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I have been looking but have not been able to find any information on putting Corvette Z06 brakes on the front of my 82Z. I would think that this would be cheaper then custom building something from scratch.
Anyone have any information on this conversion?
I saw memebr Neil with them on his car but have not been able to get any information on how it was done.
so how do you figure that switching to zo6 brakes isn't building something from scratch? nothing will just bolt on you will have to mod the spindle to fit an adapter, that you will have to build from sctatch or buy, that will bolt to the caliper, brake lines will have to be changed, and C5 brakes move the wheels out almost a 1/3 of an inch, and you may have clearance issues with you wheels.
ever check out BigBrakeUpgrade.com? you can buy a bolt in c5 setup for around 750+shippingt and xtras, or a ls1 for 650+
I know from reading the stickies and threads that I can get c5 & LS1 brakes. The problem is they are not big enough.
I have talked to Brembo about the Gran Turismo system's and Wilwood about their Billet SL6R Radial Mount front brakes. Both will require me to have a hub built and also make a caliper mounting bracket. Both are not a big deal to do but I have seen pictures of the Z06 brakes on Thrid gen cars and was just wondering if they sell a kit, it might be quicker to just purchase one.
Stopping from 175+ will require big brakes. I do not want a "one stop wonder" or something that warps the rotors from heat. I have the back covered but do not want to have the car under braking in the front.
I am after 13 or 14" rotors with six piston calipers. The stock stuff is just not going to work.
You are building a silver state car correct? How does the pad consumption, and availablitly look like for the z06 stuff? I haven't run SS, so i don't know how demanding it on the thermal side for the brakes, but you may almost have better luck going with the wilwoods, as you can easily get pads of all sorts of compounds.
As for the swapping of the brakes, I would have to look into the mounting. If the mounting system is the same as the C6 stuff, but just uses the larger rotor and diffrent calipers, then it should be pretty easy. Really, you will need to talk to Neil, or have the parts around to measure up. Without have a set around, it would be hard to tell what all is needed to make it fit.
Also, talk to Ed Miller, he may be able to set you up with some brackets to use one of the bigger wilwood calipers, and also hook you up with hubs and such. When you talk to him, make sure you talk to him about using the real 1LE hubs, as they have a larger bearing (you will want it at silverstate).
We talkin about the 6 piston C6 Z06 brakes or 2 piston C5 Z06 brakes?
There was 1 or 2 guys fabricating the new C6 Z06 brakes i think...not sure what there progress was or if i could even find the person who was doing it.
Baer makes a six piston kit for the 3rd gen and stoptech might also. I think both are around $3500. The Z06 brakes are an OK upgrade but they do not offer very many pads choices and most of the z06 guys that are pushing the brakes hard will upgrade to Brembo. I run brembo 993TT calipers and 13" rotors and I am very happy with them. These are radial mount and making the bracket is more involved. I know that Ed is working on a brembo upgrade but I think he is working with the "lotus" sized caliper.
You are building a silver state car correct? How does the pad consumption, and availablitly look like for the z06 stuff? I haven't run SS, so i don't know how demanding it on the thermal side for the brakes, but you may almost have better luck going with the wilwoods, as you can easily get pads of all sorts of compounds.
As for the swapping of the brakes, I would have to look into the mounting. If the mounting system is the same as the C6 stuff, but just uses the larger rotor and diffrent calipers, then it should be pretty easy. Really, you will need to talk to Neil, or have the parts around to measure up. Without have a set around, it would be hard to tell what all is needed to make it fit.
Also, talk to Ed Miller, he may be able to set you up with some brackets to use one of the bigger wilwood calipers, and also hook you up with hubs and such. When you talk to him, make sure you talk to him about using the real 1LE hubs, as they have a larger bearing (you will want it at silverstate).
Good Luck!
John
Hi John,
Thanks for the post. I am building a silver state car and there are a few companies who offer different compounds for the Z06 brake pads. I read quite a bit on the corvette fourm and for some reason these guys have not found any of the companies who make them.
