Is there an LS1 conversion kit for the rear?

[ed1le]

I've seen plenty of LS1 T/A's & Camaro's running 15" Draglites, Pro Stars, etc.

[Vicinity]

I've seen plenty of LS1 T/A's & Camaro's running 15" Draglites, Pro Stars, etc.

A lot of people on LS1Tech have done it, but you really have to grind the calipers down quite a bit.

[gort69]

The S10 rear discs might be a better choice if you want to run 15" wheels. Very similar to the LS1 rears, smaller rotors, with the added bonus of having the e-brake cable bracket built in.

[gearheads78]

I have had several street / strip LS1 cars with 15" Welds. You have to grind a bunch on the caliper and bracket to make it work. Bogarts drag wheels will bolt on with no grinding though so there might be some billet wheels that could be made to work.

[BonzoHansen]

I think billet specialties makes a wheel that fits over those brakes with no grinding.

[claytonisbob]

I wonder how strong those Billet Specialties Street Light wheels are. They have thin-ish looking spokes,l I wonder if I got a set of them for a set of autocross if they could distort much. If not they are a nice looking wheel for the money, and are available with custom backspacing.

[DarkoNova]

So if I have an 8.5" rear out of a late 70's Nova, all I need are the spacers to mount these? I bought a rear LS1 brake setup a year or two ago and it's been sitting in my garage the entire time, so I don't know if I have the backing plates or not. Are the backing plates necessary?

Matt

[a67]

So if I have an 8.5" rear out of a late 70's Nova, all I need are the spacers to mount these? I bought a rear LS1 brake setup a year or two ago and it's been sitting in my garage the entire time, so I don't know if I have the backing plates or not. Are the backing plates necessary?

Matt

Yes, the backing plates are required. They hold the parking brake shoe and mechanism for it. The caliper mount is also built into it.

Bob

[73z-6sp]

Factory LS1 brakes are about as close to a bolt-on swap as there is. A minor amount of fabricating is necessary, but nothing terribly difficult. The real advantage of the LS1 swap in my opinion is the excellent drum-in-rotor hat parking brake. The brakes themselvers are excellent as well.

Here's a writeup I did on the swap at Team Camaro.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=161383

Great write-up! Thanks!

One question though. What did you do about the soft brake line? IIRC it doesnt mate with the flared ends on our old cars.

Thanks

[gort69]

That's the easy part! I ordered them in SS braid from Tobin at Kore3. 45 degree SAE inverted flare on one end and the correct banjo fitting on the other end. Reasonable price as well. Just name the length.

[DarkoNova]

Ok so I just put these on my car tonight. Quick question, the calipers mount on the front side of the axle, right? I didn't think to check before installing them, but I installed the backing plates with the calipers in front of the axle, and I installed the calipers with the bleeder valves above the brake line.

Is that the right way?

That's the easy part! I ordered them in SS braid from Tobin at Kore3. 45 degree SAE inverted flare on one end and the correct banjo fitting on the other end. Reasonable price as well. Just name the length.

Did you cut the hard line to shorten it at all? Or did you just leave it as is?

[gort69]

I can't remember - does a 69 Nova have staggered shocks?

If your shocks don't interfere with the calipers, you should be fine - just make sure the bleeder nipple is at the top of the caliper.

Another thing to consider is the direction of the e-brake cable pull. I recall that the LS1 Camaros had both calipers to the front of the axle, and the e-brake cables looped over the axle and pulled from the rear. If it makes more sense in your install to have the cables pull from the front, just switch the LH assembly to the right side and the RH assembly to the left side, then the cables will pull from the front.

If you are replacing drum brakes, then yes - you need to modify the hard lines on the axle. You will need to mount a bracket on the axle tubes for the hardline/flexline connection. Lots of different ways/places to mount the bracket. I welded mine, but some guys use a bracket that can be attached with a large hose clamp. Here are the best photos I have of my setup.

[DarkoNova]

Yeah it's got staggered shocks, but the rear end is an 8.5" 10 bolt out of a later Camaro or Nova (can't remember which) so it's slightly wider than stock. Calipers fit fine, which was pretty sweet, lol.

You think JB Weld would hold the bracket? Seriously, lol. I don't have a welder so that's the best I can do, haha.

[claytonisbob]

As much as I love JB weld, I don't think that's a good place for it. The vibrations will probably crack it off fairly quickly.

[MrQuick]

Yeah it's got staggered shocks, but the rear end is an 8.5" 10 bolt out of a later Camaro or Nova (can't remember which) so it's slightly wider than stock. Calipers fit fine, which was pretty sweet, lol.

You think JB Weld would hold the bracket? Seriously, lol. I don't have a welder so that's the best I can do, haha.

just use a 3"-3 1/2" hose clamp Matt.

just for information sake.

rear GM part numbers as of 12/2010

Rear LS1
12455127 caliper rear LS1 left hand $79.32 2 required for staggered shocks
12455128 caliper rear LS1 right hand $78.70
12456459 rear abutment/pad bracket $31.85
10444626 right hand plate backing/park $81.60 L&R complete with parking brake assembly
10444625 left hand backing/park plate $82.24 2 required for staggered shocks

[gort69]

The JB weld - as good as it is - would fail just tightening the flex line to the hard line. You can use the hose clamp style bracket, or find a buddy with a 120V mig who can come over and weld it for you. It's a simple job. http://www.kore3.com/proddetail.php?prod=10021-02

[DarkoNova]

The JB weld - as good as it is - would fail just tightening the flex line to the hard line. You can use the hose clamp style bracket, or find a buddy with a 120V mig who can come over and weld it for you. It's a simple job. http://www.kore3.com/proddetail.php?prod=10021-02

Awesome, thanks for the link. I'll just use those, then.

[austinbelair]

So when converting a 78 to rear disc using the 4th gen stuff, do I need 2 left or 2 right backing plate/axle brackets? Is there any way to have the e-brake cables pull from the front like OEM on the 78?