Mmmm I'm thinking brakes!

[can machine]

Pulled apart the front brakes on the weekend. I'm thinking of doing an upgrade, since I would like to do some autox this summer. Not big on the corvette brakes due to cost and I don't like the idea of having a second set of holes on the rotors. I've got an idea of a variation of the lebaron upgrade that might work well that Im still researching.

[dguy]

We definitely like the "lebarons" on our 85, and they're only installed on the front at the moment.  Never had a chance to stress test them on a track or auto-x course before parking the car, but for day-to-day driving they have a good amount of bite to them. 

I'd definitely recommend adding Aaron's combination valve modification or an adjustable proportioning valve to your set-up.  Being able to fine tune the front/rear balance has significant advantages over relying upon the 25 year old guts of a combination valve which wasn't designed for your parts combination in the first place.

[2ML67]

The 88 style Grand Am brakes are a nice improvement over stock and very reasonable price wise.
No matter which route you go you will most likely need to have your front rotors machined down to just the hubs so I would start asking around machine shops to see if one will do the job as a lot of shops will not do it for safety reasons as they say. Dan

[can machine]

Yes I was planning on adding a proportioning valve for sure so I can fine tune them.

I'm a machinist so making the rotors into hubs is not a problem, finding the time to do it on the otherhand is!   

[can machine]

I found some time here's where I'm at:

Hubs:



11.5" Rotor:



Test fit behind the wheel I will be using (needs new paint)



Next I'll be looking into calipers and making brackets.

[2ML67]

Clearance problems come more from the calipers that are moved out ward to fit the larger rotor not the rotor itself. Dan

[can machine]

Oh ya for sure! Just wanted to see what it would look like.

[can machine]

First mock up with the caliper





Not bad for a first try, caliper needs to move closer in.

[can machine]

Got the caliper mounted today and it fit perfect. Then I turned the wheels. Crap, it hits the shock before lock with the suspension under full droop. I guess I'll try a different caliper, that one was a bit large anyways.

[aaron88]

Move the shock.  It'll be less work.

[can machine]

Ya I was looking at doing that. I don't see how it will be less work though. The brackets I made are just mock up's out of plywood.

[can machine]

Getting back on this project. I got some new calipers yesterday and will be working on this over the next little while.

[can machine]

Well where has the time gone? Spring is coming and I want to drive my car this year so I'd better get cracking. I've almost finished the first side. Then doing the other side will be easy.

Teaser pic

[mike85gt]

Over the last year I've invested almost $15,000.00 into my car trying to make it road worthy from sitting in my garage the last 20 yrs or so untouched!!!  From A to Z had to be replaced on the brake system.  I was given many options, prices, and opinions from the shop doing the work (The Fiero Factory in Toney, Alabama) and the end result was all stock brakes!!  The only problem I ever encountered in the past was the front locking up on the race track under very hard braking.  I came to the conclusion that it wasn't due to poor brakes but lack of traction/weight in the front!!  My solution was.......an this may sound real silly to a lot of you, I had my spare tire filled with calcium which added about 100lbs over the front wheels and a softer compound to the front tires and it was amazing!!!! The cost was almost nothing, no headaches, no modifications!!!!  I'll bet my stock Fiero brakes perform as well as any of the newer solutions!!!  The only down side to my solution was getting the spare tire out once when it was required!!!  The extra weight was never an issue due to the V-8...............

[can machine]

Putting more weight on the front end is a way to do it, but I don't like the idea of adding weight to the Fiero since it's already a little on the heavy side. I'm planning moving the battery up front when I do my 3800 swap which is going to help. Also there is a lot you can do with the suspension to transfer more weight to the front end. The biggest problem with the stock brakes is the rotors are small and thin and do not cool very well. I'm going to weigh the stock components and compare them to the new ones and see what the difference is. I think it will be perty close.