brake upgrade questions

[asite57]

i wanted to do the F Body brake upgrade for my 99 Grand Prix and i was wondering if the early f bodys brakes would work im talking like 93-97

[BillBoost37]

Most do the 98-02. I'm unsure about the earlier. But hey.. hang in and hopefully someone has an answer for you. If cost is an issue, check car-part.com and ask for the brackets and bolts. I did. Then picked up rotors and pads. Came out to be $60 shipped for the calipers/brackets.

[boostedcompg]

the earlier are single pistons.....not much of an upgrade. thats why people do the 98+

[Odi]

93-97 uses a old school cast iron single piston caliper with smaller rotors. the 98+ uses a twin piston aluminum caliper with bigger rotors. you can find the calipers CHEAP.

[asite57]

alright my next question is that i know i need the calipers the brackets the pads the rotors and the install kit from zzp but so i really need the SS brake lines i know its good to do but its a little out of budget so can i just use the stock brake lines?

[boostedcompg]

Its not a must but nice. I have some calipers for sale if you need

[asite57]

how much would you charge shipping included?

[Odi]

you dont need the zzp kit.

read this write up: ClubGP Message Forum troubleshooting

use f-body rotors too. and if you cant afford ss lines, inspect your current lines. if theyre cracked/old/rotten/whatever it might be wise to get them relaced, even if not with ss lines.

[bps02gtp]

What r the benefits with dual piston anyway?

[WPOD]

I wrote the F-body review on the ZZP site. I just wanted to comment on "stock" lines. I wish I could remember where, but I read a test on rubber lines, and while they all "inflate" under pressure, some were much worse than others. I think they put 1000#'s on them and reported % of "stretch" based on fluid volume. Turns out some rubber lines have performance that is pretty good, while the cheapos balloon a fair bit before the woven reinforcement goes taught. They all met/exceeded the required minimum burst strength, but hey, It's all about good feel and feedback when you pound it.

[boostedcompg]

Depends on shippin...where are you located?

[Suaveat69]

Use the C5 clipers. Stronger and have smaller psitons thatn F-Body. Only issue with this route is you need to use F-brackets.

[Scottydoggs]

and you'll need these

mcmaster.com
P/N:6679K16
Qty: 4
Price: $3.15 each

or drill and tap the f body caliper bracket to use the your stock caliper bracket bolts.

[boostedcompg]

You need f body brackets for any of them. But he's right, I have the c5 calipers and they rule.

[WPOD]

You need f body brackets for any of them. But he's right, I have the c5 calipers and they rule.

After looking around for calipers-and Rock Auto gets $75-$100 for REBUILT C5's-I kept looking and I read that C6 calipers have about 30% more "rigidity" than C5's, which are about 200% better than standard F-Body issue(!) I started looking for a deal on new calipers. Since I already Whupped a pair of F-bods I wanted to step up to 'Vette calipers. The C5 and C6 have the same profile, so clearance is the same with both. A bit more digging and I found the KORE3 Industries LLC web site, which features PDF templates that you can print out and then check against your wheels. KORE3 is pretty much a custom shop catering to racers and enthusiasts and is run by a man named Tobin Knighton. Tobin is Tech Support, Engineering Wiz, Machinist/Fabricator, and Shipper all-in-one, and he is incredibly knowledgeable about all things mechanical and brakes in particular. I spoke with him for about 45 minutes (mostly about brakes) and he did a quick calculation on which template to print and how much to shift the centerline (.430" for the ~11.9" rotor using the hybrid template). Once I verified the fit (they're on now and I have over 1/8" wheel clearance with new pads) I ordered the C6 calipers, Banjo bolts, and copper washers. Tobin tossed in mounting hardware and found me the best option for expedited shipping. So I basically paid $126 Ea. for NEW C6 calipers instead of $100 Ea. for Cardone-rebuilt C5's from RockAuto! Tobin Seriously hooked me up! Also, he routinely builds custom setups and has a good bit of stock gear that's not currently on the website. In my case I could have reused my Banjo bolts as they are the same thread and grip length, but the 'vette Banjos have a larger through hole, which probably wouldn't matter on the street but from what I understand, some race pads have such high initial bite that getting a clean release (piston pullback) is important. So maybe the larger hole allows a quicker release...

[WPOD]

F-Body calipers spread like a (insert clever remark here)...The straight edges diverge 1/4" in 5"



Gee, I wonder what's wrong?



C6 and F-body comparison



Meat where it matters



.001 runout-pepboys "premium", we'll see what happens...



Home Depot $7 bug sprayer / pressure bleeder



Yeah, I know, I need to finish fabbing the CAI...

The cap is from the HELP! rack and what isn't shown is I use a furniture clamp and some wood bits to level and squeeze the cap and reservoir to the MasterCylinder

[Odi]

ive seen brand new c6 calipers for 75 bucks/each already. theyre getting cheaper everyday.

[WPOD]

ive seen brand new c6 calipers for 75 bucks/each already. theyre getting cheaper everyday.

Private or Retail? I read that PBR (Austrailian OEM supplier) was bound by GM license on the C6's-hence the Corvette logo and minimum pricing, while the C5 design had been released from license, and they can be purchased new W/O the Corvette logo at prices closer to $75...If you have a link for cheap C6's I'd buy another set-I'm doing the upgrade on my friends car in a week or 2. $75ea. is an Awesome deal, that's nearly half what I paid, and I did my best to search out a good deal.

[Odi]

amazon got brand new c5's for around 80-90 bucks each, c6's ive spotted on various part sites. ill look around tonight and see if i can find some recent deals.

[WPOD]

Cool, I've seen the C5's in the $90 range, but I couldn't help myself-I had to get C6's...The C5's are such a huge improvement over the Camaro calipers in strength and stiffness that I would almost certainly have been fine with them, but this way, if I kill these, then I know the only fix is bigger rotors (and wheels) "Testing" has begun....