front brake upgrade questions

[T-Type Mike]

Sounds like I will be doing the whole thing!!! What is the reasoning for the hotchkiss or equivalent upper control arms? Why do I need those. I know it comes as a whole package but why do I need to spend $710can for these. Some G body Malibu's came with 12' brakes too, could I not use the control arms off that? Dont mean to sound Dumb, but....Why?! Thanks again, Mike

 

[UNGN]

Originally posted by T-Type Mike
Sounds like I will be doing the whole thing!!! What is the reasoning for the hotchkiss or equivalent upper control arms? Why do I need those. I know it comes as a whole package but why do I need to spend $710can for these. Some G body Malibu's came with 12' brakes too, could I not use the control arms off that? Dont mean to sound Dumb, but....Why?! Thanks again, Mike

Malibu's never came with 12" brakes from the factory. When using the taller B-body spindle on a G-body, you need to use a shorter control arm to get the alignment within spec, without having to use offset control arm shafts and longer bolts and a bunch of shims (You can go this route if you are a real cheapskate)

Here is a list of all the Parts you need for the conversion. Add $20 to the cost as Robert raised the price of his A-arms to $270.

Hope this helps,

 

[Ormand]

Larger Brakes...

More questions. First, I have read in other threads that the use of the "B" body spindles will cause a lot of bump steer. There is additional hardware available to fix that, if it is a problem. Second, I read that using the bigger brakes widens the front track by about a half inch, so tire clearance changes (for better or worse, depending on where your tires/wheels were closest) Also, it would seem to me that the bigger front brakes might require a change to the proportioning valve, but I haven't seen that as part of the package. Comments?

 

[ONLYA6]

IMHO, I would just get a BAER setup and be done with it. It comes complete with the spindles and is ready to install. Everything comes assembled, it's an easy swap. I have the 13" Track Kit with drilled, slotted and zinc washed rotors. Completely awesome! It's worth the money!


Jacob

 

[T-Type Mike]

I was at our local GN meeting last night. We were talking about upgrading the brakes. Apparently one of our members who was not present used parts off an A body GM to do the conversion. Has anyone done this, and what is entailed?? There have got to be parts off other GM's that would work aswell.

 

[Mark E.]

I have the 12 inch brakes on my car and love it. I did the vac conversion with a G-body vacuum booster and a B-body station wagon 1 1/8 master. I used the Global West arms. The Del-A-Lum bushings are trick, and the passenger side has brass bushings that will never melt like the stock one and the polygraphite ones did.

Also there is a major handling advantage. I assume all the arms we talked about have the same advantage. Is that a correct assumption?