Drum to RS rear disc conversion

[Stew]

Parking brake cables arrived today, this should be the last part I need except for a clip or two, such as the retaining clip where the end of the parking brake cable fits into the bracket on the caliper. But that will be a trivial matter compared to everything else.

Will need to come up with a retaining clip for the parking brake cable

Also kind of interesting is I ordered quantity 2 of the parking brake cables and indeed got two, the left and right. But the two cables came joined at the hip by the equalizer and you can't separate them. Not sure what happens if you order just one cable.

Cables are attached by equalizer

At any rate, I want to get this conversion done so bad, I'm planning for this weekend so be on the lookout early next week for the update!

 

[$ub$onic]

You have to tear the interior apart to replace the cable. They did not make it as easy and disconnecting the drum cables and reattaching. Haha

 

[Stew]

Yeah, it shouldn't be too bad, hopefully just removing the rear seat lower cushion and the center console. I'm going to swap the cables first before I get all dirty!

 

[Stew]

Alright, got the Sonic backed into my garage, up on jack stands and wheels off. How in the heck does the rear seat cushion come out? The end where the seat belts poke through simply pulls up but the front side is still hooked on. I've taken rear seats out in other cars and they usually pull up or have a bolt you can get to for those front hooks but I'm afraid I'm going to break something here!

I'll keep looking at it but please chime in if you know how.

 

[Stew]

Never mind, they do just pull up. Man those were in there tight!

 

[Stew]

Update: parking brake cables are in, swapping those out is the slowest going part of the swap, sheesh! The first side is done, this is really as straight forward as I was hoping it would be, can't wait to update the first post!

 

[Hawkdsl]

Never mind, they do just pull up. Man those were in there tight!

Thank you for doing this job... im very interested in doing this myself down the road. Oh and... Pics Pics Pics!


Thanks again, and I hope all your bolts are rust free.

 

[Stew]

Disc conversion is done, first post updated!

IT'S DONE!!! :banana:

First post is updated, incredibly there were really no surprises with this conversion, lol. I took it for a test spin and the rear disc's are working as expected since they are now both showing a little wear, and I touched both rear discs and they were both about the same warmth which means even braking force.

My brakes do feel a little spongier, pumping the pedal does not increase the firmness so I don't believe there's any air left in the lines. I think I might need to adjust the rears.

I know discs are self adjusting by design but is there an initial adjustment needed to the parking brake mechanism which might affect pedal feel? The parking brake handle does pull up higher than it did with the drums.

 

[wasteoffilm]

I know discs are self adjusting by design but is there an initial adjustment needed to the parking brake mechanism which might affect pedal feel? The parking brake handle does pull up higher than it did with the drums.

I would think so, but I don't know that for a fact. Maybe you could try engaging the parking brake slightly, and see if it changes the feel of the pedal?

 

[Sneakerfix]

IT'S DONE!!! :banana:

First post is updated, incredibly there were really no surprises with this conversion, lol. I took it for a test spin and the rear disc's are working as expected since they are now both showing a little wear, and I touched both rear discs and they were both about the same warmth which means even braking force.

My brakes do feel a little spongier, pumping the pedal does not increase the firmness so I don't believe there's any air left in the lines. I think I might need to adjust the rears.

I know discs are self adjusting by design but is there an initial adjustment needed to the parking brake mechanism which might affect pedal feel? The parking brake handle does pull up higher than it did with the drums.

The more you use the hand brake the more it will self adjust. Try pulling it up 20 times

 

[wasteoffilm]

Also kind of interesting is I ordered quantity 2 of the parking brake cables and indeed got two, the left and right. But the two cables came joined at the hip by the equalizer and you can't separate them. Not sure what happens if you order just one cable.

Cables are attached by equalizer

Any chance you were only billed for one? From what I see, it should be sold as an assembly. If you were billed for two, you should ask for a refund!

It looks sweet, now I need to do mine. Just need to see if I'm going to outgrow the desire for drilled and slotted discs, because racecar!

 

[Stew]

I would think so, but I don't know that for a fact. Maybe you could try engaging the parking brake slightly, and see if it changes the feel of the pedal?

The more you use the hand brake the more it will self adjust. Try pulling it up 20 times

Well I took it out for another spin down to grab some pizza and now I'm not sure if it feels slightly spongy or if I'm just imagining it. I'll reserve judgement for a week or so to give me time to drive around and play with the parking brake handle. Plus then I can poke my head underneath and make sure everything's dry and leak free.

 

[Stew]

Any chance you were only billed for one? From what I see, it should be sold as an assembly. If you were billed for two, you should ask for a refund!

I was actually wondering the same thing, I did in fact order qty 2 of 95479538, they were $21.91 each. I would be really surprised if the whole two cable assembly really only cost that little. But... on the packing slip it says "part 95301025 replaces part 95479538" so I figured maybe at some point you could order left and right separately but they changed it to the L & R cables as a complete assembly.

It still shows qty 2 for part 95301025, so $21.91 times two plus shipping, the grand total came to $62.67 for the parking brake cable assembly. I think that's a fair price.

 

[NewZJ]

Is OP updated? Can I start buying stuff now?

 

[Stew]

Is OP updated? Can I start buying stuff now?

Indeed it is! The first and second posts are complete and updated although I was thinking of adding a box of bandages to the parts list because I raked my knuckles pretty good removing the stupid drum parts, lol.

 

[Stew]

I made an update to the first post. Near the bottom of the how-to I added four pictures and showed what to do with the RS's extra parking brake cable bracket that is not present on lower trim cars.

 

[Stew]

One week update: All is well one week and hundreds of miles later. After giving it a few days for everything to ratchet up and self adjust, as well as making a final adjustment of the parking brake underneath the console...

Everything feels good and there is a nice even wear pattern developing on the discs. The pedal does not feel spongy anymore and the parking brake pulls up tight pretty much like when I had the drums. I am very happy with the conversion!

I ordered another one of the flexible brake lines to have as a template so I can see about finding a short section of hard line to replace the one that I had to bend in the first post. The drum hard line that I bent is fine, no leaks or any other issues, but it would be the icing on the cake to be able to secure the flexible disc brake line using the mounting tabs that come on it to the ear on the caliper bracket mounting plate like it's suppose to. And if not, it's not the end of the world.

 

[NewZJ]

I hope to find stainless steel hoses to convert mine to. I want a very firm pedal

 

[Hawkdsl]

I hope to find stainless steel hoses to convert mine to. I want a very firm pedal

Classic Tube, Preformed Tubing

These guys did my truck... they don't have a listing for Sonics yet, but you might want to shoot them an e-mail. Whats good about CT, is that the stainless tubes they use have the normal ends, so they just bolt on.

Edit: they even do fuel lines.


With SS, you'll never have to worry about winter rust ever again... it's scary when a regular steel line blows out.. been there... done that.

 

[KPM]

Dose anyone have an idea of the weight difference between the original drums and the new rear discs ?