I have an 81 coupe. I would like to swap out the rear drums for some fresh disc brakes. The only problem that I can see is... I have no clue where to start. Any advice here would be appreciated.

I had this page bookmarked:

http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/6765/page11.html

Quick search of the forum for rear discs:

http://www.nastyz28.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?action=simplesearch&StartPoint=1&SearchTerms=rear+discs&SearchUser=&ForumChoice=10&SearchIn=ALL&SearchDate=ALL&ExactName=no&BooleanAND=YE S&File=temp-2453589-160709-FI6w.cgi&Continue=False

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Relax, alright? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.

Thanks.

Let me try that last one again...

http://www.nastyz28.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?action=simplesearch&StartPoint=1&SearchTerms=rear+discs&SearchUser=&ForumChoice=10&SearchIn=ALL&SearchDate=ALL&ExactName=no&BooleanAND=YE S&File=temp-2453589-160709-FI6w.cgi&Continue=False



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Relax, alright? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.

I'm in the process of doing a disc rear swap with an 81' TA rear. I too have been looking for information or mostly pictures on installed rear ends.

The bookmarked link above is for the caddillac brakes. Probably close enough, but pictures are blurry an don't show the swap all the way through.

This guy has the best pictures I've seen so far Rear Disc (http://1974camaro.freewebpage.org/drivetrain.htm), with more of rear on details page.

As for doing a search may help I didn't find anything to take you from the start to finish. Your best chance at doing this would be to find a disc rear end with all the complete hardware still installed with e brake cables.

As soon as I can get mine finished I'll work on getting some good pictures showing it off.

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Scott Harrison
1977 Camaro Coupe (http://members.cardomain.com/327_camaro)

ok.where to start...
If you're doing the T/A WS6 rear disc swap be sure to get as many of the parts as possible from the donor. The parts you'll want are: complete rear w/axles and backing plates, calipers, rotors, pads, e-brake brackets and springs, e-brake cables and equalizer, master cylinder, dual diaphram booster, proportioning valve, brake lines for the new mc and the brake line 'T' and bracket (mounted on the axle housing). However, for safety reasons you'll obviously want to replace most of these parts unless you're sure they are in working condition.
Yes , you can order most of this from your local auto parts store if the counter guy gives a sh!t and wants to help you. The e-brake cables are available from your local Pontiac parts dept. Prop valve is the tough part to find - you could buy an adjustable aftermarket. e-brake bracket you may have to shop e-bay and lay out about $50 (LEFT AND RIGHT are different). I also bought a complete set of brake lines from www.inlinetube.com. (http://www.inlinetube.com.) All this will probably set you back about $800 plus whatever you paid for the rear ($200?)
You'll also need an adapter U-joint cause the T/A rear joint is a hair larger than the stock camaro. Lakewood makes one for about $40.
You may want to move the brake pedal arm pivot point about 3/4" for a better pedal feel. Search the suspension section for a few opinions on this.
And you may want to replace the lug studs at this time if they are beat up or you need a different legnth to match some aftermarket wheels.
The swap is pretty much just replacing all the old hardware with the new. Replace the rear. remove U-joint (chuck it). 2 ways to do this after you have the car lifted and supported well. Either drop the rear of the leaf springs and roll it out the back (wheels on) or slide it out the side (wheels off, you may want a helper). replace the mc, booster, prop valve, and all lines.
Booster can be a PITA. The bolts are tough to get to. I did mine with the fenders off, so it was a piece of cake.
The trickiest part is getting the springs and calipers adjusted for the e-brake. You have to remove the nut and washer on the back of caliper and then slip the brake arm (hex hole) over the hex nut in the correct position. Then you need to adjust the arm so there is the correct tension on the spring. It's hard to explain until you see it. A little too much one way and you have the pads contacting the rotors all the time, a little the other way and there's no e-brake pressure.
Be sure to bench bleed the mc and bleed the entire system starting with the farthest wheel (pass rear, drv rear, pass front, drv front).
That's all I can think of for now. If you need some pics, e-mail me.


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1974 Sport Coupe. Original Owner.
383 SBC, TH350, 3:42 posi, rear discs, IROC steering box.

Sheezuuuuuus!!!! $800????? I only spent about $250 WITH shipping for everything using the Caddy brakes setup. You can score that stuff at boneyards for cheap. It is a direct bolt on. You will have to modify your parking brake cables on some models, but other than that it is a snap to do. You can re-use your lines because the prop valve is also a direct bolt in for the 71-81. 1970 has a different valve.

Yeah...for $800 you can prectically get a BAER kit....

yup, it's a lot more expensive than it first appears. I was really just looking for a posi rear with 3:42 or 3:73. But I got the entire rear with 3:42 posi and disc setup, all hardware (except the e-brake brackets), the booster, mc, and prop valve for $150. Now... I could have just replaced the pads and rotors and been good to go. But then I got to not trusting all the 25yr old parts. So one thing led to another and soon I had replaced it all. Would I go this route again? just for rear discs? Absolutely not. After all, its the fronts that do most of the stopping anyway. But I had fun with this part of the project and learned a lot.

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1974 Sport Coupe. Original Owner.
383 SBC, TH350, 3:42 posi, rear discs, IROC steering box.

changing the rear 9.5" drums to the 11" drums will provide the same braking performance as the discs will.

I did the WS6 swap last fall. I picked up a freebie WS6 rear, removed all the disc brake parts and started from there. I didn't keep the rear because it had 2.41's I sand blasted and painted the mounting brackets and used the calipers for cores. I ordered a new 9 inch dual diaphram booster and a 79 T/A WS6 M/C. While I was at it I replaced all the hard lines (front and rear) with stainless, replaced all the flex lines, all four rotors, the front calipers as well as the rears, e-brake cables (front to rear) and bought a correct brass proportioning valve from NPD (They do carry it in their Firebird Catalog). The whole thing cost me around $850.00. That's not really bad to replace the entire, and I mean entire braking system. People at shows think that the car came from the factory like that until I tell them what I did. While I was at it I replaced the axle bearings and seals (cost not included in brake system replacement).

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There is a fine line between hobby and obsession and I think I crossed it!
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[This message has been edited by 75 400 4 Speed (edited August 09, 2005).]

I have the ta ws6 booster, prop valve, master cylinder and lines for $200

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