All 6s and 7s

I haven't had much luck in finding the answer to this, but I have a 1980 with the manual rear shoe adjusters and I want to change that to the self adjusters.

I have a complete rear end from a 1981, but I don't want to get through the hassle of swapping the whole rear end for this conversion.

Does anyone know if I can just pull the axles, swap the back plate and change all the hydraulics, parking cable, and hardware to the 81?

I have no desire to swap in the rear disc brakes as my GS is mainly stock and I want to keep it that way.

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

To swap the backing plates you will need to replace the axle bearings. The parking brake cable
may be the same but a lot of small things changed from SA to FB and brakes was one of them.
Not sure if you can reuse the brake cylinders or not. I think the thread pitch changes for the FB.

J9 can probably advise on the parts exchangeability when he sees this.

All 6s and 7s

From what I have read so far, is that the axles are the same for a few years, and based on the part numbers for 80 to 81, the axle bearing and seals are the same for the two years for the GS model.

I would have to get the 81 cables, hydraulics and thread adaptors (if possible), and shoes and hardware. Based on part numbers, the Drums are different as well. It would be nice if all I had to do was pull the axles, swap the back plate, and install the new parts.

I am due for a brake job and my parking cables are at the end of their life, so this is the best time for me to get this done.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

its easier just to swap complete assemblies, its like 6 bolts and a brake hose.

i think you could swap axles/brake drums, but then you also run into the different brake thread SA vs FB. the FB is 6x1.0 thread (i think) and the SA is 6 x1.5

and all of this is more work than just adjusting the brake shoes once in a while, and top tip, the auto adjusters don't work

All 6s and 7s

I agree with what you are saying, but in my case the rear end that I have needs full rebuild and the one it my car works just fine. The main reason for the swap it that Rear brake parts are becoming unavailable for the SA.

None of my local suppliers can even get SA brakes, and if they can special order them, it is a mint to ship them to the island. If I have to re-plumb the rear brake lines it really isn't a big deal either

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

In that case you should look into dong a full rear end swap using disk brakes. Just as much work and
better brakes.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

to swap backing plates, you need to at least do the wheel bearings, which is half way to a rebuild.

All 6s and 7s

yes when I pull it all apart I will be doing the bearings and seals.

I just can't see myself doing all the extra work of rebuilding an old rear end that I have not idea the true condition, then stick it under the car when there is a perfectly good rear end under the car now.

I could see if I was going to put taller gears and a LSD in it, it would be worth the effort, but I'm not.

Thanks for the input guys, I will take some pics and post it up later once I get everything ordered and swapped