Haven't checked it yet...I'll get back to you.

Ed


EDIT: Nope, didn't get it. Sent you a PM.

 

Hey! great stuff,

I decided to give it a go and everything worked out fairly good, I turned down the rotors on the brake lathe, yes it can be done. I also cut my own brackets out of 3/8 steel...PITA is right on the money! I also ended up with a rotor to close to the inside of the carrier, about .050 off to the inside....here`s what I`m thinking, why not put a shim behind the inboard wheel bearing to move the hub and rotor to the desired place? I realize that will only work to move the the disc out but I think it will work.

 

here`s a pic

 

Just to state this again from a previous post....

now that the bugs seem to be scattering who will be offering a kit for the swap???

 

i have about $250 total for everything needed. i bought the cheapest stuff i could get with my discount through work. i bought loaded reman calipers for $60 each, rotors were $30 each, brackets were $50 for both, cut my own rotors at work for free, also put in new bearings and grease seals but i did not include them in the price since it wasn't needed for the swap, i also modified the spindles myself. i didn't have to pay for a core charge on the calipers, i sent my old calipers back to him and he didn't know any diff. btw "loaded" calipers are calipers, carriers, and pads if you didn't know.

 

Well I finally got to try out the LS1 brakes today after work. All went well. The car stopped, nothing leaked, nothing broke, no funny noises...first test passed. This was not a trip to the racetrack or anything just a drive around the local raods to irritate the neighbors (my car has no cat, no mufflers, a dual exhaust with pipes that come off the headers and dump out the side of the car like a NASCAR stock car, lots of noise, way too much fun).
Just for reference; I have an 85 IROC, stock master cylinder (disc/disc), adjustable proportioning valve, the LS1 brakes on the front, and the stock single piston rear calipers (with the recall kit) out back.
My pedal did seem a little low but I think I still have air in the front brake lines. I was only able to "gravity bleed" the fronts. Chalk that up to my Phoenix Injector brake bleeder that is a piece of crap. It is a complete waste of the $100 I paid for it. It absolutely does not do what it promises to do.

 

Andy,
Just saw your message. If you can make them spacers I can still use them. I bolted up my setup already but it is no big deal put the spacers on.

Jerry,
How did your high mount bracket work out? Did you check the caliper clearance like Ed asked about considering where the caliper will be with both new and worn brake pads?

 

Chuck,
I actually already made them. The last time I posted on this thread I worked an evening shift and since there's no supervisor on nights I do all of my goverment jobs then. I lost your address so just email it to me and this time I'll tape the spacers to a index card or something. They turned out a little thinner than the first ones. They're all between .011- .014. Is this okay?

 

Can some one put all the diegrams for the ls1 front breaks into one file. Also can you make a list of all the hardwere, nuts and bolt ect.
thanks. Tony C.

 

Tony, I'm sure all the info is in this thread. It just takes a bit of time to get it all together.

OK, we just put the LS1s on Mark Lock's car tonight. Here's a few things I learned:

1. It's a real smooth install using the brackets and trimming them a bit like Chuck did, making small curves for the piston bores to fit in.
2. Mark's car already had the A-arm steering stops cut off, don't know why but they were. SO, unlike Chuck's install, we had no issue with the banjo bolt. If using these brakes, I'd just remove the stop also, it's really no big deal, just use caution when going from lock to lock.
3. Stock rubber brake lines fit perfectly, and the ones that the LS1 calipers use will work well also. This type is part metal. However, the stock style lines, or an Earl's set, will fit better.
4. I did NOT have to use a spacer washer between the carrier and the custom bracket. It fit perfectly with the 3/8" bracket.
5. I recommend having an extra bottle of brake fliud around in case you have a leak 'cause the brake line fitting is on backwards and you drain the reservior... .
6. You will need an alignment afterwards, and they can vacuum bleed the brakes at the same time, just a helpful hint.
7. Guys running front spacers: Mark has 2.25" spacers which put the outer edge of the wheel right on the fender lip and it looks great, but maybe a 2" spacer would be better and reduce the track width increase.

Other than that, all is well and I'm sure he'll post his opinions. Now he's got LS1 brakes front and rear.

Ed

 

why would you need an alignment after this swap? i must be missing something.

 

You have to swap spindles...OK, hold it...

