the72cutty
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 1
the72cutty
hey i have a 72 cutlass S Holiday hardtop 350 v8 drums/drums.... i was wondering the cheapest and best way to put disc on the front... so it will be safer to drive...also will g-body spindles work
Rodney
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 2,591
From: Houston, TX
Welcome
Welcome CO!
Please post some pics of your car, we love pictures. The easiest path to better brakes is to install a factory front disc set-up. You will need disc brake spindles, backing plates, hoses, calipers and rotors. You will also need a disc-drum combination/proportioning valve to balance the front discs to the rear drums. I think the drum spindles can be made to work with disc brakes, but you need to do some grinding. The factory set-up had 11" rotors on an integral hub (you can use the same wheel bearings as your drum hubs). There are kits available to rebuild the calipers too and they are pretty easy to do. I have a used front disc set-up (spindles, calipers & rotors) if you're interested.
Rodney.
Please post some pics of your car, we love pictures. The easiest path to better brakes is to install a factory front disc set-up. You will need disc brake spindles, backing plates, hoses, calipers and rotors. You will also need a disc-drum combination/proportioning valve to balance the front discs to the rear drums. I think the drum spindles can be made to work with disc brakes, but you need to do some grinding. The factory set-up had 11" rotors on an integral hub (you can use the same wheel bearings as your drum hubs). There are kits available to rebuild the calipers too and they are pretty easy to do. I have a used front disc set-up (spindles, calipers & rotors) if you're interested.
Rodney.
Just an Olds Guy
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 24,528
From: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Welcome aboard!
What Rod said ^^^. IIRC no you cannot use G body spindles. One of the bosses on the drum brake spindle just needs to be machined flat to make it work I think.
What Rod said ^^^. IIRC no you cannot use G body spindles. One of the bosses on the drum brake spindle just needs to be machined flat to make it work I think.
Old(s) Fart
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 50,815
From: Northern VA
Low cost A-body disk brakes provides the info you need.
You cannot easily swap later model spindles, as the ball joint taper is different, the tie rod end taper is different, the spindle height is different, and the steering arm geometry is different. You can adapt the later model ball joints and tie rod ends to fix the taper problem, but you still have two problems. The taller spindles require a boatload of shims in the upper control arm to maintain alignment, which causes the control arm shaft to hit headers or exhaust manifolds, especially on a big block. There are aftermarket shortened upper control arms to solve this problem (for a price), but that still leaves the bump steer problem from the incorrect steering arm geometry.
You cannot easily swap later model spindles, as the ball joint taper is different, the tie rod end taper is different, the spindle height is different, and the steering arm geometry is different. You can adapt the later model ball joints and tie rod ends to fix the taper problem, but you still have two problems. The taller spindles require a boatload of shims in the upper control arm to maintain alignment, which causes the control arm shaft to hit headers or exhaust manifolds, especially on a big block. There are aftermarket shortened upper control arms to solve this problem (for a price), but that still leaves the bump steer problem from the incorrect steering arm geometry.
Old(s) Fart
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 50,815
From: Northern VA
Just to clarify, the 67-68 cars have the four piston calipers that are leak prone unless you have them sleeved. I'd suggest sticking to 69-72 A-body brakes, which have the more common and less expensive single piston calipers. Note that 69 F-body (Camaro/Firebird) and 69-74 X-body (Nova and clones) spindles and disc brakes are the same as A-body. You simply need to swap the bolt-on steering arms from your drum spindles to the new disc spindles, since these F- and X-body cars are rear steer.
Rodney
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 2,591
From: Houston, TX
TransAm brakes
72Cutty:
Here's a Dallas craigslist ad for a '79 TransAm rear disc set-up. Should bolt right on to your axle. "...1-rear disc brake set, backing plates, rotors, calipers pads for 79-81 ta $200..."
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/pts/4331370477.html
Rodney
Here's a Dallas craigslist ad for a '79 TransAm rear disc set-up. Should bolt right on to your axle. "...1-rear disc brake set, backing plates, rotors, calipers pads for 79-81 ta $200..."
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/pts/4331370477.html
Rodney
