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69 Camaro rear drum to disc conversion issues?

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tgifford5

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I have a 69 with discs up front and drums on the rear. I also have 9.5"Wx17 TTII's on the back. With the rear disc conversion that Right Stuff sells has anyone had issues with the wheels being pushed out to far and cause rubbing on the fender? Did you also use backing plates. I have a new chrome 11" power booster and MC with disc/drum proportioning valve. Which I have not installed yet. Would there be issues with me using that set up? Anything else I need to consider? :confused:
 
#2 ·
You may need a different master & prop valve.
You will need longer axle studs and you may need to machine the axle
flange also.You will also need new brake hard lines w/mounting tab.
I have 17x9.5s on the rear w/275s its close but my car is lowered 3"
I'm running a Right Stuff kit w/dust shields w/no issues.
 
#3 ·
Ted,

Here's 275/40-ZR17 tires on 17x9.5 rims with 5.5" of backspacing with the Right Stuff kit on a Moser crate axle. I've got at least an inch, maybe a little more to the fender lip.

Ditto what Bob said. Since you haven't installed anything, you may want to see if you can trade out the master and prop valve for the disc/disc stuff.


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Discussion starter · #4 ·
Red Rocker said:
You may need a different master & prop valve.
You will need longer axle studs and you may need to machine the axle
flange also.You will also need new brake hard lines w/mounting tab.
I have 17x9.5s on the rear w/275s its close but my car is lowered 3"
I'm running a Right Stuff kit w/dust shields w/no issues.
Click to expand...
I am running the same size tires as you guys. But the car is not lowered in back. I am using the JCW 3-leafs. Why do you have to machine the axle flange? And how do you tell if you have to do this? Who did you get your kits from or did you get it straight from Right Stuff?
 
#5 ·
I got mine from Matt's.
http://www.mattsclassicbowties.com/contents/en-us/d59.html
The new rotors sometimes do not sit flush on the axles. The axles
on my 12 bolt had a slight step that I had to machine down so the rotors
would lay flat on the axle pad.Some people just use a half round file on
the rotors.
 
#6 ·
Got mine from Matt's also.

Here you go, Ted. This will show you the possible axle step but this is a Moser rear and axles. I also had to machine the axle just to fit in the rotor. Then I didn't notice at the machine shop that the rotor hit that step so I just used a die grinder on the rotor.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=163043
 
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#7 ·
Concerning track width on the rears. The rotor will slip over the axle just as the drums slip over the axle. Your track width on each side will change only slightly because disc rotors are slightly thicker in the hat dimension than drums. From what I've measured, drums are approx 1/8" thick, and rotors are approx 1/4" thick, so your track width will increase ~ 1/8" per side - not much.

Steiner - I also have 275s on the rear with 17 x 9.5 rims and 5.5 BS and have nowhere near the clearance as you to the lip. My diff is not perfectly square under the car - I had to trim a touch of the lip on the pass side.
 
#8 ·
As mentioned above, you wheels should not stick out anything more than the thickness of that disc rotor which is about twice the thickness of the drums. I just did mine with the 12 bolt kit from Matts. What I did have to do , is bevel the opening on the inside of the rotor, where there was a little lip on the factory axle.

I used the optional rotor splash shields, that need to go on first before anything. I did so some adapter plate shimming with the supplied shims.
You will have to keep the right caliper air bleeder pointed up and probably off the car with a dummy thickness spacer (to keep pads in place) so you can bleed all the air out. The bleeder in the caliper mounted position , does not allow all air to expell. Left side is no problem.
You probably need to check the back space on the wheels you have or just installed. If you are putting back on the same wheel you had prior, then you should be ok.

I had to install the new m/c and remove my dist block and orfice to make it all work. The hook up of the e-brake cables was super. It all looks just like stock.
 
#12 ·
For a tinkerer of average skill it could easily be done in a weekend if you don't hit snags. If you're anything like me and like to take frequent breaks and get distracted easily it could take up to a month.

Make sure you understand the pitfalls of pulling the axles - specifically once you have the crossshaft out of the carrier, don't turn anything or you'll wind up with a mess of spider gears and shims with a hopeless feeling in the pit of your stomach.
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
Well I ordered my rear conversion from Matt's today. I will be insstalling it on my GM 12 bolt. The only time I usually will take a break is if I start to get frustrated. When that happens something usually breaks. SNAP! I have read the comments of not moving anything once the axles are pulled. Al did you mean something else when you refered to crossshafts? How hard is it to replace the bearings and seals? Or does that need to be taken in to a drivetrain shop?
 
#15 ·
As long as you have the trans in park or in gear you won't have to worry about the rear trying to turn. The cross shaft Al is talking about is in the rear end...you have to pull it out of the way to be able to push the axles in and remove the C clips. While you're messing around, you can always stick it back in and put the bolt in just a couple of threads so it holds everything where it's at. Then just pull it again once you have teh axles back in and are ready to put the C clips back on.

Bearings and seals are fairly easy. You just need to rent a slide hammer with one of those finger type seal and bearing puller attachments and have access to a decent seal driver kit. You can also use the old bearing against the new bearing to drive it back in to kinda act as a buffer. My axles have press on bearings (and were new) but with the seals I cleaned everything and wiped a little RTV in the axle where the seal goes to help it stay sealed. Use plenty of grease on the seal itself also. Everything has been fine with mine so far.
 
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#16 · (Edited)
tgifford5 said:
Well I ordered my rear conversion from Matt's today. I will be insstalling it on my GM 12 bolt. The only time I usually will take a break is if I start to get frustrated. When that happens something usually breaks. SNAP! I have read the comments of not moving anything once the axles are pulled. Al did you mean something else when you refered to crossshafts? How hard is it to replace the bearings and seals? Or does that need to be taken in to a drivetrain shop?
Click to expand...
Did you get the rotor splash shields? It wasn't until after I got all mine back together that I found they started making them. Had to pull everything back off to get them on as they fit on the axle flange, first.
http://www.camaros.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13737&d=1263518392
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Don, no I did not. Thanks I will call Matt's today. Spent $1300 with them yesterday. What's a few dollars more at this point. Anyone have pics with the splash shields installed? My motor/tranny/driveshaft are out of the car. So I just need to make sure the front pinion shaft doesn't move during axle removal?
 
#18 ·
tgifford5 said:
Don, no I did not. Thanks I will call Matt's today. Spent $1300 with them yesterday. What's a few dollars more at this point. Anyone have pics with the splash shields installed? My motor/tranny/driveshaft are out of the car. So I just need to make sure the front pinion shaft doesn't move during axle removal?
Click to expand...
From my grunge pit. Think these were only about $60 more but they do keep water splashes off the rotor or even rocks.
 

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#20 ·
tgifford5 said:
Do you recommend or not, powder coating the rear brackets and back shields?
Click to expand...
Depends on if you are a show car or not. These bracets are plated as they come. Mine are brite silver as you can see in the second photo with splash shields..
Coating adds to clearances, you may have to scrape off where calipers mount .
 
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