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Rear Drum to Rear
Disk Brakes Conversion
*** WARNING ***
Due to the complexity and resulting
bad things that could happen, this modification to your Storm is not recommended
to be attempted by anyone who has no experience in brake work. This is considered
to be an Advanced Modification that a competent shadetree mechanic should be able
to complete in under three hours. Once again please be careful. I could not handle
thinking about somebody getting seriously hurt by attemtping this modification
to their Storm.
With a little bit of home work and
rummaging through either the phone book to call or a visit to a local salvage
yard with either a '91 Isuzu Impulse or '91 Isuzu Stylus with rear disk brakes
you could have this upgrade completed.
This is what I started with. A box
of Disk Brake Parts from a Wrecked '91 Isuzu Stylus XS. Unfortunately for me
there was a banjo bolt missing (cost $7 from Isuzu) and one of the brake lines
had been smashed during shipping (this cost me $17). The banjo bolt is an Isuzu
Part only. No auto parts/muffler shops had one like it.
Here is a picture of what the disks
looked like when I finally started the conversion. If you notice on the backsides
of the mechanisms you'll notice the common denominator of the 4 hub bolt locations.
This swap was so easy I could not believe I hadn't completed this conversion
earlier. You'll also notice that the E-brake lines are still installed on the
Drum Brakes that we removed. Please keep in mind that there are several parts
that are essential in completing this conversion. They are noted below in Parts/Tools
Section.. Another note I will make up front for those of who that have asked.
The current Master Cylinder in our cars is set up to run either the rear drum
or disk brakes so no additional work is needed at this end to complete this
conversion. I have driven on the setup for almost a month and braking is awesome.
I have no rear tire lockup but am completely confident the rear disks are working
well.
A note is that if you are currently
having problem with highway speed braking and the car shuddering, this may be
a fix for you?
Items needed:
- Complete set of Disk Brakes
from '91 Isuzu Impulse/Stylus XS
- This includes:
- Hubs.
- Brake lines to upper connection
from Donor car.
- Emergency Brake Cables from T-Connection
back.
- Spray product that removes/cleans
rusted parts.
- Brake Fluid
- Small hose clamp
- Last but not least, a buddy
to help you out. This is not a one person job.
Tools needed:
- Jack to lift car off the ground.
- Jack Stands for safety.
- Lug wrench.
- 14 mm wrench.
- 10 mm pipe/line wrench.
- Socket Wrench with a few extensions
- Metric Socket set. Including
10 mm, 12 mm and 14 mm socket.
- Standard and Philip's Screwdrivers
- Pair of Pliers.
- Two Crescent wrenches
- Rubber/Plastic headed Hammer.
Steps:
- Lift the rear end of the car
off the ground.
- Place the jack stands underneath
rear frame.
- Remove the wheels.
- Decide now that you have all
the parts needed for this or have another car handy to drive.
- Start with removing the Emergency
Brake cables starting at the lower portion of the e-brake cable. Get under
the car and release the adjustable side of the cable with the crescent wrenches.
The other side is a little more challenging but with a small hose clamp and
a screwdriver you'll be able to pop the fluted connector out. Refer to picture
below.
- Once you get these two cables
released then work your way down the cable toward the Hubs. The first one
is no more than 2 feet from T-Connector Get the socket with a few extensions
on it and I believe 12 mm socket. They come out rather easily. The next one
will be a 14 mm and it will be a little harder? At least mine were but that
is probably because of the salt and stuff in Ohio. This is it for the cables.
You should now be at the hubs with cables hanging down.
- You can now unhook the the brake
lines from both the strut and the upper line connection. Refer to picture
below. The easiest way to unhook the clip on the strut is to grab the
tip of the flap and use a hammer to pop it out.
- The next task is to get to the
back side of the existing hub and unscrew the 4 14 mm bolts on the back side.
By now you should give a little soaking of the rust breaker fluid on the bolts.
They may or may not be easy to remove? Depends on where you live, how old
the car is, or how many wheaties the person ate that day?
- Once all four bolt are out the
Hub should be able to be removed. Note here the top two bolts will not
be able to be removed because of clearance problems with strut tower bolts.
They will be used again later.
- It is time to install the Disk
brakes now. This is the first time you'll be happy you just bought/promised
your buddy lunch for being there. The backing plate and hub move independently
and will require one to hold the hub and shield and the other to start the
bolts. It takes a few minutes to accomplish this but it can be done. Note:
start with the easiest bolt to see. The back side lower is the best one in
my opinion but you may be a contortionist and it doesn't matter to you?
- Once you get one bolt started
do not tighten it. Get the other three bolts threaded on. We did notice that
if you tighten the first bolt just slightly that the shield and hub are easier
to align.
