delmont

is there a suspension upgrade with disk brakes? The frame and underside of the Delmont look like Chevelle parts, would those interchange? Any help in this area would be great!

ent72olds

Chevelle parts won't work....

MDchanic

Whoa, no.

Some '68 B- and C-bodies had disc brakes. If you can find original parts, great.
The front discs from that series are unique, though, and getting harder and harder to find.

There is no, repeat NO interchangeability between the A-body and the B- and C-body suspension components, though. None.
You need to live with that.

- Eric

delmont

thanks for the info, this points me in the right direction

ent72olds

I believe scarebird may have something in the aftermarket, but would be expensive.

joe_padavano

HUH?

Look again. For starters your Delmont has the steering linkage behind the crossmember, while a Chevelle (and Cutlass, and any other A-body) has the linkage in front of the crossmember. NOTHING interchanges except the calipers and brake pads.

Disk brakes were a factory option for the 1968 B-body cars, but they were extremely rare when new and virtually non-existent now. No one sells new rotors for these cars.

matchek

Are you saying the calipers and rotors from a 68 Chevelle can fit a B-sized Olds? I take it the B size is the full size Olds? I have 15 in wheels with disc brakes.

joe_padavano

I'm hoping this is a tongue-in-cheek response, given the three prior posts...

matchek

Joe, you said above,

"NOTHING interchanges except the calipers and brake pads." That would make me think that the calipers and brake pads are interchangeable. But above your post , it refers that they are not. Please advise.


By the way, has anyone looked into if rotors on a 68 Fleetwood would be interchangeable with the 68 Olds disc brakes? I did some amateur measuring of mine and compared to the one sold on Rock Auto and appears would work. But I know I am biased and want it to work.

joe_padavano

Once again, the calipers and pad are the only common parts. Your post said "rotors". One simply needs to look up the wheel bearings for the Chevelle and D88 to see that they are completely different, hence the rotors will NOT fit (not to mention that the Chevelle rotors are smaller in diameter and have the 5x4.75" bolt pattern vs. the 5.5" bolt pattern on the D88).

matchek

Hi Joe, thank you so much for clarifying. Sorry for all of the questions. Just learning here. Calipers have been a sensitive issues for me and the car. Still have the original calipers and they were rigged a few years ago to continue to function so interested in replacing at some point.

Will the 1968 calipers and pads from the 68 Chevelle then be suitable for the full-size 68 Delmont 88? I took pictures of 1968 Chevelle calipers online for $100-$150 each (Attached). I have those 15 inch Oldsmobile wheels - disc brakes. Not sure if the Delmont is the "B" size Olds.

By the way, some of others things related to the Chevelle calipers I found online. Some say are "semi-loaded". What's that mean? And some say has inlet of 1/2", 3/8", and 7/16"? Any thoughts on which one I would need.

matchek

I believe this is what the 68 Olds calipers look like.

joe_padavano

Yes, the Delmont is a B-body, same as the Delta 88. The Chevelle and Cutlass are A-body platforms, which are completely different except for a few small shared components (like calipers).

ALL 1967-68 A/B/C-body cars used the same four-piston calipers, as shown in your photo. That means Chevelle, Cutlass, Delmont 88, etc, etc. The 1969-up cars use the different single piston calipers.

Bonded pads mean the friction material is glued to the metal backing plate. Riveted means that they are riveted. High quality bonded are fine. I've had cheapo linings disbond under heat, but never the expensive ones. Rivets will not "disbond", obviously.

"Loaded" calipers means that they come with the pads and mounting hardware. I'm not sure what "semi-loaded" means; possibly they only come with the pads and not the mounting hardware. Bare calipers obviously are just the calipers with no pads or hardware. Those four-piston calipers have come down in price. Ten years ago they were not available at all. When they first came on the market they were around $250 each.

I'm afraid I can't help with the inlet sizing.

joe_padavano

Those are the same. Keep in mind that the new Chinesium repro calipers may not have EXACTLY the same outside shape, but they should be identical from a functional standpoint. That means that they are the same overall dimensions, use the same mounting points, have the same pistons, and accept the same pads.

matchek

Thank you very much Joe! Appreciate the info.

By the way, would you happen to know if the fact that my wheels are 15" matter?

I know Chevelle and Cutlass had 14 " wheels. Most Delmonts had 14" wheels.

I just don't want to get excited and get this and for some reason they don't fit.

I don't know if the calipers for the 15" wheels were different.

MDchanic

Interesting, Joe, I did not know that...

... And apparently RockAuto doesn't either. They do show ONE shared brake pad model between '68 Delmont and '68 Chevelle, with three or more other non-shared pads (If their database shows one, why wouldn't it show all? -- Weird), but is lists no caliper for the Olds. I will ASSume that there may similar deficiencies in other suppliers' databases.

As someone who USED to have a '68 98 with front disks, I always find this stuff interesting, for some odd reason.

- Eric

joe_padavano

They are not. The 15" wheels are not an issue.

joe_padavano

Have we not yet learned that RA is NOT a factory parts book? For a while their database showed that the VC used ball joints from a full size.

MDchanic

Nor are any of the other suppliers, but it's good to know when there is a specific error (such as those Supreme headers, or the '67 headlight switch error), so that it can be "proactively" ignored.

- Eric

matchek

ha ha Thanks Joe. So true. For 40 years my Dad and I have been looking into caliper solutions. I would RA would update their site.

Thanks for all your help on this and answering all of the questions. How nice I can replace what I have.


FYI, just for kicks and giggle I attached what my wheels look like, I have the 15 in wheels with the center caps. (this is not my exact car though).

matchek

When someone has time, take a look at the rotors for the 68 Fleetwood on RA. Wonder if those will fit 68 Olds Delmont (15 inch wheels)? I did some measure on mine versus these specs and looks like it would fit from rough eye.

Would be a big deal as these rotors quite inexpensive.

MDchanic

GM Part #396454, Front wheel rotor for 67-68 fullsize, does not show for any other make in the GM Parts Wiki (other than as a piece of Chev. Holley Carb. linkage).

I know that that's an imperfect source, as it deals with scanned data, but it usually helps with questions like this.

- Eric

matchek

MDchanic, thank your informing me on that gmparts website. A couple of questions. How did you get that part number? Did you already have a part number catalog ? I just to did a search (attached) and it came up nothing. But if I inputted the part number 396454, I can find it . Was just curious, because that does come in handy if there was a way I can search that site and get a part number.

I think from you post your are referring that it is possible that these rotors are not compatible with another GM car.

I wonder what the part number is for the 68 Fleetwood rotor? Can I search for it? It is possible that is did not come up with one way of search, but might show up in another.

MDchanic

I looked it up in the 1972 Oldsmobile Parts Manual.
I have the 1972 and 1975 editions.
They are available from WildAboutCars, which used to be free, but has begun requiring a paid membership to download manuals.


'68-'71 Cadillac, except ElDorado: 1490313
(From the '75 Cadillac Chassis Parts Manual, downloaded from modifiedcadillac.org )

- Eric