Write-Up: F-Body Brake Mod

Ok. So I got to thinkin' It might not be such a bad idea to tap into the cast iron after all? But I love me a nice Heli-Coil! So I drive the GFs SantaFe over to my local hardware store to pick up my kit.$50 bucks! Well..my Heely fetish must wait.
So I'm back at the house ready to use the tap AA told me to buy oh..way back when...What the hey!? Fuck it! I'll do it the AA way.
I took a few pics to help someone else who might get the nerve up to do the whole mod.At least this is how I did it.It would help if I had a drill press to set up the bracket nice and level and plumb but I dont.I do,but its a HF piece-o-crap. I leveled it best i could on my work table.I placed a 1/4 sheet of steel under the bracket to level it up real nice.


I then drilled out the bracket


If you start out as "straight in" as possible with the feel & eye ball method,work it in slowly at first.The drill bit will begin to follow the original hole if you let it.from then you just finish drilling.You have to be really ham fisted to wobble the hole.so take yer time.Of course taking it to a machine shop would be best if you dont have a metal drill press or the know how to free hand it.12mm bit of course.

I then took my 14mm x 2.0 tap and coated it with oil to prevent burn.


Like with the drill bit you must make sure the tap goes in straight A light but firm pressure will line it up.Like the drill bit,once the bit is on its way it will go in straight


And here is the finished bracket



A nice little 14mm shoulder bolt



And a little dab of locktite Red to finish it off.



All installed and ready to ride along to participate in high octane gasoline consumption

One thing I gotta say about the Twin Piston caliper, Whosoever rides on the OEM single piston caliper is missing something really good.They stop the car oh so nicely.The pedal,oddly enough,is softer.I know my system is bled correctly.But braking is like"man! this pedal feels different?" but look in front of you and your normal stopping distance is way shorter.Modulation is also better.You really have a better feel of the braking system than the single piston.
My adjustable proportioning valve also helps me set up the system in many different ways.I have a little more front end bias now.It feels good.
It's a MUST do mod.

I remember reading somewhere that the Fbodies are in fact lighter than the OEMs. Is this true or am I making things up? Can anyone confirm?

you mean the components of the front end? the calipers are lighter.

F-body calipers are aluminum and significantly lighter. Autozone lists them at 6 lb each compared to 9.9 lb ea for cast iron OEMs. Iron brackets are 3 lb for F-body, 4 lb for OEM.

F-body pads are larger and heavier, though. 2.13 lb per wheel. OEM are 1.90 lb per wheel.

Total weight for loaded F-body (est): 11.13 lb/wheel

Total weight for loaded OEM (est): 15.8 lb/wheel

I have a pair of F-bodies sitting right here, but no scale...

thats light. this mod along with the alu knuckles and coilovers cut my front end weight by allmost 50lbs. im going to attempt modding the rear brakes and adapt the f-body calipers to the rear.

you need to consider the 95/96's use smaller rotors so upgrading to fbodys does increase rotating mass by upping to a 12" rotor.
97+ rivs dont need to factor this in

What exactly needs to be modified to make this brake mod work? Ive seen something about drilling holes etc.

Depends on what year car you own (right now that info isn't in your sig). Sorry, can't help you.

But here's where you can find all the answers on your own:

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t2310-write-up-f-body-brake-mod

Oh shit i knew i forgot to put that in my sig lol 98 riviera holdon

Does anyone have a part number for the knuckles? I was going to check and see what cars they came off of because the junkyards around here have been Rivless for years.

I did a little research and found the following vehicles to have the same knuckles as '97 Riv:

-2000 Bonneville
-2000 Lesabre
-2000 deVille
-97-00 Park Ave

Thanks Dave. I found 2 on Ebay, $35 each. Should I jump on them?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/98-99-00-SEVILLE-R-FRT-SPINDLE-KNUCKLE-39188-/160895710869?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A2000%7CModel%3ABonneville&hash=item257621b695&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/00-LESABRE-L-FRT-SPINDLE-KNUCKLE-39189-/150916927885?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A2000%7CModel%3ABonneville&hash=item232359918d&vxp=mtr

Claimed to work on:
AURORA 97-99
BONNEVILLE 00
DEVILLE 00 opt JL9 (std brakes)
LESABRE 00
PARK AVENUE 97-00
RIVIERA 97-99
SEVILLE 98-00

Do it and report back with your findings!

Do I need the hub and bearing too?

You got 97+ spindles and struts for the swap?

matt270avian wrote:

Secured the parts for the F-Body brakes along with a set of vents that I had broken, and T fittings for my boost gauge.

Got a pair of used spindles off of a 98. Not sure what route I want to go for the struts though. Why go for stock 97+ when I could get aftermarket?

I was considering the F-Body upgrade, but I didn't know whether or not it requires using 97,98, or 99 aftermarket/oem struts, which I believe use a completely differ mount setup than the 96 and would require drilling. I know the spindle swap is required, but that wasn't my big concern. Matt, do you happen to know?

The only other thing that I'm positive on is that you have to drill and tap the F-body caliper brackets to match the Riviera bolts. I'll read through the thread again to see if I can find more info. Suggest you do the same.

You will have to elongate the top mount holes to align with the 97+ top mounts. They are a different design and 96 ones will not work.

Would I need to re-modify my STB?

I didnt have to. I kept those holes close enough. One thing to consider when modifying the holes for a top mount. If the location of the center of the spring (and strut) changes it will effect how the car handles. Positive caster is better for "spirited driving" but dont go too far off from factory location. To get slight positive caster, shift the top mount towards the rear of the car when elongating the factory hole (s).

Interesting MR. Rivi. I went to get an alignment and was told that my drivers side strut was bent. I was pondering whether there is an adjustment I could do. The top of the tire is slanted in. It was like a 2 on the alignment machine

Slanted in (towards the engine) would indicate a camber issue. moving the top mounts should only effect the caster angle.
If the strut it bent that would be the first ive heard of that happening.
You could always try camber bolts. those should give more angle room when aligning the car.

Just some information being dumped.

Chevy Tahoe's from 00+ have dual piston calipers in the front and rear. The front rotors are 12"x1" and the rears are (oddly) 12.75"x.75". However, they are 6 bolts instead of 5. Then, in my searches I found that the front and rear calipers are used on basically every GM truck/van from 00-08 with some variations. Next time we do a brake job on our truck I might grab the calipers and try them out.

I also found that a lot of the people with >97 Camaro's are tending to go to C5 Corvette brake hardware because it is apparently stronger and lighter. I was unable to find any GM cars made before 96 with dual piston calipers.

I was also reading another thread ( https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t8685-possible-06-monte-impala-brake-upgrade?highlight=calipers ). It mentioned that the Monte Carlo brakes should bolt up to a 96 Aurora, which should share the same hardware as a 96 Riv.