'94+ rear brakes & Addco bar installed *pics*

[twinturbosedan]

finally got the '94+ rear brake conversion done today and i succesfully mounted the Addco bar :)

here is what i had to start with...safe to say the old calipers were seized eh?  the old sway bar was about as big as my pinky finger.



and this is how it is now:



this is the modified '90 brake hose.  i cut the bracket off of the brake hose with a Dremel since it wasn't going to be used anymore.  you can see how i straightened the metal section out with a hammer.  the metal section previously had an almost 90* bend in it:
http://www.turbosedan.com/ste/brakes_susp/DSC02384.JPG

new brakes are installed, now to get the Addco mounted up:
http://www.turbosedan.com/ste/brakes_susp/DSC02385.JPG

i was thinking about using stock GM inner hangers (from a '95 Brickyard Monte w/22mm bar) but i decided to use the Addco hangers & poly bushings instead (thanks Paul!).  i had to cut the stock hanger bracket off with a Dremel and then the Addco hanger bolts right on:
http://www.turbosedan.com/ste/brakes_susp/DSC02387.JPG

i had to use GM outer clamps & bushings (from a '95 Brickyard Monte).  the holes in the Addco clamps were not spaced right and wouldn't fit over the lower strut bolts :?  i'll have to grind out the holes in the Addco clamps before i can use them.  these GM clamps and bushings space the bar further away from the strut (since the bushing is 'taller') but so far it looks like it will work fine this way:
http://www.turbosedan.com/ste/brakes_susp/DSC02388.JPG

with the car raised off the ground there is about 1" of clearance between the bar and the two big bolts for the lateral arms near the center of the car.  with the car on the ground there is just over 1/2" clearance.  that should be enough clearance, but using the Addco outer clamps & bushings would probably give me another 1/2" of clearance here :
http://www.turbosedan.com/ste/brakes_susp/DSC02397.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/ste/brakes_susp/DSC02400.JPG

with the car raised off the ground there is NO clearance between the bar and the lower strut.  after i put the wheels back on and put the car on the ground it looks like i have about 1/8" clearance between the bar and the strut on both sides.  however, the alignment is wayyy off (see below).  i'm hoping that i'll have more clearance after the rear end is aligned:
http://www.turbosedan.com/ste/brakes_susp/DSC02398.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/ste/brakes_susp/DSC02399.JPG
with car on ground...hard to see but there is ~1/8" clearance:
http://www.turbosedan.com/ste/brakes_susp/DSC02401.JPG

like i said, the alignment is way off.  i am usually able to get it close by pushing in on the top of the rotor and pulling outwards on the bottom of the rotor while my brother tightens up the strut bolts, but this wasn't possible with the Addco bar in there:
http://www.turbosedan.com/ste/brakes_susp/DSC02402.JPG
http://www.turbosedan.com/ste/brakes_susp/DSC02403.JPG :lol:
http://www.turbosedan.com/ste/brakes_susp/DSC02404.JPG

hopefully the car can be aligned with the Addco bar in place.  if not i'll just have to get the revised Addco bar.

i can't wait to get rid of the 4x4 stance. i have almost everything ready to lower the front and upgrade the front brakes, but i still need to buy the FFP coilovers.  i also have a NICE set of white GP 5-spoke wheels that will be going on the car but i still need to buy a set of 245/50s.

[Prospeeder]

cool! glad to hear your not selling it now! its gonna be nice! Man those brakes were WASTED! You plannin on repainting it soon?

[LukeZ34]

So is that the older design of Addco bar on the car now? I've been thinking about getting one and installing it when I do the struts, but the $200+ price tag turned me away for now. It'll have to wait a while.

The brakes look nice though. I hope to do that to ours one of these days.

[twinturbosedan]

So is that the older design of Addco bar on the car now? I've been thinking about getting one and installing it when I do the struts, but the $200+ price tag turned me away for now. It'll have to wait a while.

The brakes look nice though. I hope to do that to ours one of these days.

this is the original Addco bar.  i bought it new from Tom (SuperBuick) about 4 years ago.  it's nice to finally be able to use it! :lol:

[twinturbosedan]

cool! glad to hear your not selling it now! its gonna be nice! Man those brakes were WASTED! You plannin on repainting it soon?

well i could either get rid of it and lose big time or quit my bitching :lol: and start working on it and make it worth it.  i've been getting alot of work done lately.  i already have close to $1000 in the car since i got it.

- very good used TGP T25 turbo & "rebuilt" :roll: crossover pipe
- new Prior ABS accumulator
- NICE white GP 5-spoke wheels
- complete set of STE door lens covers
- '96 Cutlass strut/knuckle assemblies
- Addco rear sway bar
- '94 Cutlass rear calipers/brackets/bolts from j/y
- NAPA rear rotors
- Raybestos PG Plus rear brake pads
- KYB front strut mounts and boots

DEFINATELY going to get this thing painted!  i won't be happy with the car until i get that done.  the interior needs a few things but with a good cleaning & new headliner it would be pretty nice.  the driver's seat could use a little upholstery work but i have my eyes on a '91 STE that has leather interior & HUD....hopefully i can get the seats, HUD & dashpad, door panels and rear package shelf out of that car.

[GPChief]

That looks great.....I hate working on "rusty" things.   With all this work you'll be ready to sell it to me when I get back from Afghanistan??  J/K Think I'm going to look for a Maroon one.

Peace!!!

[pontiac6ksteawd]

I have this rear brake conversion "partially" done. I am contimplating on switching back to the orig brakes cause of the parking brake lines. Whats all involved in replacing those for the newer rear brakes?

[tyroelite]

If i remember correctly, when I did the brake swap, all that was required was removing the old pbrake cable from the point where they join back and getting the longer one (from the same year the bigger brakes came on)  Then, when you try to tighten the point where they join...(can't remember the name right now) you'll see that there isn't enough threads on it.  I used a long spacer to "move" the point where it would tighten down to towards the front of the car and then it worked fine.  At the calipers, it doesn't fit in the same way as the old cable but you can just push it through the groove kinda and it'll look and work okay.  I think i took some pics when i did it.  If not, I know I had one someone else took to look at when I did it so I'm sure someone will remember where that came from and be able to confirm the above directions.s