Ok heres my dilemma.... Im not a gear head!!! But have had a 91 z28 convertible Camaro for the last few months and have already gutted the interior, putting down Raammatt currently, and have new carpet, door panels, and had sail panels reupholstered all waiting to go back in. Will be upgrading sound system before the carpet down. Also being repainted in next week or so.

Now to my problem. I am getting stock C6 brakes(rotors/calipers) and C5 wheels for next to nothing and want to use them(not the problem). I am back full time in school and don't have the know how nor the time to do it myself so will be having someone (local shop) do it for me. After spending countless hours on this forum I have come to the conclusion that the fronts will go on with "minor spindle modification" (not sure what that means), but the rears will be more difficult since I have drums currently. I see some bolt on kits but they run 300+ to have an ebrake.

Could I get a 4th gen rear? 98+ which I know I can get for $250 locally and have the brakes put on them easier since I know the brake package was much better these years plus will get the improved gears that I see so many people rave about and not need spacers in the back all at once. If not is there a good (not too expensive) alternative to get better gears and easy brake install like a aftermarket rear? It has the 350TPI in it now but plan on upgrading (LSx probably) it in about 5 years when school is done and money/time is not as much of an issue.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, Sean

 

www.bigbrakeupgrade.com modded my spindles and they came out perfect. Ask for the custom brackets, too. He'll even paint them for you. You'll also need to either machine down your existing rotors or buy new hubs. so you can use those big C6 rotors. make sure to get longer studs, too. Be aware that the rotors will push your front wheels out 1/4" or 5/16" if I'm not mistaken.

Here is the article that details how to get the LS1 brakes on your axle is you have drums https://www.thirdgen.org/ls1reardisc

I rather have pushed you in the right direction then told you to search

Hope this helps, friend.

Mike

 

check out-http://www.lukeskaff.com/car/brakes/introduction.html and http://www.flynbye.com/catalog/c1_p1.html and http://www.ws6transam.org/1LEbrake.html these pages and the one listed above should give you a glimpse into any brake upgrades you will need. I have a 97 4th gen rear with a torsen diff and disks. and I paid 250 for it. and the flynbye has the Ebrake cable for about $100 to make them work. best of luck

 

Thanks camaromike222 and frankinmaro for answering and not telling me to just search bc I have, I think part of the problem is im looking for a way that I can take all the parts to a decent mechanic and have them put it all on without lots of modifications. Also lots of the things I read I don't know what they are talking about so its a slow process.

The www.bigbrakeupgrade.com looks like they could help and have already talked to flynbye once before but will do so again. I have the Lukeskaff under my favorites page but when I emailed him I never received a reply. Ill look into these suggestions and will repost my new questions haha

Thanks again

 

Swap in a 4th gen rear end with the 4th gen brakes. The rear brakes are not as important(vs. front brakes) and the performance gain from C6 rear brakes vs. 4th gen rear brakes is in my opinion not worth the trouble on a daily driver(non-track car).

I already have the rear 4th gen brakes and I'm working on upgrading the front stock 3rd gen brakes.

 

Yea was actually considering that route seeing that I was told by someone(I think hawks) that the 98+ rear brakes are great. The thing is im doing it partly for the look of those big red calipers that say corvette on them. Plus Im getting them from a friend and only had to pay shipping. Is there any way to buy a different rotor that would be easier to put the corvette caliper on or am I showing my lack of car knowledge?

 

98+ rear brakes have slightly larger diameter and thicker rotors, and a separate parking brake. They don't have the complicated actuator mechanism that older PBR rear calipers use, so they're easier/faster on brake pad swaps.

I'm not aware that the rear calipers have CORVETTE cast into them, just the fronts as far as I've seen.

I don't think anybody has any misperceptions regarding your car knowledge, so don't worry about that.

Fronts: you could install LS1 front brakes, and bolt the Vette caliper in place of the LS1 caliper. This is a common upgrade among LS1 guys. Smaller rotor, but still better than factory 3rd gen. It's pretty much the same effort in terms of the spindle modification, though.

Rears: the Vette rear caliper can be installed in place of the 98+ rear caliper, bolts right up to the 98+ backing plates, but the offset isn't exactly the same and there's not much benefit in the swap aside from possibly slightly-stronger caliper castings.

 

If you buy Fly-n-Bye's C5 kit, it arrives pre-assembled. All the shop would have to do is remove your current spindle/rotor/brake assembly from the lower ball joint, strut, tie rod, and hydraulic line and then bolt up the new assembly. Connect the hydraulics, bleed, and off you go.

Not sure about BigBrakeUpgrade, I use and recommend Fly-n-Bye.

 

If you can't seem to get a hold of Eb from flynbye, www.kore3.com has a lot of the parts needed aswell. Also, if you're not a fan of the raised "corvette" logo on the C6 calipers, know that the 2005-2006 GTO caliper is the same casting, but without the raised lettering. It's just red and has the "GTO" logo painted white on it. it will bolt up just the same. If anything, give kore3 a call and the guys there will give you tons of info if you don't already have it.

 

[quote=kevinc; I'm not aware that the rear calipers have CORVETTE cast into them, just the fronts as far as I've seen.

Rears: the Vette rear caliper can be installed in place of the 98+ rear caliper, bolts right up to the 98+ backing plates, but the offset isn't exactly the same and there's not much benefit in the swap aside from possibly slightly-stronger caliper castings.[/quote]

Im not sure if they said corvette in the back or not. After doing some searching Im thinking not but they will arrive soon so I can find out then. I think Im going to get all the needed parts pre-assembled by one of the people listed above for the fronts and go the 4th gen rear 98+ route. If rear caliper does not say corvette on it I will have to decide which one I want to use. Im going to have to paint them anyway so Ill probably go with the larger/better looking one if there is much difference, seeing that you said it could bolt right up to the 98+ backing plates.

Now all I have to do is spend more hours learning about the 4th gen rear swap.

Thanks for all your suggestions...

 

the rear end swap is easy it all bolts up the same the torque arm, driveshaft,and lower control arms,shocks and springs. unbolt remove, rebolt and bleed its that easy. the only issue might be which prop valve you might need. mine is great and it adds a little more trackwith so you can run a little bit wider tires in the rear.