Rear disc brakes??????

[Am-Iron]

I am building a special Corvair with a ton of mods planned. I have complete front disc brakes. There are people on here that have done the rear disc conversion but I do not get any info from PM's or asking in the forum. With the problems others are having with Corvair Underground I am not going to try and order the same parts from them. Can anyone please let me know what they are using? I can make an adapter plate if I have a drawing or I will buy one or the plans within reason. Is there maybe a link to this info?
Thank you, Allen

Am-Iron Customs
Allen Amrine
303-325-5968
iamaaironman@aol.com

[65Ragtop]

The best looking units I have seen on the back wheels of Corvairs come from Wilwood. http://www.wilwood.com/ Give them a call, they have been helpful to me in the past. Can get expensive. You will probably still have to do some fab work but they might be able to help with some specifics. Worth a try.

A lot of others are fabricating there own systems. Most are not capable of creating a "run" of parts. If they are capable, many are afraid of the legal ramifications (rightfully so) if there were to be a failure. It is not that hard to create your own brackets if you are willing to put in the time to fit and re fit until you get it right. I hear S-10 disc brakes are a good choice but don't know much about that, first hand. You can make almost anything work if you put in the effort. It is a lot of work though. Hope this helps a little. Good luck.

[Am-Iron]

Thanks Mike, I am beginning to think that is the way to go. I have so much other fabrication that needs to be done I am just trying to save some time. If you are purist you may not want to watch this thread. I am going to re work some stuff! These things always change as I get into them. I will keep updates coming. My low budget and other projects keep things moving slower than I would like but I make sure and do something everyday even if it's just some cleaning or detailing parts. I have a full Blue interior to replace the black one so that will dictate the color. Either white, blue, black, silver, or some combination of those. The idea is a street performance car that is still family friendly. I was going to do a roadster initially but my girl and girlfriend both need seats!

[UNSAFE]

I think the main problem with the Undergrounds rear setup was lack of availability.

I strongly recommend contacting Michael at Levair Performance & Restoration about his rear disk kits. You will save yourself lotsa time and probably save some money too. He's a forum sponser.

If you have a street driven car you will want to have a parking brake . It's the law , not to mention the safety factor.

The parking brake somewhat limits your choices. The two most common types are the Caddy/Riviera front drive cars and the corvette type. The caddy uses a floating single piston caliper with a built in park brake assembly on an 11" disk. Commonly called GM metric. The Corvette uses a fixed 4 piston caliper on a 12" rotor and the park brake is a tiny drum brake inside the rotor hat. These are very heavy and likely overkill on a Vair.

Wilwood also markets a rear caliper with park brake but it has a unique bolt spacing and uses a thin non-ventilated rotor.

Here's a few pics of my brakes using the GM metric Caddy calipers. I made the brackets myself but I'da bought them from Levair if they had them back when I did mine.

You will also need a MC for disk/disk and you may need a combination valve for proper front /rear bias.

[mlevair]

I sell complete kits or just the brackets to install the Caddy calipers.

[65Ragtop]

Good info to know. A 4 wheel disc setup is always in the back of my mind for the Corsa. Thanks for the input. Options are good.

[Am-Iron]

Thanks for all the info. I will contact you Michael. Thanks for the pics Kevin! You guys both have great cars.

[Mike D]

What master cyl are you using? and is having manual brakes an issue?

[UNSAFE]

What master cyl are you using? and is having manual brakes an issue?

First off I don't think manual brakes are any issue on a corvair . Many cars including much heavier Corvettes with 4 wheel disks were available without power .

Lotsa of opinions about MCs - Here's my two cents worth -------

You want a master cylinder designed for disk brakes , it will provide the needed pressure to operate the caliper which takes much more than a drum brake and the reservoir will be large enough to accommodate the pad wear ( remember that drums are self adjusting and do not require much fluid to move them.

A good choice would be a non power MC from a Corvette . Up to at least 1978 will bolt right on. They are 1" bore.

I'm using a Wilwood made for a Chrysler product that I modified the mounts to fit . It is aluminum an is 1 1/16th bore .

Larger bores require more pedal distance but travel less distance . Smaller bores require less leg effort bot travel farther and the floor might get in the way.

For me I was not satisfied with my pedal feel until I added a combination valve. I also use light residual pressure valves in both lines.