Rear Disk Brake Conversion Results, To all who have done it... Options

[UTSlickVic]

One of the last "major" things I want to do to my Celica is covert the rear drums to disks. I have been sitting on this for awhile and it seems the longer I wait the more I dont want to do it. Honestly, I want to do it more for looks than anything. Plus its really going to take me two weekends(two Saturdays) to do it- 1) I have to go to the junk yard to pull off the correct parts, 2) then I have to install them.

My question is: Is it really worth the effort (besides looks)? It the braking power that much more different? Should I expect more headaches after the conversion? - meaning, the things I intalled falling apart, or maybe other things like bosster/master cylinder giving out?


Someone just kick me in the ass and tell me to do it

Thanks

[bindertch]

I have been procrastinating this same mod. Just for me it is also the time and $$$. You could just go to GT sized front rotors and calipers with vented discs. At least then you would only have to get used calipers or get remanned ones.

This post has been edited by bindertch: Jun 7, 2006 - 1:16 PM

[playr158]

nothing mechanically should give out, i had a few issues when doing the conversion on a customer car but it all worked out in the end...and yes i noticed a difference in the braking power from drums to disks not to mention the heat dissappation properties of a disk > drums

[hurley97]

my drums make crazy noises
and they look dumb

i'll be doing this conversion...one day
i like to think it'll be worth it in the end

but im working on the transmission first...my priorities are in order

[Jeremy1210]

I noticed a difference in braking from drums to the discs. Much better. They look better too and its not that complicated. just make sure you have the brake lines that hook up to the calipers b4 you begin or you'll be out a bit trying to find some

[eggman40]

One of the last "major" things I want to do to my Celica is covert the rear drums to disks. I have been sitting on this for awhile and it seems the longer I wait the more I dont want to do it. Honestly, I want to do it more for looks than anything. Plus its really going to take me two weekends(two Saturdays) to do it- 1) I have to go to the junk yard to pull off the correct parts, 2) then I have to install them.

My question is: Is it really worth the effort (besides looks)? It the braking power that much more different? Should I expect more headaches after the conversion? - meaning, the things I intalled falling apart, or maybe other things like bosster/master cylinder giving out?


Someone just kick me in the ass and tell me to do it

Thanks

I did my conversion back before i had any experience mechanically. I was still a rookie but i got a hold of the parts and just went at it. It took a while, like four and half hours but i got it done with no problems. the difference was very noticeable in braking. And they look a LOT better than drums. Go for it and good luck!

[UTSlickVic]

Yeah I guess what it really comes down to it, its the most complicated project I've have attempted on my Celica. And its not like wiring extra speakers/amps, it your brakes! And if I mess up (brake lines leak or something) I'm screwed.

I wish there was a "better how to thread on the conversion. I'm not saying its bad or anything but I think it could be alittle more detailed. Like brake conversion for dumbies.

I did however get a chiltons manuel and it has a better brake(no pun intended) down as far as pictures go.

Thats pretty much it.

[Jeremy1210]

Hey don't stress so much. Its kind ahrd to really screw this up. Its just unbolting the drums and putting on the discs. ITs very easy, and the how to is surprisingly good. do 1 side at a time to have a reference and you'll be fine

[UTSlickVic]

Hey don't stress so much. Its kind ahrd to really screw this up. Its just unbolting the drums and putting on the discs. ITs very easy, and the how to is surprisingly good. do 1 side at a time to have a reference and you'll be fine

Damn Jeremy, you have inspired me! Alright I will try to attempt it in the upcoming weekends.

And yes, I will probably be posting some questions...

[airfron]

oooh oooh oooh me too

[Jeremy1210]

Got any quyestions hit me up here or on AIM (jeremy1210) I'll be glad to help you with any questions.

BEfore you start make sure you got
-2 cailper bolts for the calipers to the backing plates. For some reason I lost mine and had to go buy some which are hard to find at local hardware stores
- the brake lines that attach to the calipers
- the internal brake components for the parking brake
- A buddy or friend to keep you company
- food and Something cold to drink
- a plastic tube so when you bleed the brake system
- plenty of brake fluid for the system
- plenty of rags the brake dust is horrible

if all goes well, it might take you 4 hours. Took me about that long if I remember(was 2 years ago). Its better to go slow than it is fast. What I suggest is start on Friday so that wasy if you need parts you can go to the store on Saturday.

[speedy]

Dont worry about the master cylender giving out or the booster the part # is the same for the one on a GT and ST and the rear hub bearing spindles are the same too. so the only difference is the lines, drums, disk and the parking brake set-up.

[UTSlickVic]

Can do Jeremy, Thx.

