Write-Up: F-Body Brake Mod

You are correct Rick. '97 on up has the 12" rotors. The earlier ones have 10.5" if I recall. You can swap the early ones out to the newer style but there is a lot of work to be done but not necessarliy hard to do... I think there are two members (at least) here that have done it and there should be a write up somewhere about it.

Thanks, I thought 97 up were the same. Had me scratching my head there for a moment.

Sorry, for some reason I thought '97 had the smaller brakes. My bad.

AA wrote:

I have a tap if anyone wants to use it - just pay shipping. It's a cheap tool, probably not good for more than one more pair of brackets.

Def interested but I think Rick got ahead of me.

Do you know what size the tap was? Thread pitch and such so I can pick one up. I have to do brakes fairly soon so why not do this mod right?

AA wrote:

Just a note to anyone interested, the machine specs for converting F-Body caliper brackets to accept our native G-Body (and W-Body) caliper bolts are:

Tap size: M14x2

Dia: 14.000 mm

TPI: ~13

Pitch: 2.000

Drill size: 12 mm

These are the hole & thread specs a machine shop would need to drill & tap the F-Body brackets for direct bolt-on to Riviera (eliminates need for spacer bushings).

From Page 19 of this thread.

Dammit! And I read the whole thread too! Thanks Rick.

Ok, great write-up and pics.

After completing the Mod, did you see/feel a big difference in feel of brake pedal and stopping power?

I have found 02 Camaro f-body calipers and brackets for $65.00, just need to hear they do in fact make
a difference.

That is a very good price for the Calipers and brackets if they are usable without re-building them first.
Re-building or overhauling cost me a fair amount of money and time using all GM parts.
But if all you have to do is have the mounts drilled and tapped it is certainly a worthwhile modification.
I am very happy that I did it, but I will add that you need to add the cost of some new stainless braided lines for the front at minimum and I went and bought the complete set-up for the rears also.
I also had already installed EBC Rotors and Pads for the car so I added another level of braking power there also.
The one thing I noticed after installing the front calipers and SS brake hoses was that the pedal did not need to be depressed as far to get a very good brake feel and still after a couple of years with all the same components, including the same pads, I am impressed by this brake set-up.
Overall, 2 thumbs up from me.

Good luck and don't forget to add the labor to drill and tap the F-body brackets to match the G-Body ones.

Just doing the F-Body mod won't stop the car that much more quickly (stockers will stop quick), but F-Bodies will let you abuse the brakes a lot more with less worry about heat, brake fade and pad wear. They will also handle high speed stops much better. Hope that makes sense.

I noticed a slightly less sensitive pedal, some travel before the brakes start to bite, but I don't mind it. Some don't notice it at all. Pad wear is fantastic, and multiple several hard stops are possible in a short time, whereas the stockers would be smoking and into fade trying the same.

If you are only looking for hard stopping power, I'd buy a set of Hawk HPS pads for your OEM calipers (~$75). If you want REALLY hard stops and don't mind the noise and rotor wear, get Hawk HP Plus for your OEM calipers (~$90). If you want to do a lot of hard, high speed braking and not worry about hurting your brakes, get the F-Body calipers and a good set of pads.

I agree with AA about the ability to "Abuse" the brakes and not have an adverse effect.

I am able to wait longer before stopping because I know the brake will bring me to a halt quicker and without overheating anything or wearing them out quicker.

I now practice that method of braking every time I stop, I just wait a while longer before applying the brakes and can bring it to a stop in less time without a problem. It also helps to keep my rotors scrubbed by braking this way and don't experience any judder.

This is more because of the type of rotors and pads that I have installed. Aaron has written volumes on this subject, of brake pad material and type of rotors more than anyone else on here, I believe, and is correct. Worth the read.

The stock brakes are embarrassing doing multiple stops from a higher speed. I thought I had heard a noise one time and did multiple stops. By the end it felt like I literally had no brakes at all.

Quote :

By the end it felt like I literally had no brakes at all.

That's because you didn't! It's time for an F-Body caliper upgrade, Kyle.

