I recently did the LeBaron brake conversion and was dissatisfied with the bias.
This is with 2-1/8" bores in the rear, 2-1/2" bores in the front, and a 1-1/8" master cylinder.
I found this setup overly front biased.

I have found a source for front calipers with 2-1/4" bore.

These are from:
http://www.afabcorp.com/

Rebuild kits are available, however the calipers themselves *may* be discontinued.
I don't expect pedal effort to be excessive with the reduced bore, right now it's a little too touchy for my taste. I'm also a 125 lb skeleton for the record.

There is a left and right version, they are mirror images of each other.


The piston has a dust boot, so I consider this streetable.


There is a stock-type banjo fitting. To have the fitting pointing towards the inside of the car, some grinding may be required.
Having the banjo fitting on top implies having the bleeder on the bottom, which is a pain to bleed, although
I will retain use of my stock hoses.


These calipers do not include the rubber bushings for the glide pins, you'll have to get them from a rebuild kit maybe? I'm going to use the ones from my 2-1/2" calipers.


I'll install these calipers in a couple days or so, gotta paint em red first!
And, I have a date tomorrow night to worry about :P

I'll be watching this thread with great interest.

Please specify, just for clarity, exactly which front calipers you tried and did not like. Thank you.

quote Originally posted by jamiesweet: Please specify, just for clarity, exactly which front calipers you tried and did not like. Thank you.

I used 85 Seville front calipers. Keep in mind that any 2-1/2" bore GM Metric style caliper would feel the same in terms of bias.

Here is after I ground off material to allow the brake hose fitting to be pointing towards the inside of the car like the stock setup.

I stuck an M10 bolt in the banjo hole while grinding to prevent iron filings from getting in the caliper. Also, it was to protect the crush washer seating area from any accidental nicks with the grinder.

I thought we were supposed to use the 4WD S-10 front calipers. Are these also 2.5"?

4WD S-10 calipers are the same as the Seville ones. 2-1/2"

tomato tomahto

As far as I know, there was never an OEM GM Metric front caliper with a bore less than 2-1/2".

That's why I went aftermarket.

[This message has been edited by pmbrunelle (edited 10-10-2009).]

Hose routing on passenger side, with stock hose, and grinding done to the caliper to allow "clocking" of the fitting.

Routed like this, the hose doesn't seem to rub on anything regardless of how the wheels are turned. This could change when the suspension is compressed.

Hopefully these calipers provide the balance you were looking for. Give us a full rundown on how they perform, OK?

To put this highly subjective review in context; I have an 85 GT, slightly lowered, manual transmission, using the stock proportioning valve.

This was a cool, dry day.

Verdict:

The brakes are quite balanced, with front lockup occuring before rear lockup.

On one stop where I pushed the pedal slightly beyond the threshold of the fronts, the rears locked and I went slightly sideways.

I conclude that the bias is pretty close to optimum, with the fronts still locking before the rears.

The pedal is firmer than with the 2-1/2" calipers, and less touchy.

Pedal effort is good, not excessive, nor touchy. In the opinion of a 125 lb skeleton.

I didn't see a price or a part # mentioned. Would you care to elaborate a bit so I can put in the information as an option in my writeup? With full credit to you, of course.

These calipers are made by "US Brake".

The US Brake part numbers are:

7241-9005 RH Metric Caliper 2-1/4"

7241-9006 LH Metric Caliper 2-1/4"

The left and right calipers are different, you really want a matching pair. In this case, I used the LH caliper on the passenger side, and vice versa, to keep stock hoses. This results in the bleeders on the bottom.

I got them from:
http://www.daymotorsports.c...ED-METRIC-GM-CALIPER

79.99 US Dollars per caliper + shipping

I haven't done much searching for rebuild kits, but I suggest frequent bleeding (at least once a year) as preventative maintenance to avoid the need for rebuild kits.

i will keep this in mind when i do the break swap. thanks

Note that these US Brake calipers are naked calipers.

You'll have to buy the hardware separately.

Get parts for:
85 Camaro front calipers

very educational, thank you for sharing.

I've updated my how-to thread with your information. Thanks for doing the legwork and making this upgrade even more awesome for the Fiero community.

I'll need to spend more time driving the Fiero to tell if I want the additional front bias, but if I need it, your thread made it easy to locate. Thanks!