Rear Brake Backing Plates for 1976 Olds Cutlass
 | Converting to standard front disc brakes When swapping front disc brakes for your existing drums, the front brake assembly from any GM A-body from '67 through '72 will bolt right on to your '67. The following cars from 1964-1972 are classified as A-bodies:
However, the '67-'68 power brake setups utilize a four-piston caliper with a two-piece rotor and should be avoided. They are somewhat hard to find. You cannot find the 2-piece rotor new as they have not been manufactured for over 20 years due to a perceived safety hazard. There are one-piece rotor replacements available, but even these can be hard to find. The single-piston system used on '69-'72 cars is much more common and easier to locate. It is completely interchangeable with the earlier system (at the spindle level). (Read sidebar.) The disc brake rotors for these setups are 10" in diameter. ('73-77 A-body disc brake setups CAN be used, but since the ball joints are a different size and the spindles are taller, it requires some modifications. Another popular swap is to use the taller '73-up B-body spindles which allow the use of 11" or 12" disc brakes, but this requires the use of custom upper control arms. More on both of these swaps are discussed below.) The '69-'72 single-piston system is better for two reasons. First, the calipers slide side-to-side, which allows for slight warpage in the rotor - the four-piston calipers are hard mounted to the spindles and any rotor wobble causes the pistons to be pushed back into the caliper, which increases pedal travel upon initial application. This is not what you want in a panic stop! Second, the four-piston design uses smooth bores in the caliper and pistons with grooves for the seal rings - just like the pistons in an engine. Unfortunately, the cast iron caliper bores are susceptible to rust and pitting, which is why companies like White Post make a tidy profit lining these calipers with stainless sleeves. The single-piston calipers reverse this by having the seal ring set into a groove in the bore. The sliding surface is the OD of the piston, not the ID of the bore. To further improve this, the pistons are chromed, which minimizes their likelihood of rusting. More importantly, it's pretty cheap to replace the piston verses having the caliper sleeved. Other suitable donors include:
When you find an appropriate donor car, you'll need to get everything from the steering knuckle (spindle) out, including:
NOTES NOTE 1: If you're planning to convert a to a stock 10" rotor setup, your 14" SSIIs might not fit - even though they came that way from the factory. SSI rims will definitely NOT fit. (Be sure to read Identifying Oldsmobile Super Stock Wheels for confirmation on whether you can use current Rally rims.) NOTE 2 : If the components you're purchasing are at a local swap meet, and you want to verify the year of the parts, look at the steering knuckle. '72-and-earlier had a two-piece unit (the steering arm bolts onto the knuckle), while the '73 and later one-piece units had the steering arm cast into the knuckle. Make sure the master cylinder was from a disc-brake-equipped vehicle. They are different. The front reservoir of a disc-brake master cylinder is larger than the rear reservoir (see photo above). The reservoirs on a drum-brake master cylinder are the same size. NOTE 3: Be sure to bench-bleed the master cylinder before installing it. As for bleeding the brakes alone in your garage, use a one-way inline valve on the bleeder hose. I put the bleeder hose in a jar containing some brake fluid so there is less chance I can draw air back into the system too. Then I crack the bleeder just a little. I then bleed them myself starting from the point farthest away from the master cylinder and working towards the nearest (right rear, left rear, right front, left front.) Never had a problem. Just remember to add fluid during the bleeding. You'd hate having to start over because you sucked it dry in the middle of the bleeding process, re-introducing air into the system. NOTE 4: Read the Oldsmobile Chassis Service manual closely regarding torque specs. Some of the bolt torque specs require that the full weight of the car be on the wheels when the bolts are torqued. The upper and lower control arm bolts are two of them but there are others. If you tighten them with the wheels hanging in the air, the bushings will be squished tight (pre-loaded) so that when you let the car down, the control arms won't move to their natural position. It may sit too high as a result, not to mention adversely affecting the front-end alignment. Converting drum brake spindles to accept disc brakes You might have heard that drum spindles can be modified for disc use. While this has been done by many people successfully, spending the $200-$400 on getting the correct parts from a donor car instead is still the best route. However, just for general knowledge I'm including the information you need to do this. I should also mention that I've not tried this, so proceed at your own risk. Supposedly all that's involved is milling .750 off the pad at the top of the spindle near the upper ball joint where the spring anchor was bolted into. You'll also need to tap out the hole (the spring anchor hole becomes the caliper bracket hole) to full depth. | |
Rear Brake Backing Plates for 1976 Olds Cutlass
Source: http://www.oldsmobility.com/old/discbrakes.htm
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