bluegp Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 I need to get my '89 back on the road. It's been sitting for a long time now due to me getting frustrated with it's brake problems. I really do not want to invest any more money in those crappy rear discs. Has anybody ever coverted to the drums that came on the 1.5 gen W's? I've never had any problems with the drum brakes on my Lumina and I'm not sure my GP's rear discs are any better performance-wise. The drum hardware would bolt right up to the GP's rear spindles, correct? Could the GP's hubs be retained? Would the master cylinder from the disc/drum car be needed for the swap? The 1.5's parking brake would have to be installed somehow. What other things would be needed besides the obvious? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 why would you want ugly old school technology drum brakes? i would go to the '94 11" disc brakes. they aren't notorious for siezing up like the '88-'93 style 10.5" rear disc brakes, and changing pads is so much easier with the '94+ rear disc brakes. you also don't need to worry about swapping the master cylinder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GutlessSupreme Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 why would you want ugly old school technology drum brakes? i would go to the '94 11" disc brakes. they aren't notorious for siezing up like the '88-'93 style 10.5" rear disc brakes, and changing pads is so much easier with the '94+ rear disc brakes. you also don't need to worry about swapping the master cylinder. x2 And supposedly the drums stopping power is even worse than the old style calipers (when they're working, that is). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 Just go to the 94+ rear discs like everyone else. I've never had a problem with them on my 94, or the 89 I retrofitted. Drum brakes are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 Do corvette rear brakes like nocutt has done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 Do corvette rear brakes like nocutt has done... How would you do that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
93cuttysupreme Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 Drum brakes are Most drum brakes are . The ones on my dads thunderbird will lock all 4 up on dry pavement. /hijack To stop the callipers sezing up, I used stainless steel sliders. i have not had a problem yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SigEpCutlass Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 dude just do a 94+ brake conversion. I'm pretty sure we have a write up for it now. That'd be a lot easier to do than dealing with putting in vette brakes. After driving my grandma's '89 Cutty Supreme International and my '94 Cutty SL, the '94 has a lot more stopping power. Mind you, this is even before I upgraded my brakes to better than OEM equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted July 22, 2005 Report Share Posted July 22, 2005 dude just do a 94+ brake conversion. I'm pretty sure we have a write up for it now. I've had a writeup online for the past 5yrs or so. http://www.w-body.com/upgrades/brakes-rearcalipers94.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegp Posted July 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2005 I had a feeling everybody would totally dismiss the drum brakes. I don't believe they are as bad as everybody says - I think a lot of the dislike is for the looks. I want to keep the fix as easy as I can. I was wondering if anybody knew what parts were involved (new master cylinder?) to do the drums and how much extra work it would be. It does look like the conversion to '94+ discs would require less work and is probably what I will do if I get rid of the stock ones. What about the stainless sliders for the '88-'93 style ones? Do those make the brakes work like they're supposed to? Where do you get those? Just go to the 94+ rear discs like everyone else. I've never had a problem with them on my 94, or the 89 I retrofitted.Drum brakes are So the '94+ ones are pretty much problem-free? Nice write-up on that conversion. It was one of the first things I looked at on this board when I first found it. Is there any further information on getting the parking brake to work? Here in PA, that's one of the things that gets checked during the yearly state inspection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GutlessSupreme Posted July 23, 2005 Report Share Posted July 23, 2005 What about the stainless sliders for the '88-'93 style ones? Do those make the brakes work like they're supposed to? Where do you get those? They'll keep the calipers from freezing up and becoming entirely useless, but they won't make them stop any faster than they were from the factory, which still sucked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted July 23, 2005 Report Share Posted July 23, 2005 My 95 has been good to me brake-wise. The rear sliders WERE frozen when I got the car cause the inside pads were all eaten up. But then I got ALL pads/rotors changed, and my mechanic was able to grease the sliders. Now they work perfect, and I use the e-brake whenever I park the car on the driveway (very slight incline) just to keep it working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted July 23, 2005 Report Share Posted July 23, 2005 I had a feeling everybody would totally dismiss the drum brakes. I don't believe they are as bad as everybody says - I think a lot of the dislike is for the looks. I want to keep the fix as easy as I can. I was wondering if anybody knew what parts were involved (new master cylinder?) to do the drums and how much extra work it would be. It does look like the conversion to '94+ discs would require less work and is probably what I will do if I get rid of the stock ones. Drums would be a lot of work, you'd have to change the knuckles as well, they aren't the same. So the '94+ ones are pretty much problem-free? Nice write-up on that conversion. It was one of the first things I looked at on this board when I first found it. Is there any further information on getting the parking brake to work? Here in PA, that's one of the things that gets checked during the yearly state inspection. Yep, problem-free so far after 5yrs. Front ones don't warp anymore either. I never really researched the park brake since they still don't check that here. I guess Missouri is so flat, they don't figure anyone will need it. I've seen pics sent by a former member "STR", but all he did was STRETCH and BEND the old cable so it would work. Looked real ghetto like it would snap at any time, but he said it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TurboSedan Posted July 23, 2005 Report Share Posted July 23, 2005 i've actually considered going back to the earlier 10.5" brakes just so i can have a working parking brake again. Wyoming doesn't have inspection, but since i have a 5-speed i can't simply put the car in Park. it's pretty dangerous for me to park on hills etc. i do have '94+ parking brake cables though, so i guess i'll give them a shot. i just need to get off my lazy ass and put them in. there is a bracket on the parking brake cables that needs to be welded to the underside of the car, that's the main thing that's kept me from installing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted July 23, 2005 Report Share Posted July 23, 2005 Do corvette rear brakes like nocutt has done... How would you do that? Lots of mods. He also added Porsche 4 piston calipers to the front, and is curently building a Series III 3800 Turbo for his vehicle also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted July 23, 2005 Report Share Posted July 23, 2005 I've never heard of that guy. Where'd you hear about him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted July 24, 2005 Report Share Posted July 24, 2005 I've never heard of that guy. Where'd you hear about him? I make my way around the internet: http://www.beretta.net/board/ib3/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=9;t=152 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp90se Posted July 25, 2005 Report Share Posted July 25, 2005 I've never heard of that guy. Where'd you hear about him? I make my way around the internet: http://www.beretta.net/board/ib3/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=9;t=152 I just read all 12 pages of that, a lot of good info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SigEpCutlass Posted July 25, 2005 Report Share Posted July 25, 2005 Good info. I dunno, for what we're talking about that seems like more trouble than it's worth. He's just trying to get the GP back on the road, not have performance braking. I still think your best option is to do the 94+ brake upgrade. It's the most logical thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluegp Posted July 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2005 Good info. I dunno, for what we're talking about that seems like more trouble than it's worth. He's just trying to get the GP back on the road, not have performance braking. I still think your best option is to do the 94+ brake upgrade. It's the most logical thing to do. That was a neat project, but yes, I just want to get it back on the road. I have to take a closer look at the rear calipers. If they need replaced again, I'll probably go with the '94+ ones. The parking brake pedal in my '89 needs fixed/replaced (doesn't want to ratchet), so that makes a good excuse to find a way to include newer style pedal with the '94+ brakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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