My Kids Named Her "Dirty Bird"

If you used the same color I did, it's a bit more pale than Bilstein yellow but it's close enough.
 
jco1385 said:
If you used the same color I did, it's a bit more pale than Bilstein yellow but it's close enough.
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It is very close yellow, yeah. Not perfect match, but a pretty good match.
 
For the Cadillac J55 Brembo upgrade, these things don't need a Caliper Bracket, right? Looking on Rock Auto, it doesn't look like it, so I'm just making sure.

All I'll need for this upgrade is the caliper relocation kit to make these fit.

And for the rotors, it's the Cobra 13" rotors, right? Or is it the rotors that go with the J55 calipers?
 
CDsDontBurn said:
For the Cadillac J55 Brembo upgrade, these things don't need a Caliper Bracket, right? Looking on Rock Auto, it doesn't look like it, so I'm just making sure.

All I'll need for this upgrade is the caliper relocation kit to make these fit.

And for the rotors, it's the Cobra 13" rotors, right? Or is it the rotors that go with the J55 calipers?
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Correct, no bracket as they're "fixed".
 
CDsDontBurn said:
For the Cadillac J55 Brembo upgrade, these things don't need a Caliper Bracket, right? Looking on Rock Auto, it doesn't look like it, so I'm just making sure.

All I'll need for this upgrade is the caliper relocation kit to make these fit.

And for the rotors, it's the Cobra 13" rotors, right? Or is it the rotors that go with the J55 calipers?
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Oh and yes, 13" Cobra disks.

You may want to check rotor and pad price on 2014 GT500b rotors and XTS V pads versus the J55 stuff. I didn't think I spent much if anymore to go to the 14" setup. 1000001283.jpg
 
Zep5.0 said:
Oh and yes, 13" Cobra disks.

You may want to check rotor and pad price on 2014 GT500b rotors and XTS V pads versus the J55 stuff. I didn't think I spent much if anymore to go to the 14" setup. View attachment 14213
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So those rotors and pads will work with the J55 setup too?

Wheel and brake combo look great BTW! Did you get the calipers powder coated?
 
CDsDontBurn said:
So those rotors and pads will work with the J55 setup too?

Wheel and brake combo look great BTW! Did you get the calipers powder coated?
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I went with the XTS brembos which are a bit bigger than the CTS J55. I wasn't sure if you had the calipers purchased yet. The S&S engineering kit works with both calipers.

I did a complete tear down and sprayed them with rattle can caliper paint, then engine gloss clear. I would say that I took them down to far, as you can't see the insides. Was way more work than it needed to be. I wouldn't powder coat due to that time involved with tearing them down.
 
Zep5.0 said:
I went with the XTS brembos which are a bit bigger than the CTS J55. I wasn't sure if you had the calipers purchased yet. The S&S engineering kit works with both calipers.

I did a complete tear down and sprayed them with rattle can caliper paint, then engine gloss clear. I would say that I took them down to far, as you can't see the insides. Was way more work than it needed to be. I wouldn't powder coat due to that time involved with tearing them down.
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My experience with rattle can paint makes me want to avoid the job all together and just get them powder coated, lol. It'll be more expensive, yeah, but less hassle on my part.

Yours do look good though, which is why I was asking.
 
CDsDontBurn said:
My experience with rattle can paint makes me want to avoid the job all together and just get them powder coated, lol. It'll be more expensive, yeah, but less hassle on my part.

Yours do look good though, which is why I was asking.
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Someone else may chime in, but I think you'd have to pull the pistons and all rubber components as the heat from powder coating may damage them.
 
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Zep5.0 said:
Someone else may chime in, but I think you'd have to pull the pistons and all rubber components as the heat from powder coating may damage them.
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That was my plan already. Then with all the guts pulled out, use painter's tape to cover everything where I don't want powder to be touch any metal.
 
Can someone confirm the listing as correct?

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Seems to be, though the driver's side won't fit on our platform without the steering shaft mod or reworking a couple of the primaries to clear it.
 
Zep5.0 said:
Someone else may chime in, but I think you'd have to pull the pistons and all rubber components as the heat from powder coating may damage them.
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You do. Several years ago, I sent calipers to a shop that had a way to powder coat without disassembling the calipers, but I took them apart anyway because I had used calipers that I needed to rebuild. I don't know what they did to make it work beyond masking off those areas, but they're not in business anymore so it's a moot point.

Every other shop I've looked at says that you need to remove the rubber seals. Powder coat typically cures at 400°F.

I've previously used a high-temp matte silver paint, which worked fine, but it obviously won't give you a smooth, glossy texture. I've also used G2 caliper paint using the paintbrush included in the kit. Do not use that kit with the brush. Use a sprayer. They claim the paint is self-leveling, but the results will look like crap with the brush.

Powder coat also isn't recommended for track use where you'll be constantly hard on the brakes, so in that scenario, I'd go with paint instead, or Cerakote if you want color options beyond what's available with high-temp paint.
 
