After a ton of research and a bit of luck, I've finally completed my rear end swap. I purchased a Strange Engineering F-late 12-Bolt rear end and bolted up a set of the "good brakes" from the 89-92/93-96 era. This post will list out all the parts, prices, and pitfalls (which were surprisingly few) I encountered during this upgrade.

First, I have to thank EBMiller for his advice and JamesC (an unwitting participant) for this post https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/faq-...l?highlight=he he did which largely steered me in the right direction. My first post on this subject https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/brak...ge-12bolt.html is here and basically shows me as clueless.

A note about the brakes and Strange's knowledge about them, it doesn't exist. They swore that I could not use my 89 PBRs. I think they are a tad confused; their website is refering to the iron Delco Moraine PITA calipers that caused so many headaches. I called Strange, I called Spohn, they both told me it's not gonna work. Obviously, neither of those places has EBMiller!

Onward...

 

The parts list is quite extensive but readily available.

-Strange Engineering F-Late 12-Bolt ordered thru Spohn Performance (2579.00 + 195.00 shipping= $2774.00)
--> options: Eaton Posi, chrome cover, 3.73 gears, 93-97 backing plate, metric studs, 1350 yoke, and standard axle flanges

-Earl's Lines, pn 28A190ERL ($85.00 or so)
--> I got these with the 1LE front brake kit from Spohn

-complete 89 PBR rear brake setup from eBay ($100.00)
--> included calipers, backing plates (not used), e-brake cables, hard lines

-caliper rebuild kits (2), pn D352746 ($7.00 ea) from Advance Auto

-AC Delco rotors, pn 19174935 or 18A287 ($35.00 ea) from OEHQ

-Hawks Pads, pn HPS HB112F-540 ($65.00) from Summit

-bolts for backing bracket ($9.50)
-->M12 1.75x40 (4)
-->12mm flat washers used as shims to align calipers over rotors (8)

-bolts for sway bar (did not use u-bolts, mounts are welded to axle tube)
-->9mm bolts & nuts (4) ...had these lying around
--> had to use a 27/64 drill bit to open the holes up a bit *this was the ONLY modification I had to do for this project*

 

This could not have been any easier. Install the rotor on the axle, each bracket gets 2 bolts, each bolts gets 2 washers (1 in front, one behind); all Loctited into the calipers carrier bracket.

 

I had never dealt with installing hard lines on a bare axle before. The ones I got with the actual brakes were, obviously, prebent from the prior car. I studied them for a good hour trying to figure out how I would just place them over the rear and they would magically form-fit where they were supposed to go. I've had dumber ideas.

I figured out that I had to rebend them to get them to work. I was worried about a) screwing up the paint on them and b) breaking one. The paint survived ok and I managed not to kink either of the hard lines. You'll note in the pics how they were made to fit the axle tubes. I tried to utilize the metal brackets that were supposed to bolt to the LCA mount but they seemed to hinder rather than help my cause, so they were tossed back in the box.

The flex lines from Earl's were a perfect fit. See pics.

The lines were secured to their new homes with, sorry to say, zip ties. It does seem kind of cheep but it was a simple matter of practicality. You don't really notice them unless you were looking for them. The line block was secured to the houseing with the same bolt from the 10-bolt that secured it there.

 

...more...

 

...still more...

 

nice job! so what was the total cost said and done?

 

I was amazed at how easy it was to put that all together. The rear end was advertised as a bolt-in installation. Now really, how many times has that ever been the case? This time, the only mod I had to make was the holes for the sway bar bolts.

Putting it up under the car was simply a matter of symantics and that too was as simple as it gets. I think the toughest time I had was getting the TQ arm to line up. I needed to take a file to the rounded ends of the arm to get it to slide as far back as it could. 5 minutes later, the arm was bolted in place. Everything else bolted right up with no fuss.

I greased the bushings, bedded in the brakes and took it out for a run. I cannot extole the virtues of 1LE brakes enough. The old 10"/drum combo was awful in retrospect. These brakes stop on an mfing dime! I though it was cool that after my bed-in, I brought the car into the garage to cool down and enjoyed the smoke coming from all 4 corners. That was cool!

Also, Strange told me the gearset was going to be loud inside the car. It may well have been, but my exhaust dump before the axle so I couldn't hear a thing.

I love this purchase. It will be coupled to a TKO500 to handle the AFR heads & Cam swap I have planned for next year.

Happy Motoring.
Eric

 

brakes

 

the total package

 

I would spend the extra 100 bucks or so and get the tko600. I have one and love it. Fortes Parts Connection sells the conversion kit.

 

Where did you get the rotors, and how much where they?

 

i think they are the same price, and the tko600 is geared better. I love mine to, go for the 600!

 

If the TKOs are the same price, I'd get the 600. I hadn't thought about different gearing in the 600. The one thing about the 500 I'm kinda iffy on is the 1st gear ratio. With my 3.73 rear, I'm wondering if I'll end up with a granny gear with the 500. At any rate, that is next year's decision. And yes, I'm going thru Forte.

The rotors came from OEHQ.com. I think they are the least expensive outlet for AC Delco stuff. Keep in mind, they go by either the Delco or GM part numbers. So you'd need to have it handy to order. I found a Delco part lookup site that finds those pn's for me. Off the top of my head, I don't remember the address though.