- Now that you have all four bolts
threaded on go ahead and tighten them up. It took two thumps with a plastic/rubber
mallet to remove the the 4 bolts. Hammer them back on with 3 thumps? I could
not find literature stating required Torque. You'll find out that the one
bolt behind the new calipers is kind of hard to get to but with patience and
very little rotations you'll get it eventually.
- Hook up the brakes lines from
the calipers to the upper connection. Then install the base clip to middle
mount. Then bolt the line to the caliper itself. Be care not to over tighten
the lines at this point.
- Now time to hook up the brake
lines. start at the caliper and hook up the ends to appropriate tabs.
- With the cables hooked up just
follow the path of the ones removed. You'll notice a right and left side cable.
Make sure you get this right before you start bolting up the mounting tabs.
Place the bobbed ends in the E-Brake T Bar then mount the adjustable end to
the slot as shown by pulling toward slot the pushing up. Then just pop the
other side in. You'll need to pull the cable with some serious might. Just
remember to ensure the E-Brake is as loose as it can get beforehand. I am
sure it can be done many other ways but I only needed to do this once? With
other installs completed I am sure an easier way could be figured out.
- Once all connected it is time
to Bleed the brakes. This is when you realize foe sure the Whopper you bought
your buddy for lunch was worth it. Ensure the reservoir is full for the bleeding
procedure. We used a Vacuum/pump system to do this but found out later there
were still bubbles in the right side so manual bleed was necessary. In my
opinion the old way is better and more thorough.
- Get the brakes all nice and solid,
then adjust the e-brake for proper tension. This is done from below at the
T-bar of the parking brake system you just installed. Allow the E-Brake lever
to move up approx. 1.5" or 3 clicks. If you did this right then the wheels
will not move at all. I tightened my lug nuts on with the rear end of the
car off the ground. I was amazed.
- Ensure the brake reservoir is
at the proper level. Add or remove accordingly.
- Re-mount your wheels
- Drop your car back to earth.
- Now slowly try your new brakes.
Give them a mile or two test before you try anything earth shattering.
- Come back from your short test
and check for leaks and also check to see if rear rotors are getting use?
- Re-Adjust the e-brake lever if
needed.
- That's about it. I am pretty
sure I have forgotten something even though this Modification is so
wordy. Email me at dean@stormowners.com
The following are
pictures with brief description if explanation is needed.
This picture shows the E-Brake T-Bar I speak of. The two rather large nuts are
the reason for the need of two crescent wrenches. This is also where you need
to adjust the E-Brake Lever. You can also note the fluted cable on the other
side. Nothing but the tab holds it in and it was a bear to figure out how to
get it out.
This is a horrible picture of the hose clamp wrapped around the tabs. Just tighten
it down around the tabs approx. 3/16ths of an inch from the steel slot. Once
tight just use a screwdriver to pop it through. Easy enough, eh? It wasn't at
the time.
This is where you need to disconnect the brake line from the wheel housing of
the car. Just use a set of pliers to grab lip on tab and use the hammer to pop
it out. The line will simply unscrew from the line.
Back side of Hub with the 14 mm wrench on it. Notice the liberal use of Rust
Ender. It may not be neccessary but I had been applying for a couple weeks every
other day to ensure ease of removal.
Another view of the backside of hte hub. Notice the bolt hitting the Strut bolt.
This is how it will stay. There is no need to remove completely.
This what the stump of the system looks like. Notice once again the bolts. If
you took a good look at the pictures of both Drum and Disk brakes above you'll
notice the 4 bolt pattern is coming along nicely. This is such a bolt on procedure.
This is after a few minutes of fighting with the hub and sheild trying to get
them aligned properly. We ended up using a very large Philip's screwdriver's
used as a guide in the hole and some muscle to get them treaded finally.
Bleeding the brake system with pump/vacuum tool.
Disk brakes installed and finally on the ground you get to see the results.
A few notes from me.. Depending on how long the disk brakes have set
you may need to re-build the calipers. From what I understand the re-build kit
only costs $20 and is very easy to complete. While you have the system tore
apart you may want to take the rotors (if they are rusted) to a local parts
store with lathe to have them milled smooth. Also while you are there pick up
a new set of Pads. Once again depending on how long they have set they may be
ruined? Just a little of insurance for the long run. I will take mine off soon
to have them milled due to the rust color is kind of ugly. If you want buy a
can of engine paint and sparay a nice coat of color on them? I used black to
match the strut and rods. To each their own though...
Like all mods on the mods pages,
the Disk Swap mod should be preformed at the OWNERS risk. We are not responsible
for damaged parts or nulled warranties.
Please direct any questions, comments,
or concerns to me. dean@stormowners.com
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