BUILD THREAD 81 Buick/Olds Turbo Wagon 02/15/2024 More Parts!

[liquidh8]

Re: 81 Century/GN Wagon build-up New Pics! Update 8/27/13

Blake, thanks! He'll be having it on the road here pretty soon.

I did a little dent flattening on my roof the other night. I made my bucket/cyclone filter for the blast cabinet. Sandblasted the headlight buckets and rings. Sandblasted some jack/spare tire area hardware, like the j-bolt, wing nut, jack bracket, etc. I'll be building my neighbors garage for some side cash, so I don't anticipate a whole lot of progress.


Not a whole lot else on the car though.

Side note, I will be looking for a drivers side headlight bezel for the Olds front end. The one I have is cracked pretty good. I will try and plastic weld it and and some glass filler, since they are going to be blacked out. But I would still like to find a good one.

 

[liquidh8]

Re: 81 Century/GN Wagon build-up New Pics! Update 8/27/13

It is now a month later form my last post, just wanted to bump it up and let everyone know it is not dead. I have been doing side work, a garage build for my neighbor.Should be done between thanksgiving and Christmas. The main structure and all siding will be totally done next week, 16x8 roll up garage door, and a 36" inch man door included. Then electrical.
Good news is I am raising the needed money for more wagon stuff, like the frame sandblasting, steel for boxing and bracing. Then the hood, maybe bumpers too. But since it is getting cold here in PA, after the holidays I will be concentrating on the electrical, metal work and welding. The front fender vents, frame, etc. So when spring rolls around, I can try and get it in paint.

 

[liquidh8]

Re: 81 Century/GN Wagon build-up New Pics! Update 11/15/13

Small update. I hit the local U-Pull_it, and happened to find a 2000 2wd blazer, with the hubs I needed to do the big brake front upgrade, I already have the 12" LS/C5 rears done. Oh, and this was a 4 DOOR 2wd blazer. 😀 😀

I had to pay for the junk rotors since there were seized on the hubs, ughh. Now to et back into the research and see if I can use LS1 front calipers, the blazer calibers, C5 calibers. I can spend a ton of money on this conversion as I still have plenty of things to put money too to get it on the road. 😢

I'll add picks tonight when I get home.

 

[liquidh8]

Re: 81 Century/GN Wagon build-up New Pics! Update 11/25/13

OK, I know there are a few threads floating around with people who have done the C5 front brake upgrade, using the 13.5 inch rotors. Also have seen just boltilng in the 2wd blazer (98-05), but that is still a small 10.5 inch rotor.





Then there is a matter of calipers. The blazer has an iron 2 piston, I already have these. The LS1 and C5 are Aluminum. The LS1 has larger pistons, and is cheaper than the C5 with PAB's. (the blazer is the cheapest since I have them).

The Blazer Caliper has 46mm bores.



The LS1 Caliper has 45mm Bores.



Continued...

 

[liquidh8]

Re: 81 Century/GN Wagon build-up New Pics! Update 11/25/13

The C5 caliper has 40mm bores, the smallest.



And finally, the LS1 and C5 rotors. Here are the front rotor specs for the 2 I was looking at. i am running 17" wheels, so I don;t want to go bigger than the 13.5 rotors.



The LS1 has a 59.9mm height. (2.36in)





The C5 has a 45.5mm (1.79") Good bit off difference there in where the brake disc surface is located.



So My thinking is to use the Blazer spindle and bearings, the LS1 calipers, since they don't have the corvette logo, AND they have larger bore pistons. Then I just need to get the adapter bracket.

Anyone have any input on this??

 

[drogg1]

Re: 81 Century/GN Wagon build-up New Pics! Update 11/25/13

I like the idea. Using the blazer spindle and bearings should make for a durable and maintainable system.

I think choosing the largest piston bore will lead to greater clamping force due to the increase in area of the applied brake pressure but I cannot say for certain. The LS1 would then give the greatest clamping force/weight ratio if they are a comparable weight to the C5 and lighter than the blazer.

I assume you would then be using the larger C5 rotors? Either rotor should give you a performance improvement over the blazers due to greater torque if they are not much heavier.

I appreciate the information as I will be doing this to my Monte whenever it gets back on the road.

 

[liquidh8]

Re: 81 Century/GN Wagon build-up New Pics! Update 11/25/13

For the C5, there are differences in the calibers other than the piston size from what I understand. from another forum.

The difference between the LS1 Camaro and C5:

Bigger rotor (13.5")
Better casting (pressure vs. gravity cast)
Full-width stiffening ribs across the back
Smaller piston diameter

I assume the vette has smaller pistons, since it uses larger rotors. Something about brake balancing. Since the rear calipers and rotors for both have the same size rotors and pistons on the calipers.

The LS1 Camaro guys were just putting the larger rotors on their cars with an adapter, using the LS1 calibers already on the car. The C5 rotors also have curved, or directional cooling vanes. I am continuing to do some research. Since this is a everyday driver, I may use the LS1 calipers and the vette rotors, I will need to just fabricate the brackets for the PAB.

 

[liquidh8]

Re: 81 Century/GN Wagon build-up New Pics! Update 11/25/13

http://xse.com/leres/ss/brakes.html

Good link. It seems I can use the LS1 calipers, PABs, C5 rotors, LS1 brake pads. Just need to fabricate a bracket for the PAB to Spindle.

There was mention of adding some addition front brake bias with the larger LS1 camaro caliper pistons and the 13.5 C5 rotors, over going to the C5 calipers also.

Another note appears that the camaro brake pads are a bit wider.

 

[liquidh8]

Re: 81 Century/GN Wagon build-up New Pics! Update 11/25/13

http://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes/1158853-pic-corvette-conversion-kit-6litereater.html Another thread for the LS camaro. Just posting these so i remember where they are, and can use the pictures for reference.
:edit: appears to be a bad idea, but keeping it in here anyway.

 

[the ghoul]

Re: 81 Century/GN Wagon build-up New Pics! Update 11/25/13

You get paid by tax payers to work on your car, I get paid by tax payers to read about you working on your car.... gotta love it!
Just got done reading thru this whole thread, wonderful level of fabrication you’ve put into this so far!
Keep up the great work and keep us posted. Especially on the LS1 VS corvette VS blazer. I currently am working on a low buck blazer disc swap simply because of price, but its interesting to me to see that the blazer calipers are actually larger bore than the other two... Yes, weight could be a negative factor to some, but I’m more of a believer in trimming rotational mass rather than static unsprung mass....
Oh, and if you ever get sent to tour Detroit arsenal be sure to drop by my lab and say hi!