View Full Version : Disc Conversion


CatchMeIfYouCan
Jul 26th, 05, 1:32 PM
So I finished my front disc brake conversion with some donor parts off of a '79 Impala and Global West upper and lower A-arms. I am now thinking of converting the rear drums to disc. Since I blew my buget on the Global West arms, I looking to do the rear conversion with little cost.

I can make my own mounting brackets and I have "left-over" calipers from another project. To get started I will need some discs to fit my 12-bolt posi rear axle, the bolt pattern is 5 on 5".

Can anyone help me out with this -or- talk me out of doing this???

Derek69SS
Jul 27th, 05, 10:18 PM
I'm curious what rear axle you're using, and on what car? I know the big cars from 73 up had 5 on 5", but since you're on a Chevelle forum, I can only assume your talking about a Chevelle, in which case the impala rear wouldn't fit, even though the rear suspension is the same type, but different angles. Also, they had an 8.5" 10-bolt. You've got me confused :clonk:

The easiest 5 on 5 rear disc setup would be to take everything off a '94-96 Impala SS or Caprice 9C1 police or if you're making your own caliper brackets, use just the caprice rotor hats. Also, possibly a front rotor off an AWD astro van might work. I'm not sure if they use a hat, or are a 1 piece rotor and hub.

Doug Garland
Jul 28th, 05, 9:26 PM
Chevelles= 5 x 4 3/4 bolt pattern just in case you didn't know.

CatchMeIfYouCan
Jul 29th, 05, 3:31 PM
Yep, 5 of 5" I checked - twice... I wish I knew what it was other than 12-bolt Chev. Either the whole rear axle is not original or the axles and drums were replaced by a previous owner.

The car, a 1968 Chevelle, was used for 1/8-mile drag racing then converted to a street car, back into a 1/4-mile drag car and now I am making it streetable again. It originally had 6.12:1 RGR changed to 4:56:1. The NOS has been removed and the TH400 w/3000 stall is being replaced with a M21 4-speed.

Back to brakes...
The rear drums currently are 9-1/2" x 2" - I found a drum upgrade from Master Power Brakes that may be a good solution. After reading a lot of information on the Master Power Brakes website, I am hesitant to change my rear brakes over to disc.

So now what am I going to do??? I'm confused...