I have tried sending Neil a PM but he did not answer. He might not wish to share his information with me. Not really sure...
At work we have all of the equipment to make just about anything. I had my coworker design up a front hubs in solid works and I was able to use bigger bearings then the 1LE hubs. Once I figure out what I am going to do as far as a kit I will have them made.
Everyone talkes about the caliper brackets as being a big pita. I am just going to cut off the factory mounting ears and put the spindle in the mill and machine some flat spots for the new mount. Then have the CNC machine make up the new brackets.
I find it hard to beleive that knowbody makes any big brakes for our cars.
I know that Bear makes them but I really do not want Bear products on my car.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 355SS
Baer makes a six piston kit for the 3rd gen and stoptech might also. I think both are around $3500. The Z06 brakes are an OK upgrade but they do not offer very many pads choices and most of the z06 guys that are pushing the brakes hard will upgrade to Brembo. I run brembo 993TT calipers and 13" rotors and I am very happy with them. These are radial mount and making the bracket is more involved. I know that Ed is working on a brembo upgrade but I think he is working with the "lotus" sized caliper.
I am waiting on a call back from Brembo to find out if they will just sell me some parts to make my own kit. I am probably going to use their caliper and rotor. Then I will just need to fab up a hat, caliper mounting bracket and my hubs.
Last edited by Comp788; 01-26-2007 at 11:17 AM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
Ed Miller sells a kit, that uses 13"x1.25, and wilwood FBS calipers, its a 4piston caliper, but you might talk to him, and check out wilwood's site, to find what calipers use those same mounting demitions. It sounds like you have all the stuff going there, that you can make your own setup.
Hey, keep me up to date on the hubs that you build, I am really interested in that project.
--John
(who plans to go down to Neveda one of these years....)
I sent a PM to Ed. Interested to see what he has to offer.
I just got off the phone with the guys at Brembo and boy are they proud of thier stuff. They was $3,000 per caliper for their GTP 6 piston caliper. I can't justify 6k for just calipers. I know that they are nice stuff but over my price range.
I am going to use the Wilwood Radial mount 6 piston caliper for their 14" rotor. Should be enough brake for me. They also have a nice selection of pads to choose from as well.
I have looked at Coleman, AP Racing, and Sierra Racing Products (they used to be JFZ) They all have nice stuff but none of it seems to be what I am looking for.
I have the JFZ brakes on the 9" in the rear. They are 12 1/2" x 1.250 with 4 piston calipers. As we all know the front need to do more then the back.
I want the breaks dialed in perfect. I also want them not to have over heating issues or warping issues.
It looks like I'll be in all of the parts to do the fronts about $1200.00 flat. That is much better then Bear's kits for $3500.00
Why not run 4 piston brembo's? They are a lighter caliper, have the same or more pad area and are much cheaper. The only advantage the 6 pistons have is less pad taper. You can find porsche (993tt, 996tt) or ferrari (f40, f50) calipers for around $1000 for the pair. The slp firehawk came with f40 calipers.
Why not run 4 piston brembo's? They are a lighter caliper, have the same or more pad area and are much cheaper. The only advantage the 6 pistons have is less pad taper. You can find porsche (993tt, 996tt) or ferrari (f40, f50) calipers for around $1000 for the pair. The slp firehawk came with f40 calipers.
The guy I talked to at Brembo North America Racing Division said to stay away from that for my application.
Comp, That suprises me that the brembo rep said that. But, they are the experts. I am pretty sure the new Viper is using 4 piston brembo's on 14" rotors, and people who have driven both the viper and z06, say the vipers brakes are much better then the corvettes.
It sure sounds like you are getting things figured out. I would tend to say, go with AP or Wilwood, just for the huge ammount of pad compounds available, and they are a much lower price point than brembo (well, AP is getting up there).
