Are 88-92 1LE-Style PBR Calipers a bolt on replacement for the iron single piston units when doing the 12 inch B-Body spindle conversion with the 1LE Rotors?

Nope, but you might want to check out my webpage for how to do the swap.

Joe

72,
I have your page set as a "favorite" already. Is it worth the effort to use the PBR-style caliper with the 12 inch rotor, or should I use the iron stock-type units? I already have a booster and prop valve for a 79 4-Wheel disc TA, of which I also am going to put the rear disc setup on my 68, too.

If you are only wanting to do a 12" disc swap than stick with the 1LE rotor and cast iron calipers.

Next step up is a swap that BC and RJ have performed using a hub and some 12" 'vette rotors with bigger piston'ed iron calipers that bolt on.

For the money, you can't beat that swap (and still be able to run 15" wheels).

With the C5 swap its more of wanting to be the cool kid on the block sort of deal. I've definitely received my fair share of questions on the swap thanks to the website.

Is it worth the money? Well when you only have $300-$400 in the swap (thanks to being a parts hound by nature and not paying top dollar for anything) then yes, its well worth the money/sweat/tears/cuts/bruises.

But, you have to be "into" the 17" wheel thing (and not all people are).

If you aren't then I would stick with the swap that BC and RJ have proven out. All new parts for a couple hundred (if I remember correctly) and you can run 15" wheels.

Its your choice.

Joe

For those of you that want to do the "Cheap Big Brakes" swap and use a 12 inch Corvette rotor with a drum brake spinde, look at the "Gen III" aluminum caliper from Wilwood. Is exact replacement for the "Suburban" single piston cast iron caliper used in this swap. A whole lot lighter and looks better also. Used extensively by the circle track guys. It is a bolt on.

Looks like the Gen III is a 3-piston caliper... Are the circle track guys using that in a power or manual brake system? DOn't think that caliper would work well in a manual system as it would need a lot of fluid and lots of pressure...

If they are doing it manually, what MC are they using?

Thanks,
Bill C.

Bill,

I don't think that is correct. I am not 100% sure, but after looking at Wilwood's site and my Circle Track catalogs I believe that they are single pistons. Either 2.38" or 2.75" diameter I think. They look like a nice setup.

Also, I have my CBB setup on the road now and so far so good. One thing is for sure, TIRES are everything. Right now I just have a set of all-seasons on the car, and they by far are the limiting factor for the braking performance of the car.

My current setup is:
JD7 Caliper on the front with 12"x1.25" rotors
Stock '72 Drums in the rear
Stock 1" bore master cylinder
Wilwood Adjustable Proportioning Valve

I went with the 1" MC and drum rears, just because I had them and they were in good working order. The brakes are very strong. However as Bill suggested in the past, the 1" bore MC doesn't have enough volume for the huge JD7 calipers. And so the pedal travel is longer than it should be, but it still is acceptable. If you pump the pedal once, the pedal is right up top and it works very well.

RJ,
Glad to hear you have the CBB working... I hope it makes all the work worth it!! Hopefully a lot of our trials will help others be more successful!

On the Willwood stuff, guess it depends on what you are looking at. The post said "Gen III", but I don't see anything listed as "Gen III". I was looking at the GN III calipers and they are 3 piston calipers I don't think would work good.

I went back and looked at the "GM III" calipers and yes, they do look to be single piston calipers and will retro fit on to our cars. I'd like to hear if anyone has tried these yet...

Bill C.