rear disc brakes

[cosvega76]

UPDATE:

I got the car back on the road about a month ago, so now I've had some time to evaluate the swap. I had prepared a power brake booster to use with this setup, but I hit the sweet spot with all of my brake cylinder sizing so I won't need it.

I'm using standard (non-HD) late-C4 (PBR) front calipers, Windstar rear calipers and a 15/16" master. After setting the brake bias with the adjustable valve, the brakes are AWESOME now compared to what they used to be!


Chuck

[b_pappy]

Hey guys, not sure I'm understanding this entire thread.
I see lots of great ideas, but I'm having a tough time following everything.
I "think" I want later 2wd S-10 front spindles and read end, with disc brakes all around. Do I weld my Vega mounts to the new S-10 rear end, or do I stuff those rear end gears in my Vega rear? Or will either way work?
Also, then laterin the thread it sounds like the rear calipers hit the Vega frame.
Initially I was going to use a narrowed 10 bolt, but sounds like the S-10 fits right in.
For power I'm using a 383, and a 700R4 trans. I want to use GM parts whereever I can.
Hopefully you guys can straighten me out on this.
Thanks,
Bruce

[Diesel Dan]

So to recap the most common setup is using:
-1998-2005 S-10 rear caliper assemblies(2or4wd)
-1998-2005 2wd s10 rear rotors
-early 2wd s10 drum brake axle shafts

Others:
-2nd gen Camaro/firebird rear disc setups
-8.8" ford axle assembly

Where does the 4th gen(96-02) F-body parts fall in? Pro/cons
EDIT:
One thing different from the Camaro to the S10 is the bolt pattern.
S10 is 5 on 4.75"(121mm)
F-body is 5 on 118mm

[b_pappy]

Got the rear figured out, thank you all. I used a S-10 ZR-2 rear end. It is 3.73 LSD, and uses the 8.5" ring gear and has disc brakes, plus larger wheel bearings. Turns out it is also 2" wider than a regular S-10. To fit my wheels we narrowed it 3.75" per side. The shop did a great job narrowing it and getting new axles, another shop transferred all the mounts. Fits like OE!
On to the next challenge...

[MonzaRacer]

Yes well , as my pro- touring project Monza has been stalled way too long.
Finally got couple oversized wrist pins so can use eBay pistons, I had.
Also guy at work made me great deal onZR2 rear end, should be 3.73 gotta wait for delivery to see if its got gov loc.
BUT according to my measuring and math and using rimsntires.com tire comparer let me see that a Corvette 18x9.5 56mm offset with 275/35/18 will fit in place of my 275/60/15 on 15x8.5 3.5 bs outlaw IIs.
Then I matched my old 225/50/15s on 15x 7 3.5 bs match up to a 215/40/17 but comparer only let's me match to an 17x8 not 8.5 wheel.
My biggest issue on front is deciding if I run spacers or decide to extend the upper and lower control arm length on the car to reduce my need for spacer/adapters.
But ZR2 axle let's me do something different. Guess I need to price narrowing some Vette wheels for up front.
Now if I decide to run 17" rears they just end up at 275/40/17, but matching wheels up tends to be hard since most Vette wheels tend to run in 17/18 sets or 18/19 etc.
But hey S10 disc conversion is pretty easy, I even have spare set of 4 WD caliper brackets, this lets calipers sit on top of rotor, where 2wd sit at 3 or 9 o'clock.
My luck is that my ZR 2 rear nets me 8.5 rear, so when my twin turbo setup is finished I got a rear end that's stronger than 7.5.
Now I just gotta save for Fays2 watts link and finish my 3/4 link conversion crossmember finished.

[frenchmonza]

Just for the info : I fitted one of those "right stuff" kit (ref AFXRD01) on a stock axle with 5-lug arms.
They are cheap, but quality is OK for the price.

Caliper position has to be upper-rear. Fits perfectly on the axle, caliper and pads are standard GM, easy to find. Brakes very strongly (even a bit too much !). Bleeding fluid procedure on this car is a pain, but this is another story.


I had to cut some steel to make them fit. When the suspension collapses, caliper would hit the barrier, behind the wheel arch (which is not very wide). So you have to make some room to ensure the suspension will work properly.
Thankfully, there is some room to cut, just watch for the panhard bar mount, left side.

[vegajeff]

Just curious, What parking brake cable are you guys using with the S 10 rear disk conversion? I'm going to have to wrap the cable around the axle to work.

[vegajeff]

[3Hz]

Those are oooooooold H-body Bilsteins. I've had them for a lot of years.

good to see an old H-body Bilstein still being used

[LSnotchback]

Just curious, What parking brake cable are you guys using with the S 10 rear disk conversion? I'm going to have to wrap the cable around the axle to work.

I bought S10 2wd axle with disc brakes and it has stock cables. I plan of connecting them to orginal handbrake system.

[cjbiagi]

Bilstein used to make shocks for H bodies, I ran them on my Monza for awhile.

[MonzaRacer]

For rear shock simply pick up a set for 68-72 Abody. I installed them om my 75 and yellow 77 I wrecked would have reused them in blue 77 I have. I used 94 up S10 2wd Monroe Reflex on front of yellow 77. Just had to do a little grinding to squeeze them in and honestly worked awesome.
I now have line on ZR2 S10 which has 63ish(?) wide 8.5 10 bolt.
My car was modified to use cut down S10 rear springs as swing arms. BUT planning a different idea this year if job doesnt get all screwy.
As for HOW I intend to rework my car is to check some stuff out from Ridetech for S10s. They have great bracket I like for possible use and I am hoping this with my crossmember I am designing to bolt in will reinforce lower control arm mounts AND tie in and locate upper mounts for upper control arms.
4wd rearends are 4 in wider than stock Monza rearends (@59ish if memory serves) ZR2 is 63 if memory serves.
I know the 4 wd and ZR2 are awesome as you can swap to much newer wheels. My 75 ran 15x8 Corvette Rallys and I had to use a spacer cut from 4th gen F body rotors to keep it from rubbing. When I built my 77 my 255s were shot and my 15x8.5 Outlaw II with 3.5 BS fit near perfectly butI did have to roll front lip edge in the amount of the flat outer lip. but I installed them with 275/60 tires.

[GermanMonza]

Just for the info : I fitted one of those "right stuff" kit (ref AFXRD01) on a stock axle with 5-lug arms.
They are cheap, but quality is OK for the price.

Caliper position has to be upper-rear. Fits perfectly on the axle, caliper and pads are standard GM, easy to find. Brakes very strongly (even a bit too much !). Bleeding fluid procedure on this car is a pain, but this is another story.


I had to cut some steel to make them fit. When the suspension collapses, caliper would hit the barrier, behind the wheel arch (which is not very wide). So you have to make some room to ensure the suspension will work properly.
Thankfully, there is some room to cut, just watch for the panhard bar mount, left side.

I'm aware this was posted 5 years back, but is that a thing? Does anyone have pictures? S-10 rear ends are not so easy to come by here in Germany, so this sounds like a good solution for a rear disk upgrade.

[olds70supreme]

I'm working through a rear end swap right now, and noticed that I will have to clearance the inner wheelhouse to allow the caliper body to clear when the suspension compresses. I checked here, and see that others have had to do something similar. There is a reinforced area in the wheelhouse sheetmetal that it looks like I will need to cut into. Based on where this is at on the car it's hard to see that it is that critical, but I'm sure the factory didn't put it there for fun. If anybody has pictures of how much they had to take out and feedback on any issues, or if they have reinforced the area please post.

Thanks.