How much heat do you think silverstate is going to cause? I know you have to haul down from terminal speed a couple of times, but you also have a very long periods to disapate the heat. You might try going over to FRRAX.com, there are a few 4thgen guys there who have run silverstate, and other ORR events. They may shed some more light onto the thermal capasity needed in a braking system, to safely handle the course.
Sorry for not posting up yet. We can do a lot of things for you. I have just completed a 14" ZO6 setup and another using a 14" ZO6 rotor and a C5/C6 caliper. We could adapt a Wilwood 4 pot caliper with little issue.
I'll get back to your PMs, I have 20 or so to reply to.
For pics or recent stuff, here ya go. We can make something to fit your needs:
Dewey I agree with you. The thremal capacity needed for silver state is a lot less than what is needed for autocross. There are many cars that compete in the 170 and slower classes that are running c5 and c4hd brakes with no problems. I can't believe that the large 4 piston brembo's are not recommended for silverstate since they are standard equipment on the 200 mph porsche and ferrari street cars.
Comp, That suprises me that the brembo rep said that. But, they are the experts. I am pretty sure the new Viper is using 4 piston brembo's on 14" rotors, and people who have driven both the viper and z06, say the vipers brakes are much better then the corvettes.
It sure sounds like you are getting things figured out. I would tend to say, go with AP or Wilwood, just for the huge ammount of pad compounds available, and they are a much lower price point than brembo (well, AP is getting up there).
How much heat do you think silverstate is going to cause? I know you have to haul down from terminal speed a couple of times, but you also have a very long periods to disapate the heat. You might try going over to FRRAX.com, there are a few 4thgen guys there who have run silverstate, and other ORR events. They may shed some more light onto the thermal capasity needed in a braking system, to safely handle the course.
To be honest I am not sure how much heat the silverstate will cause. I do not think it will be that great as most of the time you will have quite a bit of tme to cool the brakes back down.
The trend in braking today (according to Brembo) is to run a smaller caliper and lighter brake assembly. His comment to me is a few extra pounds never hurts too much where you can spare a couple of pounds plus you get lots of added safety of the larger brake.
I do also plan on doing some autocross so I just wanted to get something and be done with it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ebmiller88
Brett, what size wheels are you running? This will let me know what will fit.
Ed
Ed,
I will be using 18" wheels. Are the hubs that you sell forged aluminum or steel?
Last edited by Comp788; 01-28-2007 at 09:18 PM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
Very interesting guys, I was planning on running SS eventually as well and was going to go with the Brembo 4 piston setup. Keep in mind that some Brembo reps would be much more willing to try and upsell you a new $3000 set of calipers vs you taking a set that is off of a wrecked car that they see no money from. One set of calipers isn't so big of a deal but with word of mouth and internet threads like this, one set calipers can turn into everyone on this site running for them, just something to consider. I just got a new job (just grajiated) and I'm going to be trying to get a Brembo caliper and 13-13.5" rotor under a 17" ZR1 wheel here pretty soon, hopefully it works out. Good luck to everyone!
I agree with what your saying about reps. When I spoke with the guy at Bear the guy basically blew me off as some tire kicker and said "yea we make it order this".
When I spoke with Brembo they sent me to the correct division. From there the guy asked me the inportant questions that they should ask. Application, purpose, weight of car, thermal demands, wheels, and what else has been done to the car. From there the guy took my information so he could check into to see if they could offer a discount or sponsorship. Class act group. Once he called back to say that they could not offer anything direct. He gave me the name another company (including the owners name and said to tell him that he ((the guy from Brembo)) told me to call him) which would have better pricing. The second place that I called asked me all of the same questions and wanted to make sure that what I got was correct for my application.
Wilwood was the same way. their tech person that I spoke with wanted to make sure that I got what I really needed not what they were trying to sell me. They asked questions and listened to my answers.
All in all it was a first rate deal. I think dollar for dollar (pending what Ed has to say) I will probably end up using Wilwood breaks. It will cost me about two to three grand less and probably work just as good.
