What brakes are these brackets for?

[trogdor]

This is probably naive so apologies... I picked up a '66 (or so) 8.2 BOP 10-bolt rear end. It didn't come with brakes but came with these black brackets attached. They almost look like something you'd mount a disk brake caliper to, but I assume this had drum brakes. Can someone please help me understand what these are and what brakes should mount to them?

 

[old round fart]

Look like disk brake brackets to me. SCORE!

 

[trogdor]

Look like disk brake brackets to me. SCORE!

Cool! Any idea how I find rotors/calipers that would fit? I'm guessing GM metric calipers maybe, but how would I know the dimensions of the rotor I'd need? Thanks!

 

[Spanky]

Speedway has rear disc brake kits that include all the hardware you need. Plus, their tech people should be able to guide you.

Speedway Motors, The Racing and Rodding Specialists

 

[old round fart]

I would think your rear end came from a performance car likeCamaro, Firebird. Junk yards used to have catalogs that had interchangeably info. May be tough to find one of those. If you can find an old guy in a parts store that will let you try parts until you find out what fits. My guess is there won’t be to many options.

 

[fletcherson]

I second the disc brake theory. You might look on rock auto. They have a lot of quality nos parts for reasonable prices. Just watch that everything ships from the same warehouse. I was surprised that they had everything that I needed from the backing plates to the drums for a ‘55 GM front loader that came in my bucket, stripped of all brake parts, of course. They had everything including hardware, shoes, drums, and they are quality parts. I buy all of my brake parts for my wrecker, larger trucks from them. They have been a good source for such items for me. Jeggs also sells aftermarket brake kits that are reasonably priced compared to the name brand performance stuff. They actually own the company. Summit likely has similar offerings because they now own controlling stock in Jeggs, lol... Anyways, there’s some sources to check.

 

[trogdor]

I found out what they were. They are disk brake mounts for a 80-81 Firebird. I found the most info here: www.74-77Camaro.com

What is odd is that they point opposite ways... meaning, on one side the caliper would be ahead of the axle, the other side the caliper is behind the axle. It looks a little goofy in my opinion. There seems to be some options... I'm looking into things.

 

[Hackerbilt]

I found out what they were. They are disk brake mounts for a 80-81 Firebird. I found the most info here: www.74-77Camaro.com

What is odd is that they point opposite ways... meaning, on one side the caliper would be ahead of the axle, the other side the caliper is behind the axle. It looks a little goofy in my opinion. There seems to be some options... I'm looking into things.

My T had those on it when I bought it.
I got rid of them and converted to rear drums. They look weird and have a expensive caliper with less than adequate park brake capability. I used S10 drums and backing plates, BUT I recommend you look for larger car drum assemblies to get better balance front to rear. I compensated by using a front mounted Adjustable Proportioning Valve. Worked fine but bigger rear brakes than the S10 offered would have been better. The drums gave a cleaner look and simple effective park brake hookup. The car stopped better with the drums as well!

 

[old round fart]

They mount different to keep the bleeder on top.

 

[trogdor]

Thanks all, as always this group is awesome! I've been looking, you all are right, the calipers are spendy... And I'm really not digging the look of the different mounts. I'm not sure if I can get past that.

Just spitballing here... I have a plasma cutter, some 1/4 in plate, and a $120 credit at a local u-pull-it place burning a hole in my pocket. What would prevent me from just grabbing a decent set of calipers and rotors from the junkyard, fabricating a caliper mounting bracket so it all fits, and welding it up? How bad of an idea is that?

 

[Spanky]

By the time you get them cleaned up and "rebuilt" you will have spent a good portion of what new units would cost, and they'll still be "used." When it comes to brakes, don't skimp.

 

[trogdor]

By the time you get them cleaned up and "rebuilt" you will have spent a good portion of what new units would cost, and they'll still be "used." When it comes to brakes, don't skimp.

Thanks - yes, that makes a lot of sense.

 

[old round fart]

Brakes and steering is not a good place to cut corners IMHO

 

[409T]

fabricating a caliper mounting bracket so it all fits, and welding it up? How bad of an idea is that?

That's how the front discs are mounted on my black and blue T's although the custom brackets came from CCR. I know of one other person who has 2 T-buckets with the same sort of custom brackets. It isn't that hard.

 

[fletcherson]

I would look into aftermarket, non name brand, kits first, to get a comparison point. With that said, not all that long ago most hot rodders converted brakes from whatever they found and liked to their projects because there weren’t that many suppliers with such kits. GM is nice because there are many variations of brake systems on comparable models. If you have the knowledge or time to go compare at the bone yard you can most likely find a near bolt on update. Of course time equates to money and other things that it could be spent doing.... your call. On my build, it had original magnesium spindle mount spokes on the front and windows on the rear with only rear drum brakes. Powered by a built 427 bbc 4 speed, I wasn’t comfortable with only rear brakes. I wanted to retain as much of the nostalgia as possible but upgrade the controls. I had to resort to having a friend machine the spindle mount wheels and machine adapters that incorporated the inner bearings, seals, and provided mounting for discs so I could utilize a front caliper setup from summit. It all comes down to your intentions and abilities/resources.

 

[fletcherson]

I would look into aftermarket, non name brand, kits first, to get a comparison point. With that said, not all that long ago most hot rodders converted brakes from whatever they found and liked to their projects because there weren’t that many suppliers with such kits. GM is nice because there are many variations of brake systems on comparable models. If you have the knowledge or time to go compare at the bone yard you can most likely find a near bolt on update. Of course time equates to money and other things that it could be spent doing.... your call. On my build, it had original magnesium spindle mount spokes on the front and windows on the rear with only rear drum brakes. Powered by a built 427 bbc 4 speed, I wasn’t comfortable with only rear brakes. I wanted to retain as much of the nostalgia as possible but upgrade the controls. I had to resort to having a friend machine the spindle mount wheels and machine adapters that incorporated the inner bearings, seals, and provided mounting for discs so I could utilize a front caliper setup from summit. It all comes down to your intentions and abilities/resources.

correction: the caliper kit came from speedway, not summit. Sorry. I had summit and jeggs in mind because they offer brake conversion kits and I’m old and broken, Lol!

 

[T-Test]

Go to u-pull it and find a S-10 and get the rear brakes including backing plates. Simple and cheaper. JMTCW