[airfron]

hey Jeremy you mind if i ask you questions about the swap too... either i plan on doing it as soon as i get all the parts (which could be very soon or in like 2 weeks or less) and it seems pretty self-explanatory but i might need some pointers besides parts

[Jeremy1210]

hey Jeremy you mind if i ask you questions about the swap too... either i plan on doing it as soon as i get all the parts (which could be very soon or in like 2 weeks or less) and it seems pretty self-explanatory but i might need some pointers besides parts

'

Yeah I don't mind helping who needs help. Thats what we are here for

This post has been edited by Jeremy1210: Jun 9, 2006 - 9:49 AM

[hurley97]

if i were to do a full GT brake conversion would i only need the bigger calipers for the front? do the bigger rotors and calipers fit with the front ST backplate?

[tomazws]

I would like to have mine converted also, but first thing first, I have to find a set of rear disc system...

[dustin15brown]

Jeremy is the man! Can't wait to finally get this done and my springs on.... just for the help i'll buy ya your favorite beer (6 pack) so let me know

[Jeremy1210]

Jeremy is the man! Can't wait to finally get this done and my springs on.... just for the help i'll buy ya your favorite beer (6 pack) so let me know

6 pack of my favorite beer... Hmm... I'm going to have to think about what it might be...lol



This post has been edited by Jeremy1210: Jun 13, 2006 - 9:01 AM

[Bitter]

I would like to have mine converted also, but first thing first, I have to find a set of rear disc system...

i saw atleast 2 or 3 celica GT's at just the 2 junkyards i went to.

[Celicaguy13]

Lol, i'm about to get my hands on my first 6th Gen celi ST soon, and this is the first modd i'm going to do next week. If only we all lived together and do a "Rear disk brake conversion" meet.

[hurley97]

Lol, i'm about to get my hands on my first 6th Gen celi ST soon, and this is the first modd i'm going to do next week. If only we all lived together and do a "Rear disk brake conversion" meet.

it would be the best meet everr haha

well im in jersey if anyone wants to take that suggestion seriously

[Bitter]

well im here in chicago and im pretty confident that supplied with the parts and specs i could do the swap.

[dustin15brown]

We did my conversion tonight... All I have to say is that Jeremy is an AMAZING guy... I mean he seriously drove an hour here to help me from 7:30 pm to now at 2:00 AM he's leaving.... And I must say, the look of discs versus drums is amazing.... I look like i own a real car now without looking at those rusted out pieces of **** drums.... We also installed most of my lowering springs.... it was fun times

[Jeremy1210]

Yeah it was a good time last night. Wish that we were able to get the rear springs finished as well, but ITs a good night when we didn't have to wait for parts or have any thing break. Plus getting the rear drums converted to discs and the front struts done with very little pain and trouble made it all nice and smooth.

Best part of the night was when some guy drives by and yells Dennis Loves it in the A$$.(Dustin's Dad) at like 130am.

But yeah it was good times and Those custome projectors from Doggy are really sweet in person. Dustins car looks really good too... ask Brown about his molded front lip and what the shop did to allow him to remove his bumper... funny story there.. lol

Anytime you need more help I'd be glad man. If it wasn't wedding season we couldn't finished it all this morning

OH and do the rear discs work? Thats the main point

[dustin15brown]

Yes apparently my dad does like it in the ass... lol.... Well i'm not sure how well they work because the car isn't coming down until i put the rear springs on which will HOPEFULLY be tommorow when I come home... And also a huge thanks to Celica_AT_GT for the rear conversion at a hell of a deal... and next time you come up.... It's boating time... lol

[UTSlickVic]

Very cool Dustin. Man I love late nights workin on cars.... got to love it. Glad to here everything worked out in the end. I would diffinately like to hear your opinion on how braking feels versus drums. Props to u Jeremy aswell.

[Jeremy1210]

Really? I thought the ref did a good job, i mean the american player almost ripped that italian players foot off on that tackle, thats an easy red in my books, questionable refing would have to go to the ref who did the portugal game, figo gets kicked in the face and doesnt even get any justice. thats bull

You think so?? Have you ever seen a tackle before? that **** was a normal tackel maybe a bit late bud def not deserving of a red card. Yellow at most. And the Pope red card was crap.

Funny that the ref was banned from the sport a few years ago for questionable calls... funny that he comes back to ref against the US... 20 some fouls to 10 fouls is def not even calling at all. Ref was paid off by someone and he ruined the game and I feel bad for anyone who paid money to go watch a terribly called game

You get them springs on yet? The allen nuts being a PITA for you?

[hurley97]

im jealous..i want 4-wheel disks i'll get to it eventually
drums = crap

edit:
did you do the full ST to GT setup? if you did what did you have to change for the front? just calipers? they fit in the ST backplate?