Just some experience with my car to add to you libary:
I road race a Ex players A4U/1LE factory racer. It has the factory 1LE PBR setup all around , other than cooling air ducts and and compound Hawk Blues front, HP+ rears I have never had ANY brake fade. This includes running some VERY tight course as well as some very fast courses.
I may try some HT-10s this year, they are supose tobe easier on rotors but do need a bit more heat than the Blues. BTW I have around 400 HP in my car.
Open road will give you lots of time for the brakes to cool down. With the high performamce compounds, you need need heat for them to work, don;t cool them too much. My blues aren't too bad, but work better after a lap or two, just like my tires. Having to haul a car down form spped a few times in a event dosen't require huge brakes. It is the over, over and over, braking (road racing, especially enduros- we run 3 hr events) and getting rid of the heat fast enough to maintain consistent braking throughout a race is the important factor.
The C4 set up is very similar to the 1 LE, the C4 rotor is actually thinner than the 1LE which is why the The calipers have different gaps in the.
In summary the C4/1LE brakes are very good and would proably work for your application.
I would have no hesitation running my car at an open road event as it is. Currently I am working towards some land speed events with the same car.
Player88,
Thanks for the insight! The more I think about it and hear stories like yours, the more I'm looking towards just running C5 brakes. They don't have (as much of) the caliper spreading issue that the LS1's have, the rotors are cheap and it's already made. Maybe I'll work up the motivation to go bigger, we'll see.
thanks for the info, I know one of the corvette rotors have the diameter, but it is thinner and the calipers are narrower. I wil have to find the thread, but is was on a 3rd gen brake conversion, where the camaro was fitted with corvette calipers, with brackets that bolted on to a modified spindle arm. Also, the rotor was turned down to make a hub and a corvette rotor was placed over it. This rotor was right under 1 inch approx .950 where as my 1 LE rotors are 1.25 ".
The reason I found this is that I am tryng to find a rotor that will fit over a set of 1LE turned rotors, (to make a hub). But I want to use the stock 1LE calipers. any suggestions?
I don;t want to have th remove the hubs/bearings to swap rotors etc. I would also like to go to a lighter hat and rotor assembly.
I found some forged aluminum front hubs but I have yet to figure out the rotor spacing on them yet. I have them on order and should get them next week. They use the 1LE bearings and look great so far. The rotor will slide over the hub like a 4th gen.
Actually both. I have the 1LE brakes so what I would like to do it replace the 1 piece front rotor/hub combo with a separate front hub and rotors ala 4th gens. This way I don't have to remove the longer wheel studs from the old rotor and install them in the new rotor each time and save some weight.
Let me know what hub and rotors you are using. I still want to keep the 12" rotor so I can use 16"
wheels and the stock 1LE calipers for now.
thanks for the info, I know one of the corvette rotors have the diameter, but it is thinner and the calipers are narrower. I wil have to find the thread, but is was on a 3rd gen brake conversion, where the camaro was fitted with corvette calipers, with brackets that bolted on to a modified spindle arm. Also, the rotor was turned down to make a hub and a corvette rotor was placed over it. This rotor was right under 1 inch approx .950 where as my 1 LE rotors are 1.25 ".
The reason I found this is that I am tryng to find a rotor that will fit over a set of 1LE turned rotors, (to make a hub). But I want to use the stock 1LE calipers. any suggestions?
I don't want to have to remove the hubs/bearings to swap rotors etc. I would also like to go to a lighter hat and rotor assembly.
thanks in advance
Steve
Those are the standard Corvette brakes, 12" x .81" rotor and a similar but thinner caliper. That was my first attempt at brake kits after my 1LE upgrade and I ran them on my RS until I upgraded them to the larger 13" HDs.
Speaking of them, we've also done the 13" C4 HD setup which uses a 13" x 1.1" J55 rotor and uses the 1LE hub. I run this same setup on my RS and it's great. You could keep your calipers but you'll need different carriers (abutments) and adapter brackets that will fit your 1LE spindles perfectly. You can then get a two piece rotor from the aftermarket. I have all the parts you need on hand, hubs, abutments, and all.
