Installing 2001 LS1 Brakes on 72 Firebird........HELP PLEASE

[BEEBE]

Hey all, I just scored a full set brake calipers from a 2001 Camaro SS.

I currently have Front Disc , Rear Drum, NON-Power brakes, 12 bolt rear end.

I know their are brackets or adapters to fit these on my car. Anybody have any tips or leads.

Thanks

Beebe

[wick]

Beebe, I am about to do the same to my '73 TA. From what I understand the brackets that mount the calipers to the rear end will bolt on you rear. I have been told that I may have to use two right side mounting brackets to clear the shocks.

[Zee]

http://www.geocities.com/diels12000/BrakesII.html

[Karch]

Does anyone have pictures or schematics(exploded view) of the rear LS1 setup?

Thanks

[79TA01]

For the Front brakes the link above shows a good way to do it, may not be exactly what your looking for but it gives you an idea on what you will have to do. I personally just decided to go with a C5 conversion kit with C5 Calipers/rotors instead of using the LS1 Calipers/rotors I had. Not sure how big a difference there actually is between the C5 calipers and LS1 Calipers mounting wise, so i'm not sure if the C5 conversion brackets and hubs will work or not. But calling up Touring classics or Kore3 etc. would give you a better idea on exactly what you need to do to get them to work.

For adapting the rear brakes, they should pretty much bolt on to your 12 bolt as the pattern should be the same. I used two driver side brackets from an '01 Trans Am to mock my rears onto my stock Drum brake staggered shock 10 bolt rear before I switched to a Ford 9". (Should be the same GM pattern as your 12 bolt) It was pretty much a bolt on deal, although you may need some small spacers to get the caliper/rotor lined up correctly. Should be a post somewhere around here explaining it. Mine seemed to line up ok but I never actually got to test them out.

Adapting the parking brake on the rears is another issue and you will have to do some customizing to get it to work correctly.

[Karch]

Thanks Marshall.

I thought, mistakenly (is that the correct spelling?) that the parking brake would be a direct bolt-on, but now I am enlightened.

I think I'll just put the brakes on w/o the p-brake for now, than address it when I get some time (yeah right) or am in a more adventurous mood.

I see that I would have to cut and fab the factory bracket and probably bolt or weld it to the axle tube shock or spring mount, or possibly the compression snubber bracket.

Thanks again.

[MonzaRacer]

Just one tip, if your swapping from drum to rear disc, if it has 1/4" lines ,swap them for 3/16. This will give you a much better pedal and performance too.
Good Luck
Lee

[Karch]

Thanks Lee...I think it's already 3/16", but I'll double check.

[Zee]

I posted the link to the fronts but I thought I had the rear LS1 somewhere. Anyway 79 TA01 covered the info I had. Here is a link to what appears to be the brackets you will need: http://www.kore3.com/categories.php?cat=7

However, I saw where a guy simply re-clocked his LT1 disc backing plate about 20-30degrees on the left side, drilled new holes, welded up the old and was good to go. I would assume the same thing could be done with LS1 plates which would solve the e-brake issue. I had to do the same on a third-gen Ford 9" project I had. Re-clocking would seem easier and more cost effective than buying two sets of right side parts. Any thoughts?

[Karch]

It seems that there is some interference with the lca mount on the rear axle and the parking brake mechanism arm.

I imagine if I switch the right and left sides, this will be alleviated. I don't have the staggered shocks, as this is an A-body.

I'll follow-up after I get it bolted in and bled...thanks again.

[Hammered]

If you use C5 rotors and calipers with the LS1 backing plates, you can space them outboard another .5" and gain clearance for the e-brake.

[Zee]

Do the C5 rotors use the drum parking brake?

[Hammered]

Yes, LS1 backing plate and p-brake setup, C5 rotors,calipers and caliper abutments. I was going to do this swap on my car until I found that I couldn't put C5 rotors up front because of my wheels. C5 rotors are directional so you'll want to go C5 all the way around to be consistent.

[Hammered]

I don't know if .5" will be enough additional clearance for you. You'll need to decide that on your own.