Rear - BRAKES

I decided to use the same 2002 Camaro brakes on the rear as I did on the front. To make that work I needed to make mounting brackets and brake-line mounts. There will not be a parking brake on the rear wheels. Instead following this description of the build will be how I made a pinion mounted parking brake. Here’s how I did it. I fabricated this rear bracket from 7075 grade aluminum 3/8” thick. Steel should work as well. Used (3) 3/8 grade 8 bolts torqued to 50 lb-ft on each side.
I made the bracket so that the 2002 Camaro calipers are forward of the rear axle rather than at the rear of the axle. This is strictly for “looks”. I like how the rear calipers are towards the center of the vehicle like the fronts are. Caliper mounting hardware similar to front. 12mm x 1.75 x 40mm long, torqued to 65 lb-ft. Used washers to space out the caliper until it was centered on rotor.
FRONT
REAR
Now, this is completely unnecessary I am told, but the Chevelle wheel lug pattern is 5 on 4.75” circle with 7/16” diameter studs and the 2002 Camaro rotors I am using are metric 5 on 120.7mm bolt circle with 12mm diameter studs. So there is a little discrepancy in the lug patterns. This applies to the front and back. These pics are from the back though.
The Camaro rotors fit just fine over the Chevelle lugs but there is an eccentric pattern that can be noticed in the picture shown. People say that this is not a problem because when you torque your wheel lug nuts down 80 lb/ft that the rotor is held tightly between the wheel and the hub so that it can’t wiggle back and forth if you were to hit the brakes in reverse then again going forward. But you should know by now this far into the build that I want it better and I over think everything. So I made brass shims to take up the spaces between the 2 patterns. I could have just drilled a new pattern in the rotors but I didn’t want to have to do that if I get new rotors, these little fillers pop in and out easily and are captured by the wheel when mounted. They don’t rust and there will be no play.
I had fun making them. Try to figure out how to machine a small part on a lathe with 2 different centers! Well first I laid it out in CAD. Then I showed it being held by 3 places like the lathe chuck. Then determined the thickness of a shim needed to put the inner diameter the proper offset. So first cut the outer diameter (.600”) in a brass rod, then cut it the right length for making 5 pieces plus the material lost in the cut between each piece. The rotor is .35” thick so I wanted each filler piece to be .33” thick so it in no way possibly interferes with a flush mounting rim. You want the minimum length for 5 parts because you don’t want it to wobble in the lathe when cutting the off-center hole. It is only soft brass by the way. So when you look at the drawing the shim needed to be .09 or .093 to be more accurate. So I cut a 2.5 inch piece times 4 to make 5 parts from each piece to make 20 fillers, 5 for each wheel. So after the outer diameter is cut and the length, put the shim under one of the lathe chuck jaws and use a center drill to start the hole, then use a 7/16 drill bit to go through the whole rod, then use a parting too to cut off each piece at .33” thick. You could use a saw, then I belt sanded and bench wire brushed each piece to deburr. They easily slid in and now insure that there is no play. I think it is cool!
Update: I am being told that the rotors I bought off eBay are more of a generic part and the bolt pattern is sloppy so it may fit other applications. Supposedly the OEM rotors don’t have this problem and fit correctly? I can’t verify that. I think I would still prefer the cheaper drilled and slotted aftermarket replacements.
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