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I've been posting this on the a-body and yahoo celebrity groups, and I'm hoping maybe someone here can give me some insight into the issue. Here it is from the start:
I am trying to get my ducks in row here before tearing into the brake system on my '88 VR. I have JA2 brakes on it now. I have a set of rear backing plates, cables, calipers, hoses, hubs, and all of the hardware from an '86 non-ABS 6000 STE. All in really good condition.I ordered the rotors, rebuild kits, and pads from advance auto.
I've been checking proportioning valves. The '86 STE uses the same valves for a disc or drum. The valves in the '88 VR are integrated into the master cylinder itself, and are not interchangable with the STE version. I've also checked master cylinders. The '86 STE uses the same master cylinder and valves for both discs and drums as the '86 Celebrity. And the '88 STE uses the same as the '88 Celebrity. According to the part numbers at o'reilly, anyway.
It looks to be the same general parts, but the difference is in the ABS unit and sensors itself. It SHOULD just be a matter of swapping the rear hardware stuff.
Has anyone actually done this? Or am I going to be the first to do it, document it, and take digital photos of the entire process? I hate to use the VR as a guinea pig, but like rarecarvr said to me...."if a guy can put a supercharged 3800 in a Citation, you can put 4-wheel discs on a Celebrity."
I have to agree...
OK... well I had some time and warmth today. So I booted the wifes car out of the garage and tinkered with the rear brakes. So far so good. The drivers side is assembled and just needs to be bled, passenger side has not yet been started. Everything went together sweet. The only problem was getting the e-brake cables apart and taken out. What a m-fer. jeez. Rarecarvr did a nice job removing the parts from the doner car. It really is making the process easier!
I'll get photos of the entire process when I do the passenger side, and put them on the cardomain site. I wanted to make sure its gonna work before wasting my time on good photos!
This is, so far, a very easy conversion. Its just been a lot of prep work(as usual) and research. Cleaning and painting took several days. But the assembly itself is easy. If you can do a rear brake job yourself, you can do this.
I SURE hope the porportioning is good!..........(it should be.....!).....
Houston, we have a problem..... The parking brake does not want to adjust itself on the pass. side, and the brake pedal goes pretty far down, even though I have bled and re-bled the system. The spring on the caliper does not want to retract the lever and cable completely. Drivers side seems to work correctly, even though the spring does not retract as much as it should. I have adjusted the nut where the cables meet according to the GM book.
I talked to a guy I know at the local brake and muffler shop. He is familier with the car, and I told him the whole story. He said they never even attempt to to re-build the calipers, they just replace them. Too much hassle. Hard to get them just right. He would recommend replacing the calipers. They are about 90 bucks each. Or I could take the calipers off, and attempt another rebuild, at least on the one thats giving me a problem.
anybody.....? ideas......? Does anyone have an '86 STE with the rear discs?.....
I am trying to get my ducks in row here before tearing into the brake system on my '88 VR. I have JA2 brakes on it now. I have a set of rear backing plates, cables, calipers, hoses, hubs, and all of the hardware from an '86 non-ABS 6000 STE. All in really good condition.I ordered the rotors, rebuild kits, and pads from advance auto.
I've been checking proportioning valves. The '86 STE uses the same valves for a disc or drum. The valves in the '88 VR are integrated into the master cylinder itself, and are not interchangable with the STE version. I've also checked master cylinders. The '86 STE uses the same master cylinder and valves for both discs and drums as the '86 Celebrity. And the '88 STE uses the same as the '88 Celebrity. According to the part numbers at o'reilly, anyway.
It looks to be the same general parts, but the difference is in the ABS unit and sensors itself. It SHOULD just be a matter of swapping the rear hardware stuff.
Has anyone actually done this? Or am I going to be the first to do it, document it, and take digital photos of the entire process? I hate to use the VR as a guinea pig, but like rarecarvr said to me...."if a guy can put a supercharged 3800 in a Citation, you can put 4-wheel discs on a Celebrity."
I have to agree...
OK... well I had some time and warmth today. So I booted the wifes car out of the garage and tinkered with the rear brakes. So far so good. The drivers side is assembled and just needs to be bled, passenger side has not yet been started. Everything went together sweet. The only problem was getting the e-brake cables apart and taken out. What a m-fer. jeez. Rarecarvr did a nice job removing the parts from the doner car. It really is making the process easier!
I'll get photos of the entire process when I do the passenger side, and put them on the cardomain site. I wanted to make sure its gonna work before wasting my time on good photos!
This is, so far, a very easy conversion. Its just been a lot of prep work(as usual) and research. Cleaning and painting took several days. But the assembly itself is easy. If you can do a rear brake job yourself, you can do this.
I SURE hope the porportioning is good!..........(it should be.....!).....
Houston, we have a problem..... The parking brake does not want to adjust itself on the pass. side, and the brake pedal goes pretty far down, even though I have bled and re-bled the system. The spring on the caliper does not want to retract the lever and cable completely. Drivers side seems to work correctly, even though the spring does not retract as much as it should. I have adjusted the nut where the cables meet according to the GM book. I talked to a guy I know at the local brake and muffler shop. He is familier with the car, and I told him the whole story. He said they never even attempt to to re-build the calipers, they just replace them. Too much hassle. Hard to get them just right. He would recommend replacing the calipers. They are about 90 bucks each. Or I could take the calipers off, and attempt another rebuild, at least on the one thats giving me a problem.
anybody.....? ideas......? Does anyone have an '86 STE with the rear discs?.....