late model F body rear disc brakes install on 70 x body

[prestons7dss]

I have a complete set of rear disc brakes from a 00' camaro, I think they will bolt right on to my 70 nova. Has anyone done this swap? Are there any clearance issues? I need to replace my axles, master,and booster!

[zman1969]

the issue would be with the shocks - being staggered, I belive two right sides? are needed to work around the shocks - dont go on my accord my car was minitubbed and shocks moved so it wasnt an issue to me. do some research on that - other than that mine bolted up fine - BRPhotrods.com sells a spacer to make them work but mine worked without it.

[novaderrik]

i did a trial fit of 94 Caprice rear disc brakes which are very similar to the LS1 Camaro brakes on my 71 Nova, and with a slight shock relocation on one side, everything cleared.
if my memory of 5 years ago is correct, i just had to re-drill the lower shock mount on the passenger side.
i put the drum brakes back ,on, tho, since i didn't have the $$$ to buy all the new parts i needed for the swap.

[Apogee]

i did a trial fit of 94 Caprice rear disc brakes which are very similar to the LS1 Camaro brakes on my 71 Nova, and with a slight shock relocation on one side, everything cleared.
if my memory of 5 years ago is correct, i just had to re-drill the lower shock mount on the passenger side.
i put the drum brakes back ,on, tho, since i didn't have the $$$ to buy all the new parts i needed for the swap.

The only thing you had to do was redrill the lower shock mount...are you running a 5x5 pattern on your Nova?

While the rear discs from the late-model B-bodies (Caprice 9C1, Impala SS, etc) are somewhat similar to the LS1 F-body, they are nowhere near as refined. The pad abutment brackets don't use shims between the contact surfaces of the PABs and the pad backing plates, so they're prone to notching at that interface which can lead to poor pad wear and overall performance. Also, the rotors are quite a bit smaller and lighter than the LS1 rotors, hence the number of B-body guys running C5/C6 rear brakes. Granted, most B-bodies are pushing 4500# plus, so the undersized rotors certainly become an issue sooner than they would with a significantly lighter car.

If anyone is thinking about running B-body rear discs on their build, I would suggest heading over to www.impalass-forum.com (http://www.impalass-forum.com) and checking out the brake forum. The pros and cons have been discussed numerous times there. :enguard:

Tobin
KORE3

[novaderrik]

i was talking about the change to the car- i did a quick and dirty redrill of the bolt pattern to the small bolt pattern to get the rotor on the axle. amazingly, i got it perfectly centered with no runout. i was proud of myself for doing that with a hand held drill.
like i said, it's been a few years and i no longer have the car, but i remember just drilling a new hole for the shock mount on one side. i had the car sitting on the ground with everything on there, and nothing interfered.
after putting the drums back on, i left the shock in the new hole and went for a spirited drive to see if it would hit anything, and i saw no evidence on the shock body of any interference when i checked it later.
the Nova is long gone, but i've still got the Caprice brakes. i don't know that i really like that setup, tho, because while they were on the Caprice i froze up 2 sets of guide pins in 2 years. the only reason i still had the brakes when i parted the big white whale out was becasue i took them off the car and put drums on it so it would actually stop in the winter.