Here is the deal, we have a 91 Firebird convertible that came stock with a drum rear end. At some point in the cars life before we got it someone swapped in a disc rear. I am not sure what year rear it is and need to find out so I can get the right soft lines, discs, pads, and hardware. It is a 10 bolt rear and has large, heavy calipers. One caliper is rear facing and the other is on the front side of the axle. I have attached a pic of the brake assembly, thank you in advance for any help in sorting this out.

 

That's the 82-88 setup.

What a shame.

 

Install the recall kit if you intend to keep them. And use your parking brake.

 

Thanks for the help. I'll order the parts as if they are for an 87 Firebird. I was told to use the parking brake regularly or it will make the calipers go bad so we do. The calipers seem to work smoothly but given their age and the time they spent sitting I may ahead and replace them, from what I have read earlier the remans should have the "recall kit" already installed, I hope this is true.

 

That year/model should do the trick.

AFAIK remanned, or even brand-new, calipers don't include the "recall kit". Not sure why, but w/e. Best to plan on installing it yourself.

 

Hi, not trying to take you're thread over but I was wondering what the recall kit is? And why it's needed? Thanks!

 

The recall kit fixes issues with the saggy brakes that otherwise keep them from consistently self adjusting. It includes redesigned pistons and other hardware. You may have to search for the part #, or I may be able to find it later.

 

Oh that would help if you could. My car is a 91' rs with 10 bolt drums. I bought a disc brake setup off Craigslist off an 87' bird. Seems pretty straight forward on taking all the drum brakes off but from there I may need guidance. The kit came with the backing plates? That look like a dust cover, junk calipers I need to use as cores(cast iron ones), old rotors, and some old lines and bolts. If someone could point me in the direction on procedure for doing this would be awesome!! Eventually I'll go with some pbr or similar setup when I can afford to. By the way when I was on oreily autos website they showed the exact same calipers I have but also some aluminum ones. I wonder if the aluminum ones are better and if they bolt right up to my backing plates?? Thanks!!!

 

Neither disc set up will bolt on to a drum rear without adapter brackets. By the time you pay for everything to do the swap right, the $120 or so that reman PBR's will cost will be insignificant. You'll need the rebuild kit (around $50) and a new mc/prop valve to maximize the effectiveness of the saggys. The PBR's can be used with the drum mc and prop.

Even without changing the mc and prop you'll have $80ish in brackets, $50ish in rotors, $30ish in pads, another $40-80 in brake lines and cables. The $70 or so to buy the reman PBR's vs the rebuild kit is a small % of the overall cost and they work.

 

Thanks for the info. I do already have the adapter plates for disc brakes, the cast iron ones. I have rotors but like I said my calipers are junk. I paid less than $100 for the stuff. I can use the calipers as a core charge. But I was wondering if the oreilly brake best remaned aluminum calipers are good or comparable to pbr? And will they fit my adapter plates? I'll try and post pics of what I have.

 

 

Going that route to begin with, will no doubt save you some cash. Following are a couple of threads that should help, if and when, you swap:

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

Info about master, combination valve and parking brake:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...-10-bolts.html

JamesC

 

Thanks alot James!! That will get me to where I need to be!

 

If I decided to just go pbr when I do do it, how much $ are the delco-maraine backing plates worth? Thanks.