87 GN Brake upgrade - suggestions?

[Rogue74]

Hi, I just signed up for this forum and needed to get some advice for a brake upgrade.

I wanted to get some suggestions for a brake upgrade. I have an 87 GN with stock brakes and wanted to see whether I should put discs all around or just upgrade the front brakes? My dad said I could possibly just upgrade the front, but he isn't real familiar with GNs (just Corvettes) so he said I should ask around on here for a more informed opinion. My car is basically just a daily driver (well occasional driver since I'm in OH), so I don't need anything for racing, just something that will work well for the street.

BTW, I have American Racing Torque Thrust II wheels, same size as stock rims.

 

[Turbo6inKY]

Originally posted by Rogue74
Hi, I just signed up for this forum and needed to get some advice for a brake upgrade.

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/se...d=685994&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending

 

[machinegun]

Where are you located in Ohio? Find some locals and they can porbably help ou out. There are kits that range from about 800 to about 1800 dollars. Personally depending on what you are doing with the car you can either keep the drums or do a clip eliminator and rear disk setup. Also expensive. Simple bolt on brakes you can do with SSBC dual piston calipers and powerstop rotors. This should help for a driver / street / strip car. There is also the Bbody brake upgrade. I have never done one but with the right uppers this is supposed to be a bolt in. Again this would help.

 

[GN ERGY]

I have the 12 inch disc upgrade and I am in Ohio, back and forth between Eastlake and Columbus. Let me know what you are interested in and if you want to check out my GN.
Tarey D.

 

[Rogue74]

Thanks for the info! I'm near Dayton, OH.

I've got a couple more questions. Sorry if they sound dumb, but I'm still trying to learn all this stuff. I didn't get into working on cars and upgrades and stuff until I got my GN a few years ago during my jr. year of college, even though my dad has had Corvettes for years.

So anyway to upgrade to a 12" brake setup, would I need to upgrade anything beyond the rotor and calipers?

 

[Matt_S]

BRAKE SYSTEM UPGRADES

HI GUYS! We are new to this forum, but not new to the brake business, we are Power Brake Service in Long Beach CA. We did one of the first brake upgrades on Bulgari's NEW (14MI) 87 GN. We installed the 12" front braake rotors and the larger 2 15/16 calipers with truck pads. on the rear, we installed the Trans Am style rear disc. the key to making all this work, however, is converting the powermaster boostermaster to the Bendix Hydorboost system. The Hydroboost is pressurized from the power steering pump, and requires no vacuum. This is what we did on a new car in 87. Oher cars since have had various upgrades. We were the ferst to redesign the rear brake configuration to increase the rear wheel CYL DIA. From 3/4 to 7/8" The earlier cars actually had this cylinder. By increasing the rear brake pressure we take some of the heat off the front rotors. We have been rebuilding the powermaster for years, but the motor/pump uses phenolic vanes, and wears out by pumping brake fluid. with the hydroboost conversion, you can go to rear disc, and have the volume and the pressure available to work them or stay with the drums abd larger W/CYLS. Bendix sold out their power brake division to BOSCH in 1995. Since then, Bosch has only supplied their O.E.'s and not the aftermarket, We have a specisl contract with BOSCH and have availability for new hydroboosts, and can set them up for any type of car, including muscle cars and street rods. POWER BRAKE can be reached at 800 504 1060

 

[Spdrcer34]

It is hard to read that CAPS LOCK typing.

Ryan

 

[Matt_S]

edit

I edited out the caps lock on my post above for easier reading

 

[Dr. D]

Upgrade

Check out the monte carlo web site for great info on brakes. They've got pictures, part numbers, everything you want. I certainly helped me.

http://www.montecarloss.com/

 

[Roger]

I'm not sure what upgrades you have in mind.
I have a '87n tr & wanted to keep the 15" aluminum TR wheels. I went with the 12" Baer setup & am happy with it. The Baer 12" brakes won't fit the '86 & '87 GN wheels, but will fit '84 & '85 GN wheels without spacers needed for the '86 & '87 TR wheels.
If your interest is in 13" brakes, you'll need larger wheels than 15".
I noticed a much better brake pedal with the Baer brakes.
I'm considering rear disks & looking at many different options, I haven't come to a conclusion yet.
Some other TR owners like to convert to vacuum brakes - I went back to the PM after too many headaches with the vacuum setup. I'm currently considering the hydroboost, however currently, the PM is working very well.
My TR is a daily driver & has been to the strip twice in 8 years.
HTH.

 

[tim87tr]

If you want to try something less expensive, I've found this to work: new calipers with core trade are only about $35 total, also new front brake lines, and I used Performance Friction Ceramic pads $45 on stock rotors. There is minimum brake dust with these also.

Soft shoes and S10 wheel cylinders on the rears tighten things up, total under $100, but sometimes tend to lock up the rear brakes if you hit the brakes too hard.

 

[Dr. D]

S10 Cylinders

Tim87tr, I presume that you're still using the stock drums, shoes & backing plates. What year of S10 parts did you use? Are the cylinders just larger diameter and same length as stock GN?

 

[tim87tr]

Re: S10 Cylinders

Originally posted by Dr. D
Tim87tr, I presume that you're still using the stock drums, shoes & backing plates. What year of S10 parts did you use? Are the cylinders just larger diameter and same length as stock GN?

Don't remember the year, but they are same size and direct bolt in. Yes, they work with stock drums, shoes, and back plates. Cottons sells the cylinders and soft shoes. There is some more info on gnttype.org in the brake tech section.

 

[Matt_S]

WHEEL CYLS

HI1 It's power brake bob. The S10 wheel cyl was something i tried in 1987. It's something that I had been doing with 1 ton trucks and motor homes to balance out the excessive wear and heat on truck rotors. caused by a proportioning valve set up for an empty pick-up. When I studied the lack of wear on the rear brakes, and the burned blue rotors on the G.N., i researched the brake catalogs for a wheel cyl that would fit that backing plate. The S10 with factory power brakes came with a 3/4" wheel cyl to prevent lock-up, but the manual brake S10 had the larger cyls, that bolted right in. These are 7/8" in diameter. Since the G.N. is obviously heavier on the rear than an S 10, they should balance the brakes, and take some of the heat off the front rotors. Almost every vehicle that comes in our shop, including suburbans, motor homes, and most American cars get the larger cyls to balance front to rear brake balance. For those cars being converted to four wheel disc, or going to impala calipers, the Hydroboost is still the answer for more volume, and more pressure. Don't forget, that when converting to 4 disc, that the 2 disc stock proportioning valve needs to be changed to the 4 disc valve. All of these parts are available from POWER BRAKE SERVICE. The Hydroboost is viewable at POWERBRAKESERVICE.NET