakes would throw you through the windshield with stock front calibers/rotors.
THANKS MUCH, DON ... ESPECIALLY THE PICS (looks great) ARE THE S-10 WHEEL CYLINDERS A DIRECT BOLT IN? ADDITIONALLY, UNDER WHAT VEHICLE DO I ORDER THE "LARGER" REAR BRAKES. AND LARRY ... WHAT DID YOU USE FOR THE GN BRAKE BOSTER'S VACUUM SOURCE? THIS TYPE KNOWLEDGE IS BETTER-N SEX! LOL
The S-10 wheel cylinders are a direct fit.. get the tool to remove them cause they are held in with a spring clip and without the tool its darn near impossible.. tool is cheap and worth every penny. Any auto part store should have it.. Ask for a 84 or 85 S-10 wheel cylinder WITHOUT power brakes, the bore size on Regal wheel cylinders is 3/4" the S-10 cylinders are 7/8".. I think the NAPA part number is 37644 For the brake shoes you can get shoes for any GM A, G or S10 through the 80's. Get 2 (TWO) sets of the cheapest softest sets you can and don't use the smaller shoes, put all four of the larger shoes (AKA secondary shoes) I don't have a power booster on mine I run manual brakes, again I turned to the S-10 and used the Master cylinder from a 84 or 85 WITHOUT power brakes. You take that route and you will need to move the pivot point on the brake pedal down about 3/4" to get a little more leverage to make up for the lack of power assist. For some weight savings don't forget some aluminum drums, again mid 80's A and G body. Turning to the S-10 yet again I used a Manual Steering box from a early S-10 for this steering box.. It is a lightweight box and it bolts right in I even used the upper steering shaft and the pitman are for the S-10.. The casting number on the steering box is 5679142 this has a 3 bolt top cover ..the casting number 7843962 is also one that will work but I think that is a four bolt cover a little heavier.. On a different note I don't know if anyone is having a hard time with clearance of your oil filter being so close to the pitman arm. Using a Wix 51042 or a NAPA 1042 solves this delema real easy... Hope this helps
Don ... Youtheman! I Thank You Very Much For The Valuable Info ... And Heck: This Saves Me Money. Have A Great Weekend.
Not sure if your interested or not but for about $250 and little time you can convert to 12" rear disc brakes using a 98-02 F-body rear disc setup. Pretty straight forward conversion - I just got my setup yesterday and will be converting over in a few weeks, only issue is you will need to run 16" or larger rims to fit.
No, they are not aluminum studs.. They came already installed with the rotors. If you look at Jegs website or catalog the rotors are made by US Brake and the part number is 921-9850-6501 $74.99 each and 2.75 pounds lighter per rotor. They also list a bearing kit and a dust cap. I didn't get the bearing kit or dust cap. When I got the rotors I found the reason why they offered the bearings and dust cap. The outer bearing is smaller in dia. than the original bearing and dust cap is smaller.. I worked as a service manager at PepBoys here in Daytona back then and was able to match up a bearing and dust cap a lot cheaper than their prices.. I looked for the part numbers for them but can't seem to find them.
The Grand National power master has its own small electric motor and vacuum ball that makes/stores vacuum. If you go this route it helps if you can also get the plate that the master cylinder bolts to then its a direct bolt in. I bought mine new (complete with all the switches, etc) at the Buick Nationals here in Bowling Green and it wasn't cheap at the time, $500.00. I tried the manual brake thing first but I never could get it to work even with the S-10 wheel cylinders and bigger brakes but that was probaby something wrong I was doing?
The ball on the power master is not a vacuum ball it is charged with nitrogen and is used to maintaine pressure on the system. The power master is a very high pressure system and worked well as long is it worked.. The system is prone to a lot of problems and parts for it are getting Hard to find.. I still belong to a couple of Turbo Buick clubs and now days when this system fails very few guys are replacing them. Most of the time they are converting the car to vacuum booster system.
I don't think so,Hydra Boost doesn't have a ele. motor or a accumulator ball. And he did refer to it as a Power Master..
I used the power master not the hydra boost. Yes they are/can be expensive but mine is still working fine after being on the car for over 8 years. Guess I got lucky but the car is only raced and not used on the street.
HEY, MIKE. HAS YOUR T-TYPE BRAKES EVER GIVEN YOU A PROBLEM? WITH MY 1ST 455REGAL I HAD NO PROBLEMS WITH THE STOCK BRAKES ... TILL RAUL TUNED UP THE MOTOR ... THEN I FOUND MYSELF FRANTICALLY STOPPING MID-WAY A RED LIGHT INTERSECTION. I HAD NO VACUUM CANISTER THEN ... THIS TIME THINGS ARE GONNA' BE WAAAAY DIFFERENT. Thanks a lot for your expertise. lata.
The Hydro-boost system uses the power steering system to assist braking. It's common on a lot of diesel applications from several models and manufacturers. Personally I'd recommend adding a power steering cooler, but I don't know that it's really needed. I haven't researched the conversion extensively. One other option I've stumbled upon for front brake upgrades, the one I plan to do in fact- Search the junkyards for a 1998-2005 2WD S-10 Blazer. These came factory with 12" slip-on rotors, sealed bearing hubs, and dual piston calipers. Grab the spindles and everything, and it's all a direct bolt in*. Fits well behind 15" wheels. These setups also pop up on Ebay pretty often if you're willing to pay a bit more in trade for saving time at the yards. Combined with the S-10 rear brakes that Don mentioned, this will be a very good upgrade using all factory parts. The downside to this swap is that the bearing/hub assembly is expensive to replace if the bearings fail. *One thing I'm not sure of is the hose to the caliper. I would think that a '79-'88 Regal hose would fit and have the correct fittings, but I'm not positive. I plan on having a local shop make stainless braided hoses for my car so I'll figure that out when I get to that point. I have stainless braided hoses on my Charger and I love them.
