brake parts

[jayhawkjesse33]

I'm hoping someone or a few people have some spare brake parts that they would be willing to sell. OR hopefully someone knows of a good place to get brake parts at a cheap price. I've already hit up Opel GT Source and checked there. I'm just trying to avoid a HUGE cost to repair the breaks. Specific help on this would be great! Also, while I'm here...how about a resonator? These items will complete the car and get it on the road....

[BQS4]

What brake parts are you after? Also, unless you state requires the rear resonator, most just go without. Get a local muffler shop to bend a "U" shaped pipe o match the rear openings and you're done.

[jayhawkjesse33]

I'm after, and its a list...

Rotors
Pads
Calipers
Drums
Cylinders (master cylinder is fine)

Pretty much everything except the brake lines, which are in good shape.

And i'm not sure what our state law is regarding the resonator. Not even sure how to find out. I know I seem like a bigtime novice with all this stuff....but I am, so I can't help it! ha!

[namba209]

Brakes are something I wouldn't want to skimp on, a major safety factor, IMHO. You can rebuild the wheel cylinders, OGTS has the kits for that. The rest of the brake components you may be able to get at your local parts store, and if the rotors are thick enuff they can be turned, same with the drums. Pads and shoes, gotta get new ones. If the calipers are bad, no choice there either, gotta get rebuilt or new. JMTCW.

[baz]

you may as well add the flex hoses to the list and then everything is done
as to finding out about the resonator try looking on the indianna DOT/DMV web site there should be a clue there

[GTJIM]

Here is a list of part numbers and alternatives for brake bits - Thanks to Keith Wilford.

http://www.opelgt.com/forums/50127-post3.html

AND have a look here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LOTUS...spagenameZWDVW

AND check out Randy too - he sent some to me way Down Under!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OPEL-...spagenameZWD1V

[jordan]

Paragon stainless steel braided brake lines are VERY nice, worth the money.
The look nice, the brake feel is nice, and the added safety is nice. www.paragonperformance.com

[blancojp]

We have a good stock of Opel parts, ranging from mild to wild. We basically upgrade the rotors and calipers depending on the HP we are putting into the vehicle. There are a multitude of options if you want to upgrade and sometimes upgrading will be less costly than a stock rebuild. As an example, a single stock caliper at OGTS is $99 with core. Upgrading your front brakes to a '86 chevette system will cost you $130 for both wheels including pads. And the end result is a better system than the stock unit with a larger pad area. There are also many options for the rear which you can explore as well. I use a 20mm cylinder at the rear with a set of good semi metalic pads which have served me well over the years. As an example, I have S-10 brakes in front, Honda brakes in the rear and a Ford manual master cylinder. This combination stops my car extremely well and I can replace the complete brake system for less than $180.

There are lots of options and it all depends on tools, time, money and most of all, knowledge. Might want to try rockauto.com or your local junk yard for research material. An Opel is a learning experience and you will gain some knowledge if you explore the available possibilities. And by all means, try to give some support to OGTS since they are the only reliable stock parts source in the US.

I have plenty of good used rotors and calipers so send me a message if you need them.
jb

[jayhawkjesse33]

does anyone have any specifics on how to do this? or other cheaper and effective brake alternatives?? I'm trying to order the parts tomorrow at the latest. i hate having this beauty and not being able to drive it....

[baz]

4 words
"on site search engine"
and a trip to
http://www.starterupsteve.com/swf/posting.html
would do no harm

[jayhawkjesse33]

sometimes people are helpful and things come up quicker by asking. thanks for that info though....

[baz]

and some times folks get frustrated answering the same questions over and over, then they stop doing it, and we lose valuable contributers

[blancojp]

not to be a party pooper but, have you ever worked on brakes before????
If you have tools and have worked on brakes before, take a drive to a junk yard, find a chevette or a T-1000 and get the rotor and caliper. $20-30 later, install on car and see if all fits to your liking. If it does, buy all new parts and start enjoying the ride.

research + hard work + few $$$ = you get to drive.
jb

[Paul]

Jesse

Do you have the factory service manual, FSM? If not you can see the scanned pages on this site. The stock brake parts are easy and cheap to get. You won't find them cheaper by purchasing from an individual. You will need to do a little research on your own, you will be better off in the long run. OGTS has a good price on the rubber brake lines, ~$19 each, I think. Rebuilt calipers already loaded with pads and hardware can be had from several sources, OGTS, Partsamercia.com, rockauto.com and others. You can probably order them locally as well. You just need to take the time to do some price shopping.

If you do a little homework, like reading the valuable resources on this site, and googling the online replacement parts sites and checking prices, you can go to the repair shops knowing enough about your new GT to prevent anyone from blowing smoke up your a$$.

