Rear discs on GN axle?

[smallengineguy]

I was told that 2000 and up Chevy S-10 Blazer rear discs will bolt on to an GN rear. Has anyone done this that knows? I have a GN rear in my 78 Regal that I'd like to add the discs to.

 

[novaderrik]

there are no oem disc setups that will directly bolt to the GN rear- or any G body, 80's s10, or 82-92 f body for that matter.
if you drill it out to the pattern that GM used on their other cars during those years- and on F bodies from 93-02 and later S10's- then, yes, it will bolt right up.

 

[mousemobile]

The biggest problem is the backing plate mount. You would either have to modify it by cutting most of it off and enlarging and adding mounting holes.

I'm not sure if there is vehicle that used same configuration with disk brakes.

You might want to try this
Scarebird Classic Brakes LLC

It looks by their instructions that '82 - '92 F-body and '82 - '87 S-10 have same mount. They should have same wheel bolt pattern. If they have disk brakes, they will bolt on. Otherwise use Scarebirds adapter bracker, or modify your mounting bracket to use say 2000 f-body brakes.

 

[TKGN1]

This might help if you want to go with the F-body option:
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/br...wheels/206369-ls1-f-body-rear-brake-swap.html

 

[smallengineguy]

I get Car Craft magazing and I could swear I read that the S-10 mounts/rotors/discs bolted right up to the 8.5 GM rear. Must be mistaken. The axle is not in the car yet, soi I may be able to fiddle with it. Nice links though! Scarebird does the conversion on a 7.5, but I assume the 8.5 is the same flangewise.

 

[novaderrik]

I get Car Craft magazing and I could swear I read that the S-10 mounts/rotors/discs bolted right up to the 8.5 GM rear. Must be mistaken. The axle is not in the car yet, soi I may be able to fiddle with it. Nice links though! Scarebird does the conversion on a 7.5, but I assume the 8.5 is the same flangewise.

they will, indeed bolt to most 8.5 rears, but the G body 8.5 is kind of an odd duck, in that it has the stupid "metric" axle flange that was designed simply to make things go together faster and cheaper at the factory. drill it out to the older, better 4 bolt pattern, and your options are wide open as far as oem bolt on disc setups- everything from a 79 Z/28 to a 96 Caprice/Impala SS. pretty much every passenger car rear disc brake setup except for the 82-92 F bod will bolt up. all of the 82-92 F bodies that got rear disc brakes all had the goofy Borg Warner 9 bolt rear that had a different axle flange pattern and offset, which was unique to the f body.

 

[smallengineguy]

THAT's the answer I was looking for! By the flange, do you mean the piece that the brake backer plate bolts onto?

 

[novaderrik]

yup. the 78-88 G bodies, 82-92 F bodies (except disc brakes), and 82-90something S trucks all used the screwed up flange that is different than the other vehicles. in the early 90's, they went back to the regular 4 bolt flange across the boards.

 

[smallengineguy]

I really appreciate the help! Is this something I can do, or should a machine shop do it? Can I use the new disc mount as a template?

 

[boostingbuick]

You can always make your own.

 

[novaderrik]

you could do that, or just make your metric axle flange into a regular 4 bolt glange and bolt up any number of rear brake setups ranging from 93-02 F body rear discs to 11" drums from a 77 Monte carlo..

 

[TKGN1]

You can use an adapter plate to keep from hacking up your stock flange plate. But IMO, its just as easy and faster to clamp on your donor backing plate, drill new holes and be done.
Going with the 98-02 F-body brakes are something that can be done in your garage with general mech knowledge, not an afternoon job but not too complicated.
Keep in mind if you go with these, most 15" wheels could have clearance issues!

 

[smallengineguy]

Man! Great help guys! So I was thinking about the Caprice rear discs, but I am looking at S-10 ones also ,due to them being more available. I will remove everything from the donor axle and drill new holes using the old plate. Are those adapters you pictured above available?

 

[boostingbuick]

No. I made a set someone. Just wanted to see if it would work. And they work great. Its for a car that was moded and could go back to 100% stock. If you don't want to alter the car then you make parts to work.

 

[mousemobile]

boostingbuick, Regarding the bracket adapter pictured above.

Is this bracket made to fit the 4th gen camaro brakes?

Did you mill a relief for the big mounting bolt pad? (it sticks out a bit compared to the rest of the flange).

How thick is the plate?

This looks like the way to go for me. I like to machine parts and I have a set of 4th gen camaro rotors and calipers.

Are you using a parking brake?

Thanks

 

[smallengineguy]

Will rear discs of 90'sCaprice police package cars fit after drilling the flange? There are a bunch of them on eBay now and then.

 

[novaderrik]

Will rear discs of 90'sCaprice police package cars fit after drilling the flange? There are a bunch of them on eBay now and then.

the Caprice setups will fit, except for the wheel bolt pattern. i've kind of looked into it, and i've come to the conclusion (based on the specs that are listed on NAPA® Online) that the rotors from a 2000-ish S10 Extreme will work with the Caprice mounting bracket/ebrake setup.
i've got the rear disc setup i took of my 94 Caprice. i was going to put it on my Nova, and went so far as to bolt the brackets up and do a quick job of drilling the smaller bolt pattern in the Caprice rotors. it bolted right up just as easy as the stock drum setup. now, that was on a 71 Nova, but from what i've read, putting something like that on a G body is only slightly more involved.

 

[smallengineguy]

Thanks for all the help so far! I'm just nervous about what setup to buy (easiest to modify/put on). In your opinion, are the blazer ones most applicable to what I need?

 

[novaderrik]

the Blazer brackets and calipers will work- but keep in mind that the 4X4 Blazers have a rotor with a really deep offset, so they won't work on a passenger car. but it's easier to find rear discs off a 4X4 than a 2wd S truck.
so buy a set of 2wd S10 rear rotors, and use it with the 4X4 mounting brackets, calipers, and parking brake setup, and you are in business. the Caprice setup looks identical, so if you can get a set of Caprice disc brakes, then just use that along with the Blazer rotors.

 

[smallengineguy]

Ok, so here goes:

Buy a caprice rear disc setup

Drill the axle flange to accept the setup

Buy Blazer rotors, or caprice rotors?

Thanks, I'm ready to get started with this.