Does a 4th gen rear just bolt right in place in 3rd gens? Is there anything that needs to be put on to make them fit?

 

This REALLY should be a sticky....

Yes, same as everybody else. Except, it's nearly 2" wider on each side than your current rear; which means if you put your current wheels on it, you will create that stupid silly r¡cer skateboard look. However, 4th gen wheels + a 4th gen rear, fit perfect; exactly like 3rd gen wheels + a 3rd gen rear.

 

1998 - 2002 rears (LS1 rears) are slightly shorter I think I read somewhere - my LS1 rear sticks out only about 1.5 inches each side - given that it was only $175 with 3.42 posi and LS1 disc rear brakes, I can live with the look. Only other thing is replacing the prop valve with one for disc brake rear, and rigging the E-brake cables together.

I also bought the 4th gen rims from same seller for $160 - just in case I decide later to get the wheels tucked back in the fenderwells. 4th gen wheels do require a spacer for the fronts, as the greater backspacing in the 4th gen wheels that "tucks" the rears in the fenderwells also "tucks" them in too far on the fronts.

 

there is a tech article on this

 

One thing I'd like to see is how others have fabbed up the E brake cables.
Does any one have pics of what they've done?

 

I don't think it is too bad a look. Just be prepared to get new shocks. Well, I had to at least. Tires were rubbing pretty bad. PBR calipers= I plan to get some 4th gen TT2s eventually to fix the "skateboard" problem. I'm not sure, but I think my rear is from a 96.

 

I don't have pics - my cam went south on me. But visualize.....

The LS1 rear had the Ebrake lines intact, and I left them that way. I also left most everything intact on the car. I simply got some cable connectors at Home Depot, looks like very small muffler clamps. They have them in stainless steel, like 4 in a little baggie for $6. I installed the rear, routed the Ebrake cables from the new rear where they needed to be, and attached to the existing car cables with these clamps. Then, cut off the excess from each end. If I remember, the LS1 cables are longer than stock, so I crossed them over the diff, taking up some slack. These clamps mash them really tight, and they have very high load bearing strength - I used two on each cable connection just to be safe. It works fine, and I have no worries. I'll try to get a pic in the next few days if I can borrow a camera.

There's a thread on the brake board about LS1 brakes, with plenty of folks and their methods for adapting - and although the other methods were pretty, they were also expensive (ordering various cables from GM) - my method worked great, and no one will ever see what I've done but me anyways.

 

post pics of those clamp thingies. I am using 92 Cables that are just a tad too long and need to clamp something at the head of the cables to take up the slack.

 

heres some info i put together a while back.. when i do my swap, i'm gonna document it, and have pictures and make another thread with this info and clean it up some...

hopefully it will be sticky material
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...-gen-rear.html

 

Below link shows a pic of the connectors I was referring to. They come in stainless at Home Depot, grip extra strong, and work like a champ. They are called wire rope clips and are in the hardware aisle.

VER SALES, INC. - Wire Rope Clips

 

cool, thanks a bunch.

 

Thanks for the pics and ideas. But I am still confused if I will need these things. I have all 4th gen brake lines, including the 4th gen ebrake assembly that goes into the tranny tunnel and connects to the rear 4th gen brake lines. Will I still need these things?

 

Not to my knowledge. If you have the complete set of brake cables from the donor, you should be good to go.
I found a IROC with the tranny tunnel cable that I need. As soon as I can get over there, I will have a parking brake again.

 

If you can get all cables from the ebrake handle back, then grab 'em - you can hook those cable to your ebrake handle and run them through the tunnel and connect to the cables on the rear end. But to use the little wire rope clips from Home Depot, all you need is the two ebrake cables that attach to the rear end (one on each side). Your 3rd gen car will have a single cable from brake handle, going to a block or plate, where two cables continue to the rear - use those clamps to connect two ebrake cables from new rear to the two cables coming from that block or plate. The attaching point (for me) was just at the bottom of the tunnel - there are two brackets spot welded in the tunnel sides (1 on each side) where the cables get held - this is about where I used the connectors - you'll figure it out once you get under there with cables in hand.