[Vic C]

Does anyone know if front discs from a 72 GTO would fit my 69 bird? If yes what do I need to make sure I pull off so I don't run into problems. Thanks for the help!

[Vic C]

Does anyone know if front discs from a 72 GTO would fit my 69 bird? If yes what do I need to make sure I pull off so I don't run into problems. Thanks for the help!

[fyrebird68]

Yes, they will. Spindles, rotors, backing plates, link arms, master cylinder all should be OK. You should buy new hoses. Careful when you disconnect the hard lines to the wheel cylinders; they are invariably rusty inside and likely to break. I replaced them, too. You will need to reverse the steering link arms so they point in the opposite direction - just swap them bewtween the two sets. Check the ball joints while you're in there; you're 50% of the way to replacing them when you do the swap.

Proportioning valve may not be quite right, due to differences in weight. I replaced the old prop valve and metering valve with a combination valve - available from most of the parts houses about $70.

This is probably the best single conversion I ever did on my Firebird -- well worth the time and money. Stopping is less of an adventure now.

Good luck.

Regards,
Bob Trimpe

[Donovan]

I agree with Bob. I have had one other observation. The set of A-body knuckles I have feature a slightly different bolt on arm than the Firebird. I would just pay attention to the side the arms came from on the drums and swap them onto the disc spindles. Listen to Bob on the safety issues. It's important.

[Donovan]

I can't locate my parts for a picture of the 2 side by side. But they are different. Also through the years GM used at least 2 different size bolts. So check that before you swap the arms. Some spindles use a 7/16" lower bolt and other use 1/2"

If you have to you can drill them out. In my case the A-body used smaller bolts.

[PonchoV8]

The difference is one has a little tip extension and the F body doesn't have that.

[Donovan]

Good memory Doug. But there is more to it.
I remembered where I put them.

Here is a direct comparison. The arms are not functionally the same in any way. The straigh arm is the A-body unit. The drop arm is the F-body part.

[Donovan]

Here's a pic with them lined up.

[fyrebird68]

Here's a bit more useless info on disc brake parts:

disc vs drum spindles

You can see the difference between the two. It would be a fairly straightforward job to machine disc spindles from drum ones. ( I knew I should have measured them before I put them on.)

Regards,

Bob Trimpe

[Vic C]

Thanks for all the great info guys. I'm going to be doing this work with my uncle (much more mechanically inclined, in fact his nick name is Magyver).

I understand about the bolt on arm, I will re-use from my Firebird. But, are you saying that I can not use the spindles from the goat?

[Donovan]

Spindles and brakes should work perfectly.

[einstein]

Spindles from GTO are fine. Compare them to the photo Bob posted.

[Vic C]

Going to look at these discs. The guy said they should probably be turned but that there is still plenty of "meat" on them. If I measure how much should be there before I'm looking at new ones???

[Charlie Jones]

Vic,
Before you decide to turn the old rotors check the price of new ones at Autozone.
There was less than $10 difference between the price of new ones and the price of turning the old ones when I did the brakes on my '85 Monte Carlo.
They were made in China but they have served me well for over 20,000 miles. Also get the Performance Friction carbon metallic pads, They squeal like he** For 1,000 miles or so but they really work great and last a long time.
New wheel bearings and seals are a good idea too.

[Vic C]

Thanks Charlie,

I looked at the disks (off a 72 gto) and they are a littlt rough. I guess the car had been sitting for a while. Debating if I want to take this on or not. It looks like I would have to get everything blasted & cleaned up. Since I don't have what it would take to do that, I would have to pay. He's asking $350 for the complete set then I would have to add in the cost to do the rest. I'm wondering if I should go with a kit. It might be more cost effective. He said he might have a cleaner set coming off a cutlass. I assume the cutlass would stll fit my 69 Bird. Does anyone have a list of vehicles that would serve as a donor? or am I just wasting my time and start looking for a kit? Trying to stay as ceap as I can since I am trying to do my whole front suspension at this time. Thanks for any input!!!

[Bertsbird]

I have a 67 bird and am also looking for a list for swaping to disks. Thanks for any help!!

[b-man]

Disc brake donor cars (bolt-on):

'68 -'74 X-body (Nova, Omega, Ventura, Apollo)

'67 -'72 A-body (Chevelle/El Camino, Cutlass, GTO/Lemans/Tempest, GS/Skylark)

'69 -'72 G-body (Grand Prix, Monte Carlo)

'67 -'69 F-body (Camaro, Firebird)

Keep in mind the '67 & '68 cars have the expensive to fix 4-piston calipers and hard to find (no new ones available that I'm aware of) disc rotors. Be sure to use your steering arms with any of these spindles as mentioned above.

[quicksilver97ta]

What!? I've had that list B-man posted since I bought my lemans. The only difference was the last line with the F-body's was not listed.
The lemans needs disc's and I've had an extra set up for my old fbody for years.