1LE Camaro Brakes Installation - Project Road Rage

1990 Chevy Camaro Spindle And Brake Install

For those of you just joining us, Project Road Rage has progressed from a tired rust bucket, wannabe drag car shell, to a purpose-built road racer, ready to take on the ponies of that "other" brand in NASA's Camaro-Mustang Challenge (www.camaromustangchallenge.com). The first installment of Project Road Rage introduced readers to the body-in-white (not really-it was just a beat up white body, sans engine and tranny) 1990 Camaro, which has been gutted, hosed down with some Eagle One carwash, and cleaned up in preparation for some serious parts.

Following that, the students at Norco High School threw in a Moser Engineering 12-bolt rearend, complete with 3.42 gears, and a TruTrac limited-slip differential. In the last installment, we documented the build-up of a T5 tranny from the awesome team at GForce Racing transmissions, and shipped that gem out to Norco, where the car is being built. Now, while many things need to come together to pull this project off, we decided that it would be important to get the car rolling, as the front brak-ing assemblies resembled something out of a cheap horror film, with beat-up bushings and rusty hubs glaring us right in the eye.

After heavy hours of translating rulesspeak into "see-spot-run" language the staff can understand, the Project Road Rage team found that the Camaro-Mustang Challenge rules allow the use of just about any front brake caliper setup that is specific to a certain generation of Camaro (in our case, 1990). It just so happened that Chevrolet, back in the late-'80s, developed a brake setup that would help propel Camaros to numerous SCCA Showroom Stock victories at road racing circuits across the country (Showroom Stock, a limited-prep SCCA class, allows very few modifications to a stock automobile). This upgrade, the 1LE option for Camaros, included bigger 12-inch rotors, along with a beefier spindle setup and aluminum two-piston calipers (the option package also included a slew of lightweight, go-fast items, but we're still working on getting the car rolling, remember?).

Here are a few of the parts that will show up in this install: the 1LE spindle...

The "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" mentality for many dealers made the 1LE option package an attractive selling point, and formed the basis for the 4th-gen 1LE kit, which would eventually include Koni shocks and a T56 six-speed transmission.

After scouring the Internet for a source of 3rd-gen 1LE parts, we found aftermarket giant Year One, which distributes original 1LE pieces for both 3rd- and 4th-gen Camaros, along with just about anything you could ever want for your road-race, drag race, or showcar-trailer-race Chevy. The great staff over at Year One suggested the entire front 1LE kit, which includes everything a 3rd-gen owner needs to complete a front brake upgrade, including spindles,rotors, calipers, hoses, bearings, pads,and mounting hardware.

The only weak link in this department,especially in a road racing application,is the hoses. For this we looked no further than Earl's Performance Plumbing, and its braided stainless steel brake line kit. With such heavy braking events occurring throughout a road race, it's imperative that the lines take the increased temperatures over a race distance.

We hate to say this install was easy as child's play, but in fact, it was-the race team crew out at Norco High School threw the 1LE parts and Earl's hoses onto Project Road Rage in less than a day. While we can almost start to see the light at the end of the tunnel (or is that a checkered flag waving?) with Project Road Rage, keep tuning in as we still have a rollcage to fabricate, a motor to throw in, and plenty of other gforce-inducing goodies that will help the Camaro race to the front.

...1LE caliper...
...and the Earl's brake lines.
The 1LE rotors,seen here, come with pre-installed races, so the crew took the parts out to install the races that came with the new Timken bearings. This is one of the first steps of the install.
The 1LE rotors,seen here, come with pre-installed races, so the crew took the parts out to

Here, the new race is being tapped in gently with a "fixing tool," or hammer.The important item here is to tap in the new race, leaving a small lip that will allow it to come out in the future. Otherwise,sayonara bearing race; it won't ever come out.
Here, the new race is being tapped in gently with a "fixing tool," or hammer.The important
Switching gears, the team then attaches the caliper to the adapter bracket that has already been bolted down onto the spindle. Many racing applications require the use of Loctite, and in this case, we used the blue flavor.
Switching gears, the team then attaches the caliper to the adapter bracket that has alread
Before the kids attempted to throw the parts onto the car, more pre-installing was necessary, for ease of assembly. Here is the rotor assembly being attached to the new 1LE spindle. The bearing seal should be riding on the machined surface of the spindle.
Before the kids attempted to throw the parts onto the car, more pre-installing was necessa

The spindle is lined up with the strut, and the two mate up. The crew found that attaching the lower ball joint first, and then raising the spindle to the shock was much easier than trying to line up the ball joint first.
The spindle is lined up with the strut, and the two mate up. The crew found that attaching
This is the removal of the old brake lines, with special care being taken to retain the small clips that hold the line onto the bracket.
This is the removal of the old brake lines, with special care being taken to retain the sm
A block of wood and a deft hand with the hammer is the recipe for getting the tie-rod end out of the old spindle.
A block of wood and a deft hand with the hammer is the recipe for getting the tie-rod end

When done properly, the tie-rod end should come out with ease, and without any damage to the threads of the bolt. In this case, it was "mission accomplished" for the Norcokids. If done incorrectly, the tie-rod end is prone to mushrooming, which illalso damage the threads.
When done properly, the tie-rod end should come out with ease, and without any damage to
Here's the old setup coming off entirely...
...and getting ready for the new 1LE spindle/rotor/caliper setup.

The new setup gets attached to the lower ball joint, then slid into the shock...
...and is then bolted up.
The tie-rod end is then attached to the mounting point on the spindle.

SOURCES
Year One PO Box 129 Tucker GA 30085 800-932-7663 770-496-1949 www.nextgenparts.com/mustang	Earl's Performance Plumbing Long Beach CA 310-609-1602 www.holley.com