Write-Up: F-Body Brake Mod

I have seen someone who installed the Fbody kit on a Grand Prix, I don't see any reason it wouldn't fit the Riv.

FWIW My '98 stops on a freakin dime with stock brakes. It's scary how fast it stops the few times I've really had to mash the brakes. I mean scary fast stopping. I was very very impressed.

I use cheapo rotors and really good raybestos pads. When I replace the pads I use new cheapo rotors. Yeah, they might warp easily, but they are so cheap... who cares?

-Derek

My '98 is very strong at stopping, but the earlier years
had smaller discs. Wonder if there's a way to adapt later Riv brakes to the '96-97s?

Shouldn't be an issue to put the larger caliper brackets on. They do it for GP and GTP's all the time. I think you can use the GTP's GMPP Brake Upgrade kit to get the larger caliper brackets, pads and rotors.

Of course, I don't know for certain if the '95 and '96 had the same caliper bracket bolt pattern, but I don't see why they'd be any different.

As far as I can tell, there's no reason you need to get the stuff new from GMPP either. I beleive Ed Morad has a couple of late Riv's that should be good donors for the necessary parts. Any of the other large later Gbodys (Park Ave comes to mind) should make okay donors as well.

i believe they are different, you guys with the 97+ brekas have it nice and easy if you want to upgrade to f-body calipers, but i think our (95 and 96) brackets are part of the suspension knuckle and that whole thing has to be replaced $$.
you can find some 2 piston calipers on ebay for under $100 or you could go and spend 400 on a pre done package
rivman2 said his rotors were 10.5" but i think mine are 11" and the 97+ are 12"
besides having an extra piston and 1" larger surface area, are there any weight reduction benefits to the LS1 calipers and brackets?

Hey guys

I'm here!

There is no easy way to swap out the newer brakes on the 95-96 Rivs. They don't have a seprate caliper bracket, the bracket is cast in to the steering knuckle. You have to replace the knuckle with one from a 97 Riv. (Not sure if the 98-99's are the same as 97, so I can't say if those work.) Also, if you swap out the 97 Kunckle, you have to use the 97 Spring and Strut assembly.

There is a pretty good weight differance between the 95-96 and 97 assemblys. The 95/96's have a 10.5" Rotor, Cast iron caliper, and Cast iron Kunckle. The 97's have a 12" Rotor, Aluminum Kunckle, Cast Iron Bracket and Caliper. The whole assembly is a little lighter, even with the larger rotor. The LS1 Calipers are even lighter.

-Rob

I love it when a plan comes together .

welcome rivman

On topic.

do you have to change the Lower contorl arms also?

I don't think you need to swap them out. They appear to be the same shape / size. The 97's are aluminum though, so I swapped them out.

-Rob

RivMan wrote:

(Not sure if the 98-99's are the same as 97, so I can't say if those work.)

They are the same. I'm glad you checked the site out!

AA wrote:

My '98 is very strong at stopping, but the earlier years
had smaller discs. Wonder if there's a way to adapt later Riv brakes to the '96-97s?

What's the difference between 97-98 disks?

I vote for the write-up.

RivMan wrote:

Hey guys

I'm here!

There is no easy way to swap out the newer brakes on the 95-96 Rivs. They don't have a seprate caliper bracket, the bracket is cast in to the steering knuckle. You have to replace the knuckle with one from a 97 Riv. (Not sure if the 98-99's are the same as 97, so I can't say if those work.) Also, if you swap out the 97 Kunckle, you have to use the 97 Spring and Strut assembly.


-Rob

so it sounds like its best to wait (if possible) until you upgrade your front suspension too. hit two birds with one stone.

i must be one of the few 96's with no problems. But then again, I never have to slam on the braks and I coast as much as possible (as these cars will coast forever is seems like).
I've only had the brakes serviced once in about 60,000 miles. and NO rotors were warped or had to be replaced. just pads. maybe I shouldn't mess with what works huh?

Ok, now i'm gonna do the f-body caliper upgrade and get new rotors and pads from work. I have a 97 so i already have 12" rotors so I get my stock rotors right then the f-body calipers, brackets, pins, and pads.. then all i have to worry about is the tapping/sleeving the bracket bolts right? last question is is there any problem using my existing brake hose on the f-body caliper. in this...

http://www.clubgp.com/newforum/tm.asp?m=2434239&p=1&tmode=1&smode=1

...excellent write up, he used new SS hoses that cost over $100. personally, i don't feel the need to spend that kind of money on the hoses.

current status with calipers...
just painted them with caliper paint. it took half an hour just to tape it off the way I wanted it. got 5 coats of paint so I'm supposed to let it dry for like a week before I mount them. the brackets are black. Those are easy to paint.

Great!!! Keep us updated on your progress . I will hopefully be picking up 97 front spindles and control arms to do the the upgrade as well. Your calipers look outstanding, I hope my calipers come out half as good as yours .

Very nice Codith, you're staying busy with the mods. The brake upgrade is one I want to do also! Keep us posted.

Very cool! Nice work on the paint, looks clean.

im buying Cody's(turtleman) rims 19" konig imagine's , with the bigger size i dont want to risk my braking .what is the F-body brake mod . just bigger rotors and F-body calipers or what

The F-body brake upgrade generally refers to upgrading to 12-13 inch rotors and to 2 piston calipers. For your year, you are going to need 1997 riviera front spindles. They sell the kit at the w-body store.

http://www.wbodystore.com/grandprix/w-body-store-12-inch-dual-piston-brake-kit-p-82.html

http://www.wbodystore.com/grandprix/w-body-store-13-inch-dual-piston-brake-kit-now-includes-lines-p-228.html

wont it be easier to go to a junk/scrap yard and get a set of F-body calipers and then order a set of 12" rotors

That's what I did but I also have a '97. You will need the '97+ spindle to do this. It shouldn't be that difficult. I think after locating the spindle you need to machine the holes to fit the ball joints it think. There's some trhead on how to do it somewhere here...

ok thank Eric

I would be interested in finding that Write up too.......... i think i might do that mod......

so could i get a list im going to the bone yard in the morning(well non cuz im sleeping in)

97+ riviera spindle (lower knuckle)
f-body caliper
f-body caliper bracket and hardware
12" rotors
pads for a f-body
posible longer brake lines
that should be all, but then again i havent done this so i cant say for sure.
rivman did this on his 95 and he is the one who did the write up. i dont know where it is (either it has been moved to this site or it is still on regalgs.org i also think rivmans cardomain site had some pics of the mod

thanks for the help guys