poor mans rear disc conversion, GM A-body

[PT Sportwagon]

I am looking to do a poor mans rear disc conversion on my 71 Buick Sportwagon. I am needing a little more stopping power to match the bigger 455 GO power. I have heard about using S-10/Sonoma rear disc set up.

Has anyone used this? Would I need a different master cylinder for this set up? from what?

Thanks for the help.

Tim

[79 Camaro]

I've used both 1997 Camaro and 2002 Camaro rear discs on GM 10 bolts. The 2002 Camaro has the e-brake like a small brake drum. The 1997 Camaro e-brake is a clamp on the disc. IMO the 2002 e-brake is better.
Both use 12" discs. Calipers are similar.
I use the 1997 or 2002 caliper mount. Modded to fit the rear axle backing plate bolt pattern. Lokar brake cables with the d-ring that attaches to the e-brake lever.
Huge selection of aftermarket brake pads and drilled and slotted rotors.

[vcho455]

Just about everything one would need to know about the S10 rear disc conversion. These are nice if you want to run 15 wheels.

https://nastyz28.com/threads/s10-blazer-rear-disc-conversion.109454/

[CarlC]

The early 4th gen F-body clamp type parking brake is 100% useless. It barely holds a car on a mild incline, and forget about any kind of emergency use.

[Jk918]

You can piece together a C5 rear brake set up for reasonable

[toddz69]

The early 4th gen F-body clamp type parking brake is 100% useless. It barely holds a car on a mild incline, and forget about any kind of emergency use.

Are you referring to the PBR single piston calipers that a number of companies (Baer, in particular) used in their rear disc kits for many years? I've heard they're not very effective.

Todd Z.

[ryeguy2006a]

I'd also suggest using the 98-02 "LS1 rear brakes". I've used that on all of my cars and am very happy. I have paired them with different variations of C5/C6 brakes and they work fantastically. Ebrakes hold very well in my experience too.

[dhutton]

Are you referring to the PBR single piston calipers that a number of companies (Baer, in particular) used in their rear disc kits for many years? I've heard they're not very effective.

Todd Z.
He is referring to the so called LT1 brakes which are a version of the Cadillac metric caliper afaik. Complete garbage but widely sold in low cost rear disc kits.

[toddz69]

He is referring to the so called LT1 brakes which are a version of the Cadillac metric caliper afaik. Complete garbage but widely sold in low cost rear disc kits.

OK - then yeah, we were referring to the same thing. I wasn't familiar with the moniker of "LT1 brakes" until I did some googling.

Todd Z.

[badazz81z28]

It ain’t the 90s anymore. Where you gonna find 4th gen Camaro or ST10 parts worth using?

It’s 2025…..you can’t get any cheaper than free for what’s available in 2025.

You can get a new kit for $350. Anything you get at the junk yard will need work and probably new rotors, pads etc anyway.

[toddz69]

It ain’t the 90s anymore. Where you gonna find 4th gen Camaro or ST10 parts worth using?

It’s 2025…..you can’t get any cheaper than free for what’s available in 2025.

You can get a new kit for $350. Anything you get at the junk yard will need work and probably new rotors, pads etc anyway.

Very true in most instances. The glory days of junking are behind us!

Todd Z.

[dhutton]

It ain’t the 90s anymore. Where you gonna find 4th gen Camaro or ST10 parts worth using?

It’s 2025…..you can’t get any cheaper than free for what’s available in 2025.

You can get a new kit for $350. Anything you get at the junk yard will need work and probably new rotors, pads etc anyway.
All you need is the abutments and rear backing plates which don’t really wear out. Then get the rest of the parts at Rock Auto. Still a relatively low cost option imo. I’ve got at least one set of rear LS1 brakes out in my storage building.

When you refer to $350 brakes I hope you aren’t referring to the metric rear caliper based kits. Those things suck big time imo.

[Hotwire]

I did a entire ls1 big brake upgrade to my 64 a body for $525 in 2020. You will need 17"wheels to clear the brakes.

98-02 Camaro have the same brakes whether v6 or V8. Mine came off a 01 v6 Camaro, got backing plates, abutments, parking brakes, etc. Still running the rotors but had to replace the pads and 1 front caliper.

https://www.chevelles.com/threads/budget-big-brake-upgrade.1100232/

[ryeguy2006a]

Sure, you may need to hunt a little more, but the local pick in pull near me had 3 different 98-02 fbody's in the yard. I picked the cleanest one and pulled off the backing plates, abutments, calipers and hoses which were all in very usable condition. They needed a little TLC and paint, but installed them on my car last winter. They charged me $35 bucks for all the parts I pulled, plus I bought a pair of new rotors and pads. Pretty cheap set of quality rear brakes IMO. I may have $250 into that setup.

[borrone821]

+1 on the 98-02 F-body brakes. Pretty straight-forward except e-brake cable routing and spacer which brp has

If the buick is similar to a 68 A-body, I can help with the e-brake setup (took me a while)

[mikedc]

I always prefer an OEM retrofit option on a street car, even if the aftermarket kit is cheaper. It gives you more options for replacement parts in the future.

[JuStBlAzIN]

How are you guys running hooking up the ebrake? Is there a bracket i should buy? 1970 a-body 10bolt rear end.

[kustom71]

@barrone821
What do you mean by e brake routing and spacer which brp has? I'm very interested in this setup but installed on a 12 bolt rear which I think ,ay be a little different?