R100 Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 Does a Pizza have a disc brake rear end ? LSD ? Will the rear end bolt into my gemini coupe ? Does the Pizza have vented brake discs ? Can i bolt the front struts into my Gemini coupe ? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikuni Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 Does a Pizza have a disc brake rear end ? Yes. LSD ? Probably not. They were a factory option but they are very rare and most that go up for sale that are listed as LSD probably aren't, so buyer beware etc. Will the rear end bolt into my gemini coupe ? No. They have a wider "cross member" where the torque tube mounts to the body. This can be swapped out for the Gemini unit though but I haven't done this myself. Also the panhard rod goes the opposite way on the diff, so you need to swap this over which just means cutting and rewelding the pin from one side to the other. Does the Pizza have vented brake discs ? Yes, vented front rotor disks with big floating calipers. Not the best brakes in the world but I have some on my Chevette and the car goes all day on the track under heavy braking. Can i bolt the front struts into my Gemini coupe ? Yes. All you need is Piazza tie-rod ends that can be purchased from most suppliers still. Change the upper and lower balljoints, wheel bearings and brake pads at the same time, will save you having to whip it all off again for quite a while. Only other thing to mention is that the last model Piazzas had a 4 link rear end. This won't bolt into anything easily, so you want the early model diff. Cheers No wurries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R100 Posted May 13, 2010 Author Share Posted May 13, 2010 Cheers for the in-depth reply. Is there any advantage in fitting a Pizza rear end besides it having discs ? What year did the 4 link pizza rear end come about ? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikuni Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 Cheers for the in-depth reply.Is there any advantage in fitting a Pizza rear end besides it having discs ? What year did the 4 link pizza rear end come about ? Thanks I'm not too sure about the year the 4 link came in because most t-car people pretty much ignore them. I'm guessing 1986+ but someone else may chime in with better info on that. I bought a sight unseen Piazza diff off trademe for like 10 bux that had been in a Chevette race car but unfortunately it turned out to be one of the new gay ones so it turned into probably about $3 worth of scrap. In your Gemini you can actually put a Piazza diff head into it and bolt the disks on, which would be the easiest way of getting it in there. This suggests to me that the diff head isn't particularly stronger being the same size but if you happened upon an LSD it would obviously be a good step up. The later Geminis (usually badged Holdens) have a different diff that doesn't allow the Piazza diff to be swapped in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burntrubber Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 I have Piazza running gear in my 84 Gemini I have front springs and brakes along with the diff there far better than Gemini but nothing spectacular imo. The master cylinder could really do with upgrading there's quite abit of travel in the pedal that would probably make it feel alot better. Its all certed etc also has a turbo Piazza engine so it goes quite well and the brakes still passed. I had to change the panard rod mount over like Brad said also mounts for a sway bar not sure if your coupe will have a sway bar though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R100 Posted May 13, 2010 Author Share Posted May 13, 2010 Would be great to get my hands on a piazza engine, especially a turbo version. I dont really have any plans to do a transplant in my coupe for a while. First choice would be a piazza engine, or a bighorn 3.2 V6 could be nice. Failing that a 1jz N/A with 6 throttles. Not sure how well a 6 cylinder would fit in one. Would have to get the tape measure out i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jase Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 got a boost mag with a 1ggte in a gem bit of cut and shut but it works, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R100 Posted May 13, 2010 Author Share Posted May 13, 2010 got a boost mag with a 1ggte in a gem bit of cut and shut but it works, I will definatly have a good talk to ya next time i see you. At this stage i want to get it to a nice running wof condition. In the mean time its good to do a bit of research into my options of running gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoeddynz Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 I put piazza under-garments in my chevette back in '93. The 'front' crossmember that mikuni mentions - just run a big drill up through body work and plate it at top i remember correctly. The piazza axle is 40mm wider then chevette one. Yeah- and the master cylinder needs a bigger bore or else it will have a soft (but effective) pedal feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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