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I have been staring at a C4 upgrade for the last season and finally put it together.
The car is a 90 IROC 5.7 with the itsy bitsy front brakes and factory 12s or 13s or whatever they are on the rears -- the rears work great already. The fronts were OK but I figured from what I could see and from what I could read on this board that some gains were to be made by upgrading. So I contacted Ed Miller (thx ED!) and began to collect parts for the upgrade>
I decided on the C4 HD because it was the biggest kit that would fit in a factory wheel space (I have iroc 3 bars). There is not much diff in price for the other kits so IMO it get downs to what will work best for you.
We installed the setup last week first response is WOW what a difference.
- the install had some twists and turns but these boiled down to our inexperience and it was the first time we tried this work
- the action on the front brakes now starts right at the top of the pedal and you can physically feel the feedback from the brakes right from the top
- there is NO fade from 80mph down
- I can brake far later into a turn than before -- its almost scary
This is a highly effective upgrade with major payback in driving experience. Definitely recommend.
I am left with one minor issue hopefully someone can reply. Early on I spoke with Ed who advised some people reverse the front to rear rims to balance the offset resulting from the new spindles which push the front wheels out another 1/2 inch. The extra 1/2 inch track up front is easy to live with but I wanted to try the front/rear wheel reverse which would result in overall wider track on the car. Problem is the rear wheels (90 IROC 3-bar 16 inch) would not clear the C4 HD PBR calipers. Anyone have this problem before? What solution? With the rear wheels on the front I was going to try installing a rear wheel spacer (drum brake 3rd gen) on the front wheels to push the rears out 1/4 inch.
Hmm...odd. Where does it make contact? Outside of the caliper or on the spokes? I have a HD kit ordered so I'll look into it once I get it assembled or have the front wheels off my car.
Thanks for the write up and glad the brakes work so well, I really like mine too.
Ed
__________________ Ed Miller
Flynbye Performance LLC
Fort Mill, SC, USA
1991 RS, 305 TBI/A4: stock W/ K&N, BMR LCAs and adj. panhard rod, Jamex STB, LS1 alum D/S, KYBs, and Corvette 13" C4 HD brakes;
1988 IROC L98/A4: K&Ns, TPIS Fast Pack, gutted MAF, MSD 6A, SLP 1 5/8" headers, Dynomax cat-back, Spohn SFCs, 1LE brakes, Earl's SS lines, ES bushings, Eibach Pro-Kit, Hotchkis STB, Moog stuff, BMR LCAs and adj. panhard rod, KYBs;
1970 RS, needing a lot of TLC.
I am in the process of ordering C4HD's myself and I have this exact plan of using "rear" offset wheels on the front to negate the increased width from the brakes.
