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| The White Bug (Page 25/46) |
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pmbrunelle
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FEB 18, 10:03 PM
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The LeBaron rear rotor centrebore lies somewhere between a Fiero rotor centrebore and a Fiero wheel centrebore.
Therefore, it is not compatible with stock Fiero hubs.
Up front, I simply used some $$$ to order some sluppy123 7075 aluminium hubs. Brian makes the hub to fit the centrebore of your chosen rotor.
The hubs were almost perfect, though the fit between the pilot and the centrebore was a bit tight for my tastes, so I pressed out the studs, turned down that diameter a hair, and then re-installed the studs.
I painted the backside of the hubs with yellow zinc chromate primer.
Typically, Brian powder coats most of the exterior surfaces black, but my personal preference is to have no powder coating in a bolted joint (i.e. in the wheel-brake-hub stack). Brian left these hubs bare so I could finish them as I pleased.
I'm quite satisfied with these hubs. They didn't require any deburring, and Brian is good at answering questions.
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The rear hubs were a simpler affair.
I just pressed out the studs, turned down the rotor pilot slightly (to fit the LeBaron rotor), and I re-installed new studs.
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The Dorman 610-323 studs at all four corners are pretty long, so I'll have to use open-ended lug nuts.
That's OK, if I ever want to take this car to the racetrack (tech inspection), having the studs stick out beyond the lug nuts will allow anyone to quickly determine that my lug nuts have sufficient thread engagement.
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ericjon262
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FEB 18, 10:19 PM
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If my future plans didn't involve custom spindles, I would be all over the aluminum hub, it would be awesome to have something like that, I bet the difference in weight almost makes the brake upgrade overall weigh about what stock did. ------------------
"I am not what you so glibly call to be a civilized man. I have broken with society for reasons which I alone am able to appreciate. I am therefore not subject to it's stupid laws, and I ask you to never allude to them in my presence again."
cognita semper
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pmbrunelle
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FEB 18, 10:32 PM
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In your case, it would make sense to try to work with a commonly available off-the-shelf hub, perhaps 5x4.5"? How much do you want to keep your current wheels?
On the subject of weight, I did get some Wilwood aluminium calipers for the front; they seem lighter than the cast iron calipers.
I began with the 2.125" parking-brake rear Seville calipers as a "given", so these Wilwoods were the closest match I could find in terms of piston area. I was looking for the same piston area front and rear, or maybe just a little bit bigger up front. I also wanted to be compatible with stock Fiero brake hoses, and have bleeders that would work.
Apparently Wilwood doesn't deburr their stuff, so I had to go at these brand-new calipers with a file.
Forum member wftb uses these same calipers.[This message has been edited by pmbrunelle (edited 02-18-2021).]
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La fiera
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FEB 18, 11:24 PM
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I personally installed a "bias"valve to adjust the forces on the front and reat calipers. I don't need any of those fancy calipers because of the weight of my car. For a stock weight Fiero those calipers would make a big difference, but mine being 500lbs lighter, it doesn't need that much clamping force on the rotors. I use the stock Sevile rear calipers on the fronts, Le Baron rear rotors coupled with the Hawk DTC 30 pads up front and stock pads at the back. I still managed to send plenty of pressure to the back and make the car stop very fast. Of course, I only had 173WHP with the 2.8 back then. Now with over 300+WHP I have to re-think the braking set up. Patrick, that looks very "purdy"!
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ericjon262
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FEB 18, 11:55 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by pmbrunelle:
In your case, it would make sense to try to work with a commonly available off-the-shelf hub, perhaps 5x4.5"? How much do you want to keep your current wheels?
On the subject of weight, I did get some Wilwood aluminium calipers for the front; they seem lighter than the cast iron calipers.
I began with the 2.125" parking-brake rear Seville calipers as a "given", so these Wilwoods were the closest match I could find in terms of piston area. I was looking for the same piston area front and rear, or maybe just a little bit bigger up front. I also wanted to be compatible with stock Fiero brake hoses, and have bleeders that would work.
Apparently Wilwood doesn't deburr their stuff, so I had to go at these brand-new calipers with a file.
Forum member wftb uses these same calipers.
