Hi, new member in need of brake advice!

[19,69camaro]

Over the past few month I have been looking around for a potential project car. It was a toss-up between first gen camaro, mustang or cuda/challenger. I quickly realized mopars are very expensive to restore not to mention finding parts. Mustang fastbacks are cool and coupes are cheap but they are also a dime a dozen. That narrowed down to a first gen camaro which I love but in my opinion people want wayyy to much for.

Over the next month or so I looked at or inquired about almost 30 cars with nothing interesting me within my budget either it was rotted to hell and they wanted to much money for it, or it was semi rotted and they wanted even more money or last it wasnt really rotted but came as a bare bones no trim rolling chassis.

Two weeks ago my luck changed. I was driving around for work (I deliver parts for a subaru dealer) when I noticed a 1969 camaro sitting in a parking lot of a local meineke all covered with pollen. It didnt have a for sale sign on it but I still had to ask so I pulled over and went and talked to one of the techs. Apparently an old man owned it and he brought it in to get some brake work but they quoted him nearly $700 to do it all so he asked if they could sell it for him. When I heard that he was only asking $3500 I almost had a heart attack.

That night I met the owner and took a look at the car. From the exterior I could see that there was some rust on the lower doors, rockers and quarters and some bubbles around the trim but other than that it looked solid. In the interior I checked the floorpans which had a little rust but once again were solid. As far as the rest of the interior goes everything was there but I will need a headliner, drivers seat cover and possibly foam, dash pad, door panel, and carpet.

Under the hood it has a v8 with a 2 barrel carb. Im not sure which block is in it and its mated to a 3spd automatic tranny. I asked if it ran and he handed me the keys and he said start it up. I pumped the gas twice turned the key and it fired right up. It ran great no smoke at all but it did have one hell of an exhaust leak.

After some negotiation on the price I agreed to come back the next day with 3k and a dealer plate and take it home. He also said he had the original title from the dealer when he bought it used in 1970.

The attachment is a pic from when I picked it up

[XLexusTech]

Nice find. What are your plans/goals for it that will help drive the advice you get.

congrats

[19,69camaro]

So I was able to drive it home the 30 miles to my house fine but let me tell you it was a little scary whenever I had the brake. Thank god for my buddy Brian who drove in front of me with my car to create a nice buffer zone and potential crash pad in case my brakes were to fail.

It was definatly was a blast driving my own 69 camaro but by the time I got home I knew I needed to get disc brakes before I register it. The way people drive around here (CT) it just isnt an option. I dont need any 12" slotted corvette brakes, I would just like some single piston calipers that will fit inside a 14" or 15" steel wheel I would like to run something close to a 225/60/14 if I could for now anything to get rid of those dry rotted 6" pizza cutters.

So far I have looked at http://www.pozziracing.com/brakes.ht...Drums_to_Discs
this option sounds pretty good since I can use the stock spindles and keep me within my budget which is super tight. (21yo full time college student)


Pretty much I would like to know

• Has anyone else done this?
• If so how does it work
• Where is the best place to get parts.

Thanks in advance it would really help me a lot and I will try to post more pics when I get a chance.

[19,69camaro]

As of right now my goal is to get it road worthy...lights all working, brakes, fix exhaust leak. Trying not to worry about cosmetics since I plan on taking it down to bare metal but that wont be for a year or too i want to enjoy it now while its nice out.

[ProdigyCustoms]

Congratulations on your purchase. We have this kit does complete front and rear. Booster, master, hjoses, cables, everything for only $950

[dropit69]

nice find..the kit Frank has for the money would be a great improvement for ya and not break the bank..

[XLexusTech]

Somthing to think about. typically these cars being 40 years old need a lot of repair. So I would not drop 900 on brakes just yet. We all know the probability is this car will get a tear down lik all of ours has. So my advice is to get the estimate form the break shop that they gave the older guy for 700.00 figure out what they had in mind, figure out what you actually need. Go to the local auto store buy the 100-200 in parts you need and make it your first camaro project. Get through the summer then start you tear down. Then on the rebuild call Frank and buy a ton of stuff form him cuase he has the best stuff at great prices.

Just my .02

[19,69camaro]

Thanks for all the advice so far guys. Now that you mention it xlexus I dont really need disks right now since Im just trying to get it on the road. I do have a tendency to go over the top sometimes.

This what Im planning to do in the future

Powertrain

• Lsx of some type 5.3,5.7,6.0 doesnt matter that much alum block would be nice looking to get around 350hp to the wheels
• T56
• 4th gen camaro rearend.

Suspension

• C5 corvette front suspension. I would really like to be able to use the whole cradle as a complete package and bolt it up to new frame rails instead of disassembling it and making custom mounts. I would also like to retain c5 sway bars and rack and pinion steering. Just wondering if stock position of engine mounts will mean header, steering shaft and firewall clearance problems
• DSE multi leaf kit with mini tubs and offset shackles

Wheels/tires

• zo6 wheels

I would also like to do all of this and keep the curb weight under 3000lbs and try to get weight distribution as close to 50/50 as possible. Rear seats are not needed but I would like to keep factory glass in the car. I also would prefer to not have a cage since I dont plan on racing this I just would like a quick daily driver that handles decent.

[XLexusTech]

based on your goals including a vette suspension check this out

http://www.pozziracing.com/12_corvet...es_on_fgen.htm

BTW check out the pozzi site anyway just try not to get overloaded tons of great info there.

Also if your looking for 350 to the wheels look for a 400 hp GTO drop out.

Best piece of advice I could give you.. take things slow and plan plan plan otherwise you will end up buying things twice...

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Congrats on your new project! Welcome to the site.

I would stay away from a 4th gen Camaro rear. The stock 10 bolts in those cars are very weak and are usually the first or second thing to break when raced (weakest link in an M6 car, second in an A4, behind the A4 (4L60E) itself.

[XLexusTech]

Congrats on your new project! Welcome to the site.

I would stay away from a 4th gen Camaro rear. The stock 10 bolts in those cars are very weak and are usually the first or second thing to break when raced (weakest link in an M6 car, second in an A4, behind the A4 (4L60E) itself.

X2 on that

[1971CHEVELLE]

nice find welcome

[67SSDan]

I like where you're going with this. Any updates?

Nice avatar, by the way... "and shepherds we shall be..."

Dan