AA wrote:

Quote :

By the end it felt like I literally had no brakes at all.

That's because you didn't! It's time for an F-Body caliper upgrade, Kyle.

Yeah, yeah. I know. It's time for a paint job before then though. I really need to get new brakes period. They're pretty worn right now.

GMFreak8 wrote:

Yeah, yeah. I know. It's time for a paint job before then though. I really need to get new brakes period. They're pretty worn right now.

It's time for a brake upgrade that is very inexpensive before the paint job that isn't very inexpensive.

Look on Ebay and you can get the F-Body calipers and brackets cheap any day of the week. If you get a set that has low miles you can tell by looking.

When I bought a few sets, all were off Ebay, but I chose to not re-sell a pair without rebuilding them with GM parts and the price went up naturally.
But the set I installed on my own car did not get rebuilt. They went from the shipping box right to my car. I felt they looked good enough to just put on the car and not rebuild at that time and I was correct, as they have been working flawlessly since.

Rickw wrote:

GMFreak8 wrote:

Yeah, yeah. I know. It's time for a paint job before then though. I really need to get new brakes period. They're pretty worn right now.

It's time for a break upgrade that is very inexpensive before the paint job that isn't very inexpensive.

Look on Ebay and you can get the F-Body calipers and brackets cheap any day of the week.

But, I have a lifetime warranty on my current brakes!!

Forget your lifetime warranty and upgrade to a better caliper and bigger pads. Just go for it and you will be happy.

All your getting for a lifetime warranty is the Pads and you can get that again with the f-Body or camaro or firebird pads.

EDIT: The calipers I got for my car actually came with a set of almost new pads in them. Just thought I'd mention that.

I just bought from Morad what will be the begining of my parts search to do this mod.
97 alu knuckles plus good hubs and caliper brackets,$ 120 including shipping. i call that a more than fair deal.

robotennis61 wrote:

I just bought from Morad what will be the begining of my parts search to do this mod.
97 alu knuckles plus good hubs and caliper brackets,$ 120 including shipping. i call that a more than fair deal.

I would call that an excellent deal at $60.00 per side. SCORE.!!!

It's so much easier to do mod's like this if you only have to spend around $100.00 at a time.

At least, that has been the case for me. So much easier to come up with a $100.00 bill than a $1,000.00 bill. Which is what I'm fixing on spending for now, to do my semi-annual paint and body shop visit. It's been 2 years and I'm due.

yap! between the cast iron knuckle and the alu one,are we talking about 7lbs worth of weight savings or more? i had the stock CI off the car but didnt weigh it....

I wouldn't think it was as much a weight savings as it was the ability to upgrade the front end to be able to use more later model parts for it.
I guess the ultimate is a weight savings. But for the everyday driver it is just more convenience.

Am I wrong.?
rick

Its more than weight savings for me,allthough that aint bad. i didnt even know until this morning that alu knuckles were made for the riv. ive gone over the f-body mod thread many times but never caught on to this? am i a tool or what? anything alu is super trick to me. and removing dead weight allways makes the car perform better. $108 a piece from Dormann will buy me the alu control arms with bushings.

Bendix powder coated (black, red or silver) '02 camaro SS calipers are $65.- but there is a $54 core from RockAuto. A way around that might be to get a core set from a pick n pull if you can cheap enough.

Basically you are looking for the front calipers for a 1998 - 2002 firebird or camaro.

On RockAuto.Com the cheapest including core are the Nastra or Raybestos, both around $60 as you say Hans.

cool. i found a pair in texas,$15 a piece.   who is hans?

hello!. i have all the components for the f-body brake mod. before i tear into her,why is it mentioned that a 95 would have to upgrade to a 97 strut/spring assembly? I've done a couple of measurements and they look identical. am i missing something?

I think it has to do with upgrading to 12" rotors. Will 12" rotors fit on a '95 along with F-Body calipers, without changing the knuckle?

the bracket that holds the caliper on the 1995 riviera is part of the knuckle, you need to change the knuckle to the new one to be able to bolt on the caliper.