Le Sigh.....

1760719181075.png

It's really been this long already? It's still in the box it came in on the shelf I put it on. It's only been moved a small few times to move it out of the way for something else. Slowly but surely, it's coming together, but it's taking too damn long.

I have more parts to buy still, and then I still need tires.
 
Are the ATS caliper adapters on backorder or something? S&S Engineering website isn't quite clear on that.

I sent them an email asking what the lead time is.

If they don't have an answer or anything, is there another vendor that does the same thing?
 
Dumb question but the parts list you have was all of that pretty much just a quick bolt on or were modifications needed through the build? I currently have the most sketchy suspension I've ever had on my 97 and am rather worried it won't last much longer so trying to basically swap the whole underside in 1 go if I can
 
Mr.Klepto said:
Dumb question but the parts list you have was all of that pretty much just a quick bolt on or were modifications needed through the build? I currently have the most sketchy suspension I've ever had on my 97 and am rather worried it won't last much longer so trying to basically swap the whole underside in 1 go if I can
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Just about everything in my suspension list is bolt on. The only part that requires custom work are the spherical bearings being installed in the shock mount for the 3000GT insert mod.
 
CDsDontBurn said:
Le Sigh.....

View attachment 15070

It's really been this long already? It's still in the box it came in on the shelf I put it on. It's only been moved a small few times to move it out of the way for something else. Slowly but surely, it's coming together, but it's taking too damn long.

I have more parts to buy still, and then I still need tires.
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Does that diff have the guts you bought in it already?
Yours is further along than mine, either way; My locker is in one box, case empty, and the gears are in an undisassembled diff.
:)
 
Grog6 said:
Does that diff have the guts you bought in it already?
Yours is further along than mine, either way; My locker is in one box, case empty, and the gears are in an undisassembled diff.
:)
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Nope. Mine is like yours. Empty case, gears in their box. I really wanted to buy an Eaton TL unit, but then I found out mine has a stock TL unit already so I'm not sure I want to buy that Eaton unit anymore. But now that I have Gold Bird, maybe I want to do that still? Reasoning being that I could swap in Dirty Bird's TL unit over.... 🤔
 
I could swap two doffs in no time. Unbolting/rebolting the ds's is the most time.
Unless you are going to road race, the difference between a trac lok and a thorsen isn't worth the cost, imho.
 
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ATS caliper adapters are getting shipped! Woohoo!

I just need calipers, brake lines, pads for up front. For rear I need rotors, caliper adapters, and pads.

Im super tempted to put it all on my CC, but I just paid off all my CC debts..... 😅
 
Using the CC for something that may not be available later is one thing, or if it’s the last thing holding you up from driving the car, but since all those are service parts that are in little to no danger of disappearing, and you still have plenty of work left to do on the car, using the CC is just knowingly paying 18-30% more to have the parts sit in your garage instead of on a store’s shelf.
 
The only part I'm concerned about really is the rear caliper adapter bracket. It's just David Dalke that makes it, right? If so, then there's a decent risk level that there won't be anymore in the future except the used market as people part ways with their cars / builds.
 
CDsDontBurn said:
The only part I'm concerned about really is the rear caliper adapter bracket. It's just David Dalke that makes it, right? If so, then there's a decent risk level that there won't be anymore in the future except the used market as people part ways with their cars / builds.
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They’re ludicrously simple to make, I made mine out of some 1/2” scrap aluminum I had and a pair of hardware store nuts to get the spacing right, didn’t even weld them together
 
XR7-4.6 said:
They’re ludicrously simple to make, I made mine out of some 1/2” scrap aluminum I had and a pair of hardware store nuts to get the spacing right, didn’t even weld them together
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I'd have to get mine made. I don't have tools to make them myself. Not even a drill press to use as a "sketchy lathe". I forget if that's you or @theterminator93 . It's one of you two though, lol
 
Dalke's brackets are very nice pieces, and well worth the price, but long before those existed, DLF posted measurements and pictures for anyone to be able to make them with just a piece of plate steel, some nuts, and a couple Allen head bolts. So if you have an angle grinder and a MIG welder they can be made for less than $20 in materials, and if Dalke’s weren’t available, I would do it again, but it took me about 2 hours to make them, so I’d much rather just pay Dalke $100 and get the much nicer aluminum piece.
 
CDsDontBurn said:
I'd have to get mine made. I don't have tools to make them myself. Not even a drill press to use as a "sketchy lathe". I forget if that's you or @theterminator93 . It's one of you two though, lol
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Yeah that’s me😆 However there’s no lathing, I used it how it’s supposed to in this case, just drilling 4 holes into plate and cutting/grinding the plate to shape. It would be cake work for any machine shop to do it as it’s literally just taking the hole spacing of the stock caliper bracket and adding another pair right above them by the amount of difference in rotor diameter(technically half that).


IMG_5549.jpegIMG_5538.jpeg
 
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