Two Questions, brakes and fibreglass panels

[treebruiser]

Will a later model brak booster bolt on to an early sierra that never had one? if not is there any one that will?

And who makes fibreglass guards for a sierra and what sort of dollars am i looking at?
Thanks

[super zook]

i have done the whole booster conversion and it is not cheap/worth it if its your fang around you picked up for 2k.
stuff to modify-are different

-need new pedal box as the the hole the brake booster slides into does not exist on old model

-need to modify the pedal box by adding a stopper and bending mount bracket to better angle for clutch (different location)

-need panel off fire wall of doner car that doubles the thickness of the fire wall. This needs to be cut and shut with the top of the old one that you removed as the choke needs to come out in the same location (different location to the newer one) also the panel of the newer model is longer (steering shaft stays the same as a guide) so need to remove about 25-30mm and the top of the panel is at a different angle.

- the clucth comes out in a different location to clear booster of newer model (new pedal box) (i think?)

-accelerator pedal needs to be cut and rewelded so cable clears the booster aswell , cant use newer model accelerator pedal because the mounting hole are totally different, also use the new panel as a guide to drill new hole for accelerator cable, new accelerator cable because it will be too short to get around new booster

-new/modify steering shaft as the mounting of the old model are bolts from engine bay (no booster ) to captive nuts on the pedal box. Newer models have the bolts captive in the booster (engine bay) to nuts bolted on the inside through pedal box.

-new bigger hole for brake booster, you already knew that just added it

-need to run vacume line from inlet manifold, there is a blancking screw at the front of the inlet maniflod

-need new slave cylinders in rear dums for new brake line setup

-need bias valve that is on the doners chassis. the one i got has 2 front lines and 2 back lines. this is different because im pretty sure your back drums are split in the drivers side rear drum. This means another brake line needs to be run to the back. Then another rubber one (2 brake lines)
then custom ones to each side. The brakes need to be set up like an X so oppisites sides are joined in case of one line failing. While i was at it i changed the brake lines at the front and back to the newer style of fastning with the clip, but not nessesary.

-you will also need the 82-85? model front diff as a stright bolt in but the disks and hardware can be bolted to the original diff (get new diff its easier)

Transport SA say that due to firewall modifications and modifying of brakes an engineer report is needed.

prices from rip off wrecker (the only one i found with zook bits) and enginner

engineer-$475
front diff-$230
rebuilt front calipers-$209
new pads-$80.59
new disks-$146.66 each
throttle cable-$14.25
sj50 steering column-$45
sj50 pedal box-$45
sj50 booster-$110
sj50 master cylinder-$75
sj50 firewall plate$40

plus all the little crap i dont have a recipt for.

so just drive it, then if you want wt diffs, 1.3, 5 speed do the conversion for about 3000-6000k by buying a new zook. if this is a project car sell it now trust me you wont regret it.my 2c

p.s. im pulling it apart now so if your in adelaide pm me. Also everyone here will tell you to run disks without booster.




also can this go in the bible its info that the bible was made for (stuff that has more questions than answers) that cant be explained with a no.

[Gwagensteve]

Grouse reply!

I'm running the standard 1.0 unboosted brakes ATM and I love the brake feel (so long as the rears are kept adjusted)I will be going to discs all round soon and I am in no hurry to fit a booster. The consistency of the pedal, especially when stalled out is reassuring.

(As an irrelevant aside, the 1.0 unboosted brakes have a similar pedal feel to the brembo's in my STI... I'm not sure if that's good for the sierra or terrible for the STI, but I like the feel of both)

Steve.

[Bazooka]

You can run a remote booster as I have on the 1 Litre master cylinder. This does help but the only drawback is that you can only boost the front and not the rear as it only has one line. This does still improve the pedal feel though. Remember that if your after better braking performance a booster will not give you this, only better pedal. The best upgrade would be to bolt on some Vitara front calipers and rotors. This swap gave much improved braking performance. I am also right in the middle of a widetrack conversion and rear discs. Hopefully this will improve the brakes one step further.

[treebruiser]

Thanks Guys, just the answers I was loking for.

Super Zook, thanks for the detailed explanation, would be cheaper to buy a complete car .......

I have just swapped over to a disc brake front end and am happy with the brake performance, just wantred a softer pedal for the missus.

Anyone got anything on fibre glass panels??

[Gwagensteve]

There were some fibreglass panels available from someone in QLD I thought - windscreen frames etc, but I can't really see the point. Front guards are very complex for a sierra as the inner guard and outer panel is all one piece. The steel panel alo inclues the front body mount which is load bearing.

I don't believe it woudl be feasible to mould this panel in 'glass- it's just too complex.

Steve.