If you mod the spindles on the car, you will be OK and won't need and alignment. Since we swapped spindles on Mark's car and disconnected them from the struts, we messed all the alignment settings up. Not the tie rods or anything, just the other stuff. You may not "need" one, but I recommend it strongly.


Ed

 

how much time did it take for your swap

 

Right at 2 hours total, drive in to drive out and including cleanup of my wife's parking spot. I have yet to try an on-the-car spindle mod, but I figure it to take more time since you have to be careful when tapping the holes.

Ed

 

I was able to bleed the brakes a little more and took it out for another spin. These babys ROCK compared to stock brakes. Its very nice to stomp on the brakes and stop real smooth and fast now. Makes the old brakes feel like I was doing to Flinstone's.

I highly recommend doing this swap. It would be hard to find a better braking performance bang for the buck than this deal.

I would recommend that if your running 4th gen wheels then use a 2" spacer instead of a 2.25". My offset was pefect but now with the extra thickness of the rotor, Its a hair to far out.

Thanks again Ed!

 

I'm back!
I know I haven't posted in this tread forever, but hey it's never too late.

Good work guys, it's definitely looking good. Lock what brake hoses are those? Stock thirdgen or stock LS1?

I can't wait to get my car running so I can get back to the brake project...

 

No problem, Mark. It was fun. Now you owe me a ride in that bad boy....Hell...Installed them with you and didn't even get a ride!!!


Ed

 

Those are stock replacement 3rd gen ones. I replaced them not too long ago so we stuck with them. It looked like the LS1 lines would work but there are shorter. Personally I'd stay with the 3rd gen ones.

 

Luke, those are stock 3rd gen hoses and they fit perfectly, I'd say they fit better than the stock LS1 hoses would due to the metal section that the LS1 hoses have...it would hit the A-arm sooner than these would.

Ed

 

SWEET! I'm waiting on my caliper brackets in the mail right now! I can't wait to do this swap. I'm probably going to rebuild the entire frontend while I'm at it and sandblast/paint everything too along with adding new shocks/struts and some eibachs too. It should turn out pretty sweet. I'm just glad to know I need the 2" spacers for the 4th gen wheels.... doesn't look like I'll have any problems getting my 15x3.5" Weld skinnies to clear the brakes with a big spacer. Awesome!

 

Check these bad boys out:

 

Closer view of fronts:

 

Those look GREAT!!!!!

 

I am going to polish mine, I think that will look awesome, gotta love aluminum.

 

Polished would look great!

Wrong damn thread....

 

Wrong thread...

 

Yep, wrong thread..

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

You ok there buddy?

 

Did some powder coating on mine. They are still working great with no complains!

 

lock,

When you powder coated them, you obviously had to dissasemble them including the pistion. Did you reuse the o- ring and outer seal or did you purchase a caliper kit? If so where did you get the kit?


I am going to powder coat mine also.


Thanks

Tom

 

Ed said he wasnt able to find kits for LS1 calipers yet so I didnt even look. I jsut re--used everything. It was in good shape.

Im wondering though, you only have to bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. I would think under heavey braking that the heat is at least that, only difference is it for shorter period of time. Do you think they even need to be dis assembled? Im doing the rear tonight, maybe Ill try it.

 

thanks for your info.

you can get caliper kits from gmpartsdirect.com this is per piston I believe:


front LS1: GM PART # 18026160

Rear LS1,Piston: 12453509

Rear,Seal & Boot Package: 12530687

 

I did get rebuild kits from Dal, he charged me around $8 each. I used them on the yellow set I posted in this thread. It takes one kit for each piston, so you're looking at $40 shipped for all of them. Dal will beat GMPD on shipping any day, that's why I use him.

I'd pull them apart to bake them. It MAY not damage them but I wouldn't chance it. Besides, they're so new and so easy to rebuild, why not do it. But 20 minutes shouldn't really hurt them.

Looks great Mark. Nice Bilsteins!!

Ed

 

Sweet looking calipers guys. Are you concerned about brake dust getting all over the nice calipers? I just cleaned mine and put them on. I thought that after a day or 2 at the track the calipers would be covered in brake dust and iron dust from the rotors.

Ed, What was going on with all the "wrong thread" messages?