Ebay "can" be a good source of parts as well. But you need to be a knowledgeable shopper. You will need to know the local prices for new parts before you pay too much for use ones.

I'd replace the brakes with standard Opel/Opel type replacement parts before I jumped into a massive conversion. There's nothing wrong with the stock stuff until you get into Hi-Po stuff.

Good Luck

[jayhawkjesse33]

Thanks to everyone who posted so far on this for your help. We took a look at an 86 Chevette's brakes and they look to be a near perfect match...they have the same pattern, etc. And total cost for the front is only 116 bucks. Now, we just have to pick up the parts and put them on...then, its on to the back brakes. Thanks again for the valuable knowledge. I myself, have never worked much on cars at all, however my dad is very skilled. He's built over 15 cars from the frame up by himself, so I'm putting the work in his hands as I try to learn. I'm just trying to give him (and myself) some new/extra knowledge regarding this braking system. I'm really looking forward to getting on the road soon and all this help is great! And thanks to some of you that have emailed me with specifics...I really appreciate it

[BQS4]

Next time try www.car-part.com, you could probably find stuff cheaper and UPS'ed to your door.

[GTJIM]

As you do your brake repairs keep a few pictures of what you do and the parts that you use if you can.
That is how the information is built up on this site and your contribution is as valuable as any of ours for helping the next GT Guy or GT Gal.

[jayhawkjesse33]

No problem, we've got everything off the brakes right now, but when we install the new brakes, especially the Chevette ones--I'll be sure to take some pictures. I doubt if I can at this point, but if anyone wants more detailed pictures of the car as it is right now, just let me know. i'd be happy to trade some pictures for some more knowledge!! haha

[jayhawkjesse33]

okay, i've scoured the forums and haven't really came up with anything of worth, regarding a simple, effective and cost efficent way to change out the back brakes. or a rear brake supplement...and i'm not talking BALCO stuff--hopefully everyone got that one. Anyway, the parts for the front will be in tomorrow and will hopefully be on the car sometime late Sunday.

[soybean]

Did you check out these couple? http://www.opelgt.com/forums/perform...ghlight=Brakes
This was in the Tech article, might be the same as above. http://www.opelgt.com/forums/opel-te...ghlight=Brakes

This might be what you're looking for.
http://www.opelgt.com/forums/perform...ers-3-4-a.html
Hth, Jarrell

[GTJIM]

If the drums are not too badly worn they can be bored out up to +.080" oversize. NOTE: the standard size is 230mm = 9.055" so they seem to be "oversize' already to those who don't realise they are metric!
So the drums can go out to 232mm = 9.135" before they are scrap.
The shoes can then be relined with bonded on friction material by any competent shop that does this sort of brake repair. NOT the local 'Brake Shop' (like Midas etc.) but a specialist component rebuilder - there will be one somewhere nearby .. 'cause that is where the 'Brake Shop' would get them done. Somewhere like this: http://www.brakeplace.com/shop.htm
The shoes have to be ground to the same size/diameter as the drums have been turned out to - always remove the minimum amount of metal that will clean up both drums to the same diameter. Take the drums and the shoes to the specialist shop and they can do the job and match the two together.
They should also be able to help with rebuild kits or rebuilding the wheel cylinders.
Just check the prices first as new stuff might be similarly priced over there.

[opeldean]

i have a nice stock resonator for you. I am going to try to get to the meet in springfield.
I will bring it with me for you. If you are not there..we will get it to you somehow.

[Gordy]

Rockauto.com still has a lot of the parts and hardware available. Good prices too!

[jayhawkjesse33]

Well, all didn't go as planned with the Chevette brakes. The calipers weren't even close to matching up because of the spindle set up. So, we took the rotors and calipers back to Autozone and we asked them to amuse us and do another brake check....and we got lucky! The had pads in stock and were able to order the wheel cylinders and shoes. Then we took the calipers and got the opened up and after a lot of sweat and air-pressure...got them working. We polished them up and they should be good to go. My dad went back to autozone today to tell them to keep the chevette rotors around, just incase and they said "we did some more looking for you"...which led to them locating rotors. So, we'll have all those parts tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest. The only thing we still need is the drums and we're going to have those looked at today to see if they can be redone or salvaged...which we think they might be. Pretty crazy turn of events in the past 24 hours.

[blancojp]

We have several cars with the chevette setup however you need to create a small bracket to space and hold the calipers in place. Most custom work you do on the Opel does not exactly bolt on unless someone has done the work for you. I have a picture of the bracket somewhere in the office with dimensions, I'll post it when I return home. But FYI, there are several calipers, rotors and master cylinders you can use with little or no modifications. As an example, there are several 20-24mm master cylinders you can purchase for less than $30 that will work extremely well with the Opel brake booster, but you will need to drill two holes.