Hey Guys, I know this is prob. a beaten topic, but I dont know where to go. I have an 87 Iroc with a disc/drum setup. Thes breaks never impressed me since day one with only 19,000 mi. on it. My car is garaged for the winter weather here in N.Y. I took the car out to get things moving, and the breaks felt worse than ever. Everytime I get in this car, the breaks feel worse and worse, and Ive had it. I want to do a whole rebuild of my break system, like steel hoses, maybe convert drums to discs. Ive heard about newer camaro calipers, because they are 2 piston. Is this a cheap, but noticable swap, what do I need, and where to get it? I never liked the breaking of my car, and I want to freshen up the car for the summer. I looked at a place called Praise Dyno Breaks.com, they have some rebuild kits with drilled rotors and heavy duty wheel cylinders in case I stay with the drums. I want to get a big improvement out of my breaks, but not go with the expensive kits like Bear and places like that. Thats why I asked about the newer camaro calipers. Any other suggestions for a better break system will be appreciated also, Im looking to get a solid feel, but not have to spend like $1,000 to get it. Any info is helpfull.

 

You'd probably just feel a difference if you rebuilt your current brake system. Things like:

1) Flush your brake fluid with new; a $30 Mityvac would save you the most time with this messy job.

2) Replace all brake hoses- they deteriorate over time, no matter how you take care of your car. The outsides crack, the insides fall apart and clog the fluid passageway, etc. By flushing the system first with new fluid, and then installing new hoses, it's a kind of insurance policy that no old fluid will have ever touched your new hoses.

3) New "normal" rotors- if your current rotors are paper thin (check with a micrometer), they won't dissipate heat that well, and heat = brake fade

4) Better pads up front. I like the semi-metallic Bendix MKD-154's, I've run them since '94. Ran with a cheap brand once b/c I was broke and nearly got myself killed.

5) Rebuild the rear drum system. It's not really that bad; the 82-92 Haynes Camaro manual has a picture-by-picture rebuild of everything. You might even have something as stupid as a bent adjusting rod in the back, that's kept your brakes from self-adjusting!

I'm guessing that'd run about $250 in parts, depending on your brand choice.

Further; I swapped in a 3.73/posi/disc axle from a 1984 TransAm. Axle was $150, m/c and prop valve was another $50. I thought I was set for a great swap! Well, $600 later, I had great brakes. Another few months later and the posi blew up- so I'm back on a non-posi, non-disc axle from an '88 Camaro. Around here, the junkyards are scarce on that kind of stuff, so if you can find an 89-92 rear disc setup, by all means, go for it!

 

O.K. Not getting the responds I thought I would . What would be the best way to go, to get a MUCH better brake feel without buying one of those expensive kits?? Stainless lines, cross drilled rotors, newer brake swaps, Does anybody have a High perf. rear shoe kit for drums?? Whats the best way to go?? I dont want my brakes to feel like The pedal has to go down 3/4 of the way before the even start to feel like there grabbing. Pedal just feels like Im stepping on a pile of Mush!! Please everybody, info on kits, swaps, and parts!! Keep em comeing! Got a great motor, and the car moves, It' the stopping part thats tricky!!

 

I totally agree with Tom about the differences found in simply relacing worn brake components. But for upgrades, I too am reluctant to pay $$$ for the expensive brake upgrades from wilwood/baer etc. For you, it all depends on what you want to do and, more specifically, how much of the work you are capable of doing yourself (access to machine shop, etc.) IMHO for the easiest, least expensive and most efficient brake system out there, you should upgrade your drums to 1LE/90-92 PBR brakes. and get the C4 corvette brakes up front. Do a search for posts by ebmiller88. He offers the front kit and any questions you have, Im sure have been covered extensively in his posts. My .02 on the matter.
Good luck, Efrain.

 

It really depends on your budget and what you want to do. Tom is right, you can rebuild the stock system but for just a bit more cash, you can upgrade to the C4 or LS1 swaps. If you want a REAL nice setup and have the cash (Tax refund???), then Spohn offers a trick Wilwood kit for around $1300 IIRC. I run the C4s on my RS and LOVE them. Others will tell you the same thing, most recently Mongoose who has new C4s up front. I still run drums on the rear of my RS and it performs well with the C4s up front but I totally rebuilt the drums last spring with all new parts.

As for the rears, AndyZ28 has a complete rear disc swap for around $700 and it includes everything you'll need to do it right. You can also just piece your own kit together by buying either a set of the '89-92 third gen brakes or buying a set of '93-97 4th gen LT1-style brakes and a set of correct 3rd gen PBR backing plates and putting it all together. I have all those part numbers if you'd like them.

I've done a few C4 setups now so feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

Good luck!

Ed

 

I`ve done a 1 LE conversion on my 85Z, it stops great, I used wagner pads, slotted and drilled rotors, bought the calipers,rotor hoses bolts, bearings,dust caps at auto zone. Caliper carirers and adapter brackets were bought from steve sphon, hardware at local fastner suppler. the whole frt conversion took 3-4 hours.
I spent about 600.00 but the "cool" rotors added about a hundred over the stock rotors. The rear brakes were treated to 1981 malibu wagon wheel cyl`s They have a much larger piston than 3rd gen maro`s. The only other oddball thing back there is I used two "long" shoes on both sides so, four secondary shoes, 1 big wheel cyl= a lotta whoa..For less than 800 It stops on command. It is THE best money I ever spent on my ride!

 

Thanks for the replys everybody!! Greezemonkey's set up is kind of what I was looking for. I want to try a better set up out front, and re-build and put some heavy duty parts out back for the drums rather than have to get into a whole swap out back too. Greezemonkey... or anyone else.. Does anyone reccomend changing the proportioning valve when I do the system over, it is 17 yrs old, would it help getting some more pressure to the back brakes, just a thought I had?? Thanks again everyone!!

 

As far as changing your prop valve I dont think I`d change it unless it had something wrong with it. I have a stock 85z disc/drum valve. I had a 9 bolt/disk out back once and that required a different master cyl and prop valve, and I keep em around "just in case" My car has a Iron headed big block that puts almost 1200#`s on each front tire! My conversion Only took place because before the 454 went in it stopped "ok",But after the swap they were awful! this conversion changed the whole car. I dont autocross, road race or road rage, but I like to take on the "changellers" and with a 1.6`s 60ft time you need big brakes, Let me know if you have any problems finding parts, I have a few connections.