 

Did anyone just paint their calipers? I used high temp red and was wondering if anyone is having problems with paint discoloring? Chuck I'm glad I could help. Did the make a noticable difference?

 

Who is Dal?

 

I posted my updates on the 13" C4 HDs I'm working on in here, and I couldn't just delete the posts, so I had to erase them all.

I choose not to paint/coat mine for that reason...brake dust gets everywhere. If I leave them aluminum, I can just bead blast them when I want to and they'll look good as new.

Dal Slabaugh
Van Devere Pont-Buick
877-448-5451
fax 330-658-4065


I started using Dal back during the big 1LE brake push and have used him ever since. He can usually beat GMPD prices and won't rape you on shipping, plus he knows F-bodies very well and will get you the correct part every time. I got his info from the F-body list and a few guys on here. It's best to call on Friday as that's his "slowest" day.


Looks like the LS1 setup has gotten around. Take a look at this one. He could at least include NEW rotors and paint the parts so they won't rust. OTHER profecssionals I know would do that:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...EBWA%3AIT&rd=1


Ed

 

I ripped one of the dust boots on the piston

Thanks for the part numbers.

 

lock and ed,
What proportioning valve are you guys using?

 

I haven't got them installed on my car so I don't know. I'd just run a stocker if you have rear drums, and switch to the 1LE prop if you have rear discs.


Ed

 

Im running a stock one for disc/drum even though I have disc/disc now. The front to rear bias seems ok. Ill probably switch to an adjustable before too long.

 

Andy,
I have not had a chance to put the spacers on yet. They will improve the caliper centering over the rotor but I don't think they will make any difference in braking. However, my intent was to improve caliper centering, so mission accomplished.

I did not paint my calipers because when I got them they were covered in brake dust. My stock single piston calipers were also always covered in brake dust. The caliper carriers though are cast iron which so I painted them red to avoid rust (rust is my enemy). I used normal $1 a can red spray paint from Walmart. I painted my stock calipers with a silver paint when they were on the car (same $1 a can Walmart paint) to improve their appearance. I never had any trouble with that paint discoloring or peeling from heat. I run my car at road race tracks and the brakes get searing hot (the caliper dust boots actually caught fire one day and burned off).

I also use the same kind of paint on my engine block without any heat related trouble.

 

Here's something wierd: I used a 3/8" bracket on Lock's car and the LS1s fit fine. I used another 3/8" bracket on a recent kit and the carrier hits the rotor 'cause the bracket's too thick, it needs to be 5/16" on this setup. There's a difference in spindles as we all know by now and this is another thing that proves it. I can only recommend to fit them up until you get them right, then take them apart and fit them up again.

Ed

 

Sounds like the same problem I had with mine Ed. I originally built a 3/8" bracket and had to scrap it in favor of a 5/16" thick one. I never did figure out why. I even have one old and one new spindle on my car (had to replace one a few years ago). The 5/16 bracket worked fine for both sides of the car.

 

I'm even thinking of using a 1/4" thick bracket with 1/16" thick washers welded to it. The 5/16" thick stuff ain't cheap either since it's not as common as 1/4" or 3/8", and a 1/4" thick bracket is fine to use with these setups although some will argue that point to the end. But think about it: the stock rear backing plates are around 1/4" thick steel and they serve the same purpose as the front brakets: to hold the caliper in place. On a side note, the Class III hitch on my Silverado is ALL 1/4" thick steel and it's got a 3000+ lb. rating on it. Not the same thing I know but you get the idea.


Ed

 

I personally think 1/4 steel is strong enough to handle the load but I don't think I would use it because I always love to use overkill on everything on my car. If you do use 1/4 steel don’t go cheap on the steel. I would use high grade stuff.

The first gen camaro guys use 1/4 brackets on their setups as seen here; maybe you could check a 1’st gen camaro board to see if there ever have been any failures.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...es_on_fgen.htm

 

That's where I get my reasoning. Those guys use the 1/4" bracket well and it seems to be fine. Like I said before, the bracket only locates the brakes and is only there for rotational support, not carrying a load or being stressed sideways or in other directions. I also like a little overkill, but if the space is a problem, then use what you have to. If I were putting these on my car, I would NOT hesitate to use the 1/4" bracket.

Ed