Nope, not GTA wheels. I know the 12" LS1s will and I made a 12.2" Wilwood kit just for those wheels a while back, very nice kit with all the brake you'll ever need:
Yes, I saw those, VERY nice. I will have to find a rotor and hat that will work. I have taken all teh measurements and AP forsure and wilwood(maybe) have the parts that will work, according to there catalog, I found them online at Essex in NC, formerly in GA.
I was looking into the C6 Z06 upgrade and was suprised to see a lot of negative comments on the brakes on corvetteforum. Apparently since the brakes use an individual brake pad per piston, that means 12 front pads and 8 rears. The main complaints were one track day and the pads were gone, and due to the amount of pads they are pain to replace that frequently. Also, GM cheaped out and made two "left" rotors, AND the rotors crack easily. I agree with what was said about the Viper Brembo brakes, according to all sources they are superior with a 14" front and rear setup compared to the C6 Z06 14" front and 13.4" rear. As an alternative I've heard the CTS V uses a really nice 14" front and rear Brembo setup, has anyone heard of this swap being done yet?
I saw the same thing when I went onto the corvette forum and also when I did more research. I am just going to be building my own front brake conversion. I am using really nice forged aluminum hubs that I purchased and Willwood six piston calipers. I well need to fab up front caliper mounts once I get the rotor and hat figured out. There are lots of choices for aftermarket hats available.
I was looking into the C6 Z06 upgrade and was suprised to see a lot of negative comments on the brakes on corvetteforum. Apparently since the brakes use an individual brake pad per piston, that means 12 front pads and 8 rears. The main complaints were one track day and the pads were gone, and due to the amount of pads they are pain to replace that frequently. Also, GM cheaped out and made two "left" rotors, AND the rotors crack easily. I agree with what was said about the Viper Brembo brakes, according to all sources they are superior with a 14" front and rear setup compared to the C6 Z06 14" front and 13.4" rear. As an alternative I've heard the CTS V uses a really nice 14" front and rear Brembo setup, has anyone heard of this swap being done yet?
I have a CTS V caliper in the shop..I can't get it fit up to a 3rd gen spindle, it's just too damn big. Here's the link:
I saw the same thing when I went onto the corvette forum and also when I did more research. I am just going to be building my own front brake conversion. I am using really nice forged aluminum hubs that I purchased and Willwood six piston calipers. I well need to fab up front caliper mounts once I get the rotor and hat figured out. There are lots of choices for aftermarket hats available.
Good deal, I must say I was disappointed that the C6 Z06 setup has so many issues. I guess it really says something when the guys that are tracking their 70k cars are switching back to the C5 brakes. Too bad the CTS V brakes aren't viable, I guess I'm satisfied with my C5 setup then. I'm just seeing more and more cars out there with a 14" rotor now and wanted to upgrade.
Ed, I still think it would work with a 13.5" rotor. I don't know how much wheel clearance it would have though. Without measurments, I couldn't tell you if it will clear my 17" C5 wheels. I still think the CTS-V, would be the biggest baddest budget brake swap possible.
Ed, I still think it would work with a 13.5" rotor. I don't know how much wheel clearance it would have though. Without measurments, I couldn't tell you if it will clear my 17" C5 wheels. I still think the CTS-V, would be the biggest baddest budget brake swap possible.
If the Brembo 14" CTS V combo could work I'm sure it would be the best out there. But I'm sure if he can't get it to work then no one else can.
Although I am not a big fan of them, Baer offers a new 6 pot system front and back that uses C5/C6 pads in 13 or 14 inch. The calipers weigh only 6.5 lbs.
i know this is pretty much a dead thread but i have to say it since no one else has www.hawksthirdgenparts.com has the best price on this kit at $1600.00 for the kit and the BEST customer service ever!!! (check out their add on the side bar)