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I'm undecided on the wheel pattern yet, there are several viable options that I can see, without making the design too complex. My biggest concern, is maximizing the use of off the shelf parts, which I'm fairly certain will lead to either 5x4.5 or 5x4.75, and new wheels... I think the end product will probably be 5x4.75 and use Corvette wheel bearings, they're brutally strong, even in heavier cars, and will be available pretty much forever. My current prospect, is to utilize a Wilwood kit for the C6 rear on all four corners so that I can utilize the C5/C6 parking brake, something that my current setup is lacking.
https://www.wilwood.com/Bra...Corvette&option=Base
The distinct advantage to using Wilwood parts, is that every shred of info you could need is on their website, and kits can be piecemealed together over a long period of time, and as much as some of the stuff I'm looking at costs, it's definitely worth considering.
All that being said, I don't think updating the brakes is in this car's near future, this is a very long term project, for now, I'll finish the suspension work I have going on, put a bigger MC on it, and drive it a while, we all know it's been way too long since I drove it regularly. ------------------
"I am not what you so glibly call to be a civilized man. I have broken with society for reasons which I alone am able to appreciate. I am therefore not subject to it's stupid laws, and I ask you to never allude to them in my presence again."
cognita semper
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pmbrunelle
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FEB 19, 12:39 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by La fiera:
Of course, I only had 173WHP with the 2.8 back then. Now with over 300+WHP I have to re-think the braking set up. |
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Your front/rear brake bias should stay the same, it would just be the heat/fade resistance that would need to change.
| quote | Originally posted by La fiera:
Patrick, that looks very "purdy"! |
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I like purdy!
| quote | Originally posted by ericjon262:
The distinct advantage to using Wilwood parts, is that every shred of info you could need is on their website, and kits can be piecemealed together over a long period of time, and as much as some of the stuff I'm looking at costs, it's definitely worth considering.
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Wilwood offers some parts as drop-in replacement for OEM components.
Since these parts are somewhat dimensioned, you can use the Wilwood information to make some educated guesses on the OEM parts they're meant to replace, in case you want to use the OEM/jobber version.
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La fiera
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FEB 19, 06:03 PM
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I changed the way the car transfer its weight back to front and side to side. The theory behind it is to have more rear bite by preventing some weight from transfering back to front while braking. I went from 350lbs springs all around to 700lbs fronts and 900lbs rear. I'm trying to eliminate nose dive, and body roll which delays response time, I also like my cars/karts a bit on the loose side so I can "dance" through the corners. Do you still think the brake bias would be the same? Thanks in advance for your input Patrick! [This message has been edited by La fiera (edited 02-19-2021).]
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ericjon262
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FEB 19, 06:37 PM
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That's definitely an option as well. My biggest goal with a brake upgrade at the moment, is to gain a functional parking brake. the secondary goal, is to lose some weight off of the existing C5/C6 front calipers and rotors. The additional weight of the parking brake may make that difficult, but I suspect I can lose a decent amount of weight via different calipers, and two piece rotors. ------------------
"I am not what you so glibly call to be a civilized man. I have broken with society for reasons which I alone am able to appreciate. I am therefore not subject to it's stupid laws, and I ask you to never allude to them in my presence again."
cognita semper
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ericjon262
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FEB 19, 06:42 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by La fiera:
I changed the way the car transfer its weight back to front and side to side. The theory behind it is to have more rear bite by preventing some weight from transfering back to front while braking. I went from 350lbs springs all around to 700lbs fronts and 900lbs rear. I'm trying to eliminate nose dive, and body roll which delays response time, I also like my cars/karts a bit on the loose side so I can "dance" through the corners. Do you still think the brake bias would be the same? Thanks in advance for your input Patrick!
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I just installed anti dive spacers on my car, I have yet to drive it with them though, and I also installed drop spindles at the same time, so it will be hard to say how much difference they make. Once I drive it, I'll post a detailed description of what was done, and the difficulties encountered in the process. ------------------
"I am not what you so glibly call to be a civilized man. I have broken with society for reasons which I alone am able to appreciate. I am therefore not subject to it's stupid laws, and I ask you to never allude to them in my presence again."
cognita semper
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La fiera
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FEB 19, 08:21 PM
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How do those spacers work?? If you add height there is more potential and kinetic energy to be added during braking thus creating more dive! How does your anti-dive plates work?
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