*well my dumb butt hit submit thread so heres the rest of it... unless i hit submit thread instead of preview, there might be more replies in order hehe*
Heres how i cut my backing plates off.. sorry I didnt get any shots of them cut or being cut (without me in the way).. but this was the most effective way to get them off using a 4 1/2" grinder with cutting wheel!
The red lines show the cuts you should make (all the way through, ie cut through to the bearing case BUT DONT CUT THE BEARING CASE!). The arrow indicates how it will slide off. You only have to cut enough material to fit the backing plate down past the bearing case outer oil seal which is like almost half the diamtuer of the actual bearing case. DONT FORGET the backing plate is SEPARATE from the bearing case. knock ALL OF THE STUDS out before you cut. you wont need them anyways. One of the studs you will HAVE TO CUT to get it out since it controls part of the OEM parking brake.. it just wont come out =) not enough room so cut that mother!
DONT CUT THE BACKING PLATE WHILE ITS STILL ON THE TRUCK. TAKE THE AXLE OUT!.... common sense would say duh, you gotta knock the studs out but dont use this above pictures an idea WHERE you should attempt to cut the backing plate!!! Look below, i used a bench and vice. Not that you couldnt but I'd just advise AGAINST this practice.
*common sense check...remove brake hardware before cutting.
A friend helped me with this step of the project since he happened to stop by... He actually was a blessing because it was quite the PITA to cut these backing plates off with a 4 1/2" cutting wheel on a grinder. So dont be alarmed if you find it extremely annoying and difficult to cut them off! Just get creative and have a BFH on hand =)
he did get this shot of me tho:
And here we have the backing plates gone... via whichever way you decided to go, they should be gone by this step. Preferably sold or better yet in the garbage where they can no longer cause ANYMORE MIGRAINES! =)
Install the Sky brackets this way... pay attention since this can get mixed up. The longer finger should like 'grab' the top of the axle housing... if you look you should get what im saying: (it will make more sense when the brackets are in your hands, trust me).
*The brackets came untreated from Sky so i painted them red with caliper paint
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I got my calipers brand new from Napa.. They are 1982 Monte Carlo FRONT calipers. Dont really have a part # for ya but if you go to NAPA and just tell them you need front right and left calipers for a 82 monte carlo they will tell you a few different makes and stuff to pick from...
Mine came to around ~$50 loaded, each. $100+ for both... I was content with that.
You will still need to get banjo bolts!
Its important to get banjo bolts thare a 10mm x 1.5x2 if you plan on using skys brake lines!!!
stock banjo bolts for this caliper are TOO SHORT! .. I almost ruined a caliper because of this mistake..well i didnt know any better. I sourced some longer banjo bolts and everything fits up perfect now.
My calipers came with crush copper washers... but the banjo bolts you buy SHOULD come with one crush copper sleeve that is INTENDED for that banjo bolt. The ones with the caliper wont work for the banjo bolts outer side.. fyi
Heres the modifications i had to make to my calipers to make them work with skys brackets and brake lines.
Here is the stock caliper ..almost.. I didnt get a picture of the calipers before i started grinding. grind this nub down before installation. it will hit the mounting brackets and wont mount till its gone:
...thats a pretty common grinding mod to gm calipers...
my calipers ARE DIFFERENT from elvotas.. Mine have the bleeder screw ontop and the fluid intake on the bottom WITH A GUARD.
I had to grind this guard off to make the brake lines work. There wasnt enough room between the caliper and axle housing to fit a banjo fitting and flex brake line.. it just WASNT POSSIBLE. So grind this metal off so you have more room to fit the banjo fitting:
*Im not sure if other GM calipers of this same nature have this guard.. if yours do grind it off! =)
** will post more in next post.