Here's a website that gives quite a bit of info regarding this swap on a 1st-gen F-body. They also show a template to produce the brackets yourself. I purchased mine from Rich Hoag on the pro-touring.com forums.
I used brackets from BRP Hot rods (I think they are a site sponsor). Look up their website. It is really an easy swap for a drum brake A-Body, and the Brakes are great! Also look at the site kst8engineer recommended. It is a great reference, and where I got my initial information for doing this swap.
I tried to pick up some 20 gauge steel sheet today to fabricate the fuel pump cover, but the sheetmetal shop I went to didn't have 20 gauge other than galvanized. So, I picked up some galvanized 20 gauge, and I'll consider this one a temporary cover. It's good practice anyway.
When I get some non-galvanized sheet for the permanent cover, I'll probably weld the areas that I screwed together on the temporary cover. Since I'm not going to weld the galvanized one, I'll probably have to use some liquid sealer to seal up the corner joints, etc.
That looks clean I like it. You could go ahead and weld it up just wear a charcoal filter while you do it. Or you can make another one practice makes perfect .
Been following,great progress and good documentation. Ilike your cover , would you be interested in making another? JOHN
John, I don't know that you'd want me to make you one -- my sheetmetal skills need practice. I guess practice is part of the fun, though...
Pistol, I thought about welding it up wearing a filter as you mentioned, but there's always the painting issue also. I imagine I'd need to etch the surface first with something. Would a self-etching primer grip well on galvanized material?
I received the adapter brackets to mount the F-body front calipers to the Chevelle spindles today. They look great -- the quality is nice and they appear to be laser cut.
I would think if you scuffed it with a DA with like some 120 or even just scotch brite and then used an etching epoxy primer it would be good to go for color. Its not like you have alot to lose I assume your just gonna rattle can it right?
It'll probably get a rattle can to start with, anyway. I might use the same Raptor Liner in the trunk that I used on the undercarriage eventually, but that's a ways down the road.
Darren came down and helped again today and we were able to get the cam replaced and the Comp 918 springs installed. It's running great, and the starting issues are completely gone!
I've got the front brakes all torn down right now. Here you can see the original drum brake spindle, the original hub after turning the OD down to fit into the "tophat" of the F-body brake rotor and after installing the new (longer) wheel studs, and a photo showing how the adapter bracket will mount in place.
The new wheel studs are Dorman #610-259 from the local parts store. I picked up a new set of Timken wheel bearings and seals, but I haven't gotten them installed yet.
I finally got the front brakes all put back together. To simplify things a bit for the next guy, here's a few things I learned.
I used the Chevelle's original drum-brake wheel hubs and spindles. After you remove the drum brake backing plate from the spindle, you'll need to grind approximately 1/8" of material off of the top mounting bolt surface on the spindle in order to allow the adapter bracket to sit flat across the spindle's mounting surfaces.
I used the rubber brake lines, brake rotors, calipers, and caliper baskets from the 4th-gen F-body. I also used the mounting bracket from the Trans Am that secures the upper end of the rubber brake line to the chassis. I drilled a mounting hole in it and removed some excess material from the bracket to make it work a little better on the Chevelle chassis (see pic). I used an Edelmann #271300 brake line adapter fitting to mate the 4th-gen F-body rubber brake line to the original Chevelle hard line (ordered them through my local O'Reilly's store).
To mount the caliper basket to the adapter plates, you'll need to pick up a couple of M12 x 25 mm bolts (I don't remember what the thread pitch was, but take your old bolts to the store to match it up). Of the three bolt pattern that fastened the old drum brake backing plate to the spindle, the top bolt is a large stud used for mounting some of the drum brake hardware. You'll need to buy a 1" long bolt to replace this one (1-1/4" would be ideal, but good luck finding one at the local hardware store). I used grade 8 bolts for the English stuff and grade 10.9's for the metric stuff.
You'll also need to chuck the wheel hubs up in a lathe and turn the OD of the hub down to allow it to slide inside the 4th-gen F-body rotor. I turned the OD down to 5.73".
Here are a few pics of the process:
Excuse the crusty-looking calipers and rotors. As much as I'd like to have some nice cross-drilled rotors, they weren't in the budget right now. I'll probably clean up the calipers a bit and call it good for now.
Good job on your build. Iv got a 71 monte here w/ disk brakes on it, I'd made ya a good deal on the used parts to put put right on your chevelle...Oh well, always a day late....
Iv got the new quarters, wheel houses,and trunk in on my 71. Should have it in primer soon....
I got the new smooth firewall panel tacked in place. I plan on welding/grinding/finishing the curved edge on the driver's side of the panel, and the other three edges will probably be finished with seam sealer. If anybody is interested in one of these panels, send me a PM and let me know.
I had the chassis and floorpans blasted last week. As much as I would love to be able to do a true "frame off", the timeline just doesn't allow. So, this is as close as I can get for now.
I sprayed Eastwoods' rust converter on the frame, floorpans, and trunk pan. This picture shows the chassis and front suspension after the rust converter had been applied.
After the rust converter, I sprayed Eastwoods' Extreme Chassis Black on the frame and suspension.
Im interested in one of those panels if u shoot me a price! thanks
.
