1LE Brake Upgrade...
 

Before I get flamed, I search high and low, for days. I cannot find a complete answer as to what I need to upgrade my front brakes to the 1LE brakes (Factory 2 piston). I have an 89 with 16" factory wheels. I dont want aftermarket etc.

So, what I THINK I need:

Rotors (hubs)
Pads
Calipers
Then I believe I need to modify my spindles, is that correct? If so, what mods are needed? Is there a good tutorial out there?

Is that it?

Thanks for all the incredible information!!!


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Re: 1LE Brake Upgrade...
 

Welcome, Henny. You should find everything you need to know in the following link:

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

JamesC

Re: 1LE Brake Upgrade...
 

This will give you some idea
https://www.hawksmotorsports.com/198...ake-kit-hawks/

Re: 1LE Brake Upgrade...
 

Welcome to TGO
Caliper and rotors are readily available through your local auto parts stores which will probably charge you an arm and a leg even before the core charge or online sources like Rockauto, Amazon and eBay, check out a discount here for Rockauto but they due have a core charge for the calipers. Some parts may be a little harder to get like the factory caliper mounting and the caliper adapter which I believe is still being sold by Flynbye Preformance, I would imagine GM has discontinued these a long time ago.
If your wanting the spindles modified by someone else Flynbye Preformance offers this service as does BBU.com. BBU.com specifies that the modification is for an LS1 conversion, someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it's the exact same modification and they'll do it for $100 cheaper than Flynbye.

Re: 1LE Brake Upgrade...
 

If I recall, GM chose not to put brake dust shields on the 1LE setup - front or back, is this true? Anyone know why?

Re: 1LE Brake Upgrade...
 

I don’t know what the reasoning was I would imagine either came down to cost and or brake cooling, without a dust shield on the inboard side of the rotor you would have more consistent temperatures on the inboard and outboard rotor face.

Re: 1LE Brake Upgrade...
 

On the fronts, two of the three dust shield mounting holes are redrilled and used in the conversion. As I recall, some rears came with shields, others did not.

JamesC

Re: 1LE Brake Upgrade...
 

The 1LE fronts are "race" brakes soooo we don't need no stinking dust shields.

The rears have 2 different designs for the backing plate in 89.
1st design is a thin 2 piece with dust shield spot welded on. Prone to moan under certain conditions.
The 2nd design is a thicker reenforced 1 piece without the shield. There is also a service bulletin about it and the moan.
I have 2 9bolt 89 formulas with VINs about 4,000 apart and they have the 2 different styles on the 9bolt.
The 2nd design was carried on the 10bolt through 1992

Re: 1LE Brake Upgrade...
 

There's not much reason to use the 1LE parts in 2022. Many sources have made the 1LE parts obsolete. The calipers and brackets are getting really hard to come by.

The LS1 brake upgrade gets you similar braking for less money, with more common service parts. Any 98-02 Camaro or Firebird is a donor for parts, and it'll be easier to get repair parts over the counter, and it's no more difficult to upgrade than the 1LE setup.

Re: 1LE Brake Upgrade...
 

Lol - Damn right they are race brakes!! On a different car I have, when I was rebuilding the suspension, I accidentally bent the rear, right dust shield in. (this car has real race brakes) I bent it back best I could, but I get a squeal out of it from brake dust build up now, happens if I don't power wash the rims/brakes after a few days. Embarrassing when driving down a crowded street with people watching! I bent it back in pretty good form, but that tells you how tight the tolerances are between moaning, and not moaning. More like squealing.