This post has been edited by hurley97: Jun 19, 2006 - 11:46 AM

[dustin15brown]

im jealous..i want 4-wheel disks i'll get to it eventually
drums = crap

edit:
did you do the full ST to GT setup? if you did what did you have to change for the front? just calipers? they fit in the ST backplate?

Well I heard that the gt would fit... But i do not see a point in buying front calipers and new rotors just to gain 20mm of braking power.... So i only did the rears.... and man does it look better than drums

[hurley97]

Well I heard that the gt would fit... But i do not see a point in buying front calipers and new rotors just to gain 20mm of braking power.... So i only did the rears.... and man does it look better than drums

did you notice a big difference in braking power too?

[soulshadow]

Drum disk change is a pain in da ass, but when compared to the efforts of a disk conversion change its also a pain the ass. Go for it, but im not sure what the end results would be like. I say get GT rotors and calipers and brackets. Its usually the front that does the most braking anyways the back is usually for the e-brake.

[Bitter]

that 30 percent of braking in the back can make a HUGE difference, since rear brakes help control weight transfer to the front and brake dive.

[zipstrips]

does anyone have a image of the parts needed to complete?!

[malpaso]

One of the last "major" things I want to do to my Celica is covert the rear drums to disks. I have been sitting on this for awhile and it seems the longer I wait the more I dont want to do it. Honestly, I want to do it more for looks than anything. Plus its really going to take me two weekends(two Saturdays) to do it- 1) I have to go to the junk yard to pull off the correct parts, 2) then I have to install them.

My question is: Is it really worth the effort (besides looks)? It the braking power that much more different? Should I expect more headaches after the conversion? - meaning, the things I intalled falling apart, or maybe other things like bosster/master cylinder giving out?


Someone just kick me in the ass and tell me to do it

Thanks

I don't want sound silly but... You have rear drum brakes??? My ST (EDM) has rear and front discs brakes (Of course, I have rear drum parking brake, and main brake disc is smaller, but is there... )

[dustin15brown]

yees malpaso you have rear discs from the factory... ALL european models do regardless of st, gt, etc... we just got shafted in the us

[malpaso]

unbelevable how much are USDM and EDM celicas different...

[jdg371]

It seems that we always get the lower standards of every car

[zipstrips]

any actual pictures of the ST and GT parts, not a FSM shot. not putting it down but i still am unsure

[celica47]

hey guys i dont mean to hijack, but i have a question while were here. I got inspired reading this thread and i went to the junk found a 94 gt HB. Guy said i could get both sides Calipers, rotors, and rear spindles for 350. I got one question is that all i need?

[Kwanza26]

hey guys i dont mean to hijack, but i have a question while were here. I got inspired reading this thread and i went to the junk found a 94 gt HB. Guy said i could get both sides Calipers, rotors, and rear spindles for 350. I got one question is that all i need?

IMO... that's too expensive... almost twice as much as I'd be willing to pay for essentially junk parts. I bought a Civic rear disc swap for only 90.00 and that included basically the entire rear suspension arm...

[malpaso]

hey guys i dont mean to hijack, but i have a question while were here. I got inspired reading this thread and i went to the junk found a 94 gt HB. Guy said i could get both sides Calipers, rotors, and rear spindles for 350. I got one question is that all i need?

IMO, if it's genuine Toyota part, good condition and "plug-and-play". That's good price. For you information, just set of new seals for both rear brakes costs $50



(you may try check you toyota dealer for prices... horrible amounts )

This post has been edited by malpaso: Jul 20, 2006 - 2:09 AM

[brianforster]

im prolly gonna do this tomorrow the one part that pisses me off is i should have done this BEFORE getting my exhaust on because now i have 3" custom exhaust in the way of running hte ebrake

[dustin15brown]

im prolly gonna do this tomorrow the one part that pisses me off is i should have done this BEFORE getting my exhaust on because now i have 3" custom exhaust in the way of running hte ebrake

Stil not a huge problem, I took my car to the exhaust shop an he just took out the heat shield and plugged them in, and he did not have tor emove the exhaust

[celica47]

yeah i figured that was pretty pricey, but iam just more concerned that i get everything i need.

[creamed_corn]

In terms of performance I doubt this is a worthwhile thing to do, since most of your brake bias is up front and drums are capable of stopping harder anyhow. Discs just dissipate heat better and hence are more resistant to fade in agressive driving conditions. I doubt most people on here are driving their cars hard enough for this to be beneficial. If you really wanna stop shorter then clean out your trunk.

But if you're doing if for aesthetics... well people spend money on more ridiculous things that don't do anything. Go for it.