Doing some research/ long term planning with my car, and I am currently stuck on finding information about swapping the rear drums to discs.

I am aware of the fitting pitch size differences, and that it is a good idea to swap the front spindles for better strut compatibility.

What I can't seem to figure out, is if the whole rear axle assembly/housing needs to be swapped, or if there is just some mounting parts/brackets that can be swapped instead.

 

It depends on what donor rear end you get. If you get a 1984/1985 you'll need the entire assembly because they have bigger bearing axles. You might get away with pre 1984 axles/brakes and use your current housing. Someone else might have better info on pre 1984 models.

 

Here is a .pdf I got off the Forum a while back, for 81 axle w discs into SA chassis. Presume (??) this applies to 81-83 FB, maybe 84-85 12A GSL too?

Hope it helps…
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

That's a good writeup there Stu. I saved the thread to my favorites and saved the file to my directory so I can print and save for a future mod. Excellent info, thanks for sharing!

 

So that pretty much confirms what I thought then. Whole rear end needs to be swapped. Was hoping that it would just be smaller parts as shipping a rear end is gonna be killer!

 

I put a GSL-SE rear end in my '79 for the better gearing. But you'll want to swap the front hubs as well so you have the same bolt pattern all around. Bonus, a 4 x 4.5 bolt pattern offers a better selection of wheels.