i would love to replace all my brakes and suspension but I have no idea about brakes and all that type of stuff. I really would like to know what exactly are things I would need to replace all brakes to disc brakes. If anyone can fill me in with information, prices, and where i can purchase all the required parts needed. Please im not exactly car techy. I love cars and i know little but want to learn more so the more information you give me the better just try to keep it as simple as possible PLEASE!

 

Larger front brakes will require spindle modification such as the one in the following 1LE link:

http://web.archive.org/web/200605221.../1LEbrake.html

Here's a link to the so-called 1LE rears (PBR's):

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/faq-...iscs-89-a.html

Whether you have a 9- or 10-bolt, the info concerning master cylinder, combination valve, parking brake cables, and speedometer gears will be useful:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/faq-...iscs-89-a.html

A search can also be helpful.

JamesC

 

FRom what I've read here, front brakes are quite an ordeal for the typical driveway mechanic - as mentioned requires different spindles and such. Rears aren't quite as bad I guess, but still requires as far as I know quite some doing. Not that I'm any expert, but I tend to see talks of welding - and not many of us driveway guys have that equipment.

But - for your consideration, I present the 4th gen rear end swap. The downside - 4th gen rear is about 3 inches longer (wheel to wheel), and thus your stock wheels stick out about 1.5 inches farther on both sides. The upside - cheap (about $250) for a complete rear, 98+ rears have the LS1 rear discs (nice sized brakes), it's an easy swap (about 4 hrs. in the driveway), not hard to get posi and gears (a great rear for a street car is a 1998+ with the Zexel-Torsen posi and 3.42 gears), and no modding required (other than rigging up the E-brake cables) - it simply bolts right up. You will of course need to have 16" wheels with the LS1 rear, 15" wheels won't fit over the brakes. If you don't mind the 3rd gen wheels sticking out farther each side a tad, it's a great swap and upgrade! You can use the 4th gen wheels and thus not have the rear wheels sticking out (4th gen wheels have deeper backspacing), but then you'll need 2" wheel spacers in thye front to run the 4th gen wheels up there (deeper backspacing means the 4th gen wheels rub 3rd gen tie rod ends).

One thing that will GREATLY improve your current brakes is replacement of the rubber brake lines from body to wheel - there's 2 in the front (one each side), and one in the rear driver side). These rubber lines get old, become elastic over time, and the brake fluid pressure expands them rather than forcing the fluid to the pistons - thus you lose a great deal of stopping power. It's amazing how much difference a new set of rubber lines will do - simple job and $30 of parts.

Suspension - new tie rod ends, center link, idler arm, ball joints will make a vast improvement - all able to do in the driveway in an afternoon. NAPA sells really nice tie rod ends and ball joints - they offer 2 part numbers, the higher priced ones are really beefy and nice - well worth the extra cash.

Sway bar end links and sway bar bushings help alot - measure the diameter of your sway bar (clean it first) and Advance/AZ/Oreilly's can order those bushings for next day pickup usually - poly bushings make alot of difference here. Don't forget the sway bar and endlinks in the rear as well - end links are the same as front, rear sway bar is different diameter so it needs measured seperately.

If you don't have one, get a 'wonderbar' ie steering brace - they came on the IROCs standard, but every 3rd gen should have one on it. JY ($?) or order one from TDS (a sponsor here, look at the ads to the right) - TDS is about $100.

Largest expense in suspension is the springs, shock, struts. At this age, your car could stand all of it new. If lowering is desired, you'll need an adjustable panhard bar in the rear (about $125) so you can adjust the rear end back to center. Stock shocks/struts/springs would be an improvement, but not very performance oriented. I did Eibach 1" lowering (the ProKit), and Bilsteins all around - expensive (Bilsteins run about $550 for the shocks and struts) but I love them. Eibach springs about $200 I think?

The great thing about all of it is that it can be done in stages when funds allow. Replacing rear springs/shocks may take an hour. Easiest to do all the front suspension at once, about a $500 wallet hit and can be done in one afternoon (this is the tie rods ball joints centerlink sway bar, not the springs/struts - you can do all of it in a day, I just mean the $500 wallet hit will be greater if doing springs/struts at same time). No reason why you can't do the suspension one day, and the springs/struts another day.

Only basic tools required to do it all in the driveway - good socket set with a few larger sockets for the strut bolts, good set of wrenches, jack, jack stands, and free rental ball joint press and tie rod pickle fork from AZ/Advance/Oreilly's. Also never hurts to have a 5lb short-handled sledge hammer around - if you don't whack the crap out of something you ain't doing it right!

Hope that helps some. You kinda need to decide your budget, your desired results, your abilities, and whether the wider 4th gen rear is an option for you.

 

camaronewbie, if you're writing these books at work, you're in trouble!

I'm not a mechanic in any sense of the word, though I do like tinkering. The spindle modification isn't difficult (I didn't have much experience at the time and I pulled it off without issues--as was the case with the rears). No welding required for either end.

JamesC