I am building a pretty comprehensive resto mod 1991 Z28.
Rotisserie strip to metal, custom interior, Moser 12 bolt, T56, LS3, air bags, stainless headers and true duals sort of build.

Going to mainly use it for car shows.

The next major purchase coming down the line will be brakes. I should also mention I will be running an emergency brake that will be electronic.

Hawks recently release a new spindle that can use C7 front hubs. Seems like an attractive option since that makes running C7 brakes very easy, at least up front.
Before this I was planning on just running 100% Baer brakes since they can be a one stop shop for everything I need to run a 14" front rotor and some nice looking 4 piston front calipers. And they offer some smaller rear 4 pistons with an integrated drum e-brake that I can connect to an E-STOP to convert the mechanical pull cable to electronic.

But now with the Hawks spindle, it got me thinking. If I can mount a C7 caliper to that then can I run something like the Willwood SX6R calipers. Big 6 piston units.
I hold Wilwood in higher regard to brake quality than Baer, plus those new C7 hub spindles are attractive. They also offer an electronic rear E-brake like Tesla's have. The caliper itself is a small electric motor that clamps shut. Very easy to integrate into a custom show car build like mine.

What are other people's thoughts on this concept?

I should also say that I want my front and rear calipers to be from the same company. Be it GM, Baer or Wilwood.

 

I went with Wilwood front and rear.. 6 in front 4 rear..I am running Detroit speed front suspension and Detroit speed ford 9" rear. but the part numbers for the Wilwood that used are.
Front..140-15278d
Rear..140-9219d
Parking..3309371

 

Don't forget Scott at BigBrakeUpgrade for options too.

 

Do they ever have anything in stock though? Almost every kit is out of stock and has been for a while.

 

get wheels that you cant see the brakes and spend the money elsewhere.
dont need high priced brakes to get on and off a trailer

 

Wish that was something I was into.

As a kid who later went on to become a mechanical engineer, I always loved the look of massive brakes on cars.

I am basically making a show car my past self would have found super cool.

100% no question has to have big brakes.

So much so that I even called Baer, and Wilwood to get technical drawings of their calipers so I can see how big they are compared to my C7 Corvette's calipers. Show car needs brakes at least as big as those, if not larger. The Wilwood units shared by sodak are not to my liking. I have always thought they looked way too small. I am sure they work fantastic. I just really don't like the look, so they are off the table. I like Wilwood as a company, and that is why I was asking about the concept of putting the larger Wilwood caliper on the Hawks aftermarket spindle.

I even called Wilwood and asked if a larger caliper that they sell could be offered on their Camaro setup, and they said "maybe" but all risk of things not fitting is on you. Makes sense. But now with the Hawks spindle, maybe this isn't as outlandish an idea as before. Just a thought.

Anyways, thanks for the replies!

I have considered BigBrakeUpgrade for GM stuff. Wilwood and Baer. If anyone knows of alternatives, please share. Thx.

 

hell yea!!

i hear ya, big brakes look cool.
I think thats why that one mercedes had dual brake calipers more for looks than function..

 

Here is what I've always thought about big brake upgrades. My opinion.

Drive down the road. Stomp on the brakes. Do the wheels lock up and the tires slide on the pavement?

If YES, then you need more tire not more brakes. Probably also need suspension geometry improvements and front to rear weight distribution improvements too.

Big Brake Upgrades are for Posers that want the look. I got no problem with that. They look good on a car.

Big Brake Upgrades are for race cars that want to stomp on the brakes over and over and over again.

 

so idk if I'm a poser or not but

this


required all of this.



I went w wilwood 6 piston/13.5 in up front and 4 pistons in the rear. I have 305 35 18 (rear) and 275 35 18 (front) NT01s. The tires are super sticky. The brakes stop unbelievably well. The car is balanced, safe and a blast to drive. A fast car that can't stop is stupid, there's really no point in dying fast. I used a Kore3 kit on the front kit w modified spindles and a standard rear wilwood setup on my 9 in. The car hits 100 really fast and comes back down from 100 really fast. The brakes perform really well. The only issue is if there's a car behind me. Short stops in traffic I'm usually looking in my rear view worried amount getting rear ended.

I strongly feel like your brakes need to be at least as good as your drivetrain. The stock brakes on these cars are terrible.

 

The ATS Brembos were about $950 all done if you modify the spindle yourself

 

Thanks for all the posts everyone.

I know people have opinions on why to have or not have big brakes, or even costs of certain setups.

I am aiming to have this thread be about big brake options. That's it.
I don't even really care about price. I am fine spending $4k on a front setup if it is what checks all the boxes and it has a rear setup that compliments it.

I am 100% going to be running a very sticky tire, if anyone is curious. Probably a Michellin Cup 2 tire.
Even though it is a show car I will be running 4.11s in the Moser 12 bolt and a new Blueprint 530HP LS3 mated to a new T56. Not going to be a rocket ship, but no slouch either.
Want it to be a fun, safe show car.

Also don't care about caliper and wheel clearance as I plan to get a three piece wheel that will provide whatever clearance I need.

 

i wish i had that optin with these 17 hawks wheels i have..
they look so good, but, im pretty much stuck with LS1 stuff.
ohwell, itll have to do.
a 12 psi 5.3 wont make that much power to really worry about it

 

my setup fit under 17s really well.

 

not with these 17s they wont..
or so i have been told by many

 

I am going to start another thread, when the time comes, to talk about companies that offer three piece wheels.
There are soooooo many wheel companies out there and I have stumbled onto some that work for niche car scenes like for example there is a company that sells three piece wheels almost exclusively for Supras and they are much much cheaper than say a Billet Specialties rim.

Something to keep in mind.

For my resto mod build I am just saving up and biting the bullet to get the exact wheel fitment I want to take advantage of my mini-tub as much as possible.

 

Someone just posted Wilwoods with Hawk's new C7 knuckles over in that thread, in case you didn't see it yet.

Definitely gotta have big showy brakes on a purpose-built show car. And they've gotta be clearly visible through the appropriately big wheels. Otherwise, if you have big wheels that hide the brakes, whether the brakes are big or small, then you'll have a car that disproportionately looks of WHEELS, kind of like the animated images in scottmoyer's signature.

Likewise, big wheels that show small brakes also looks disproportionately of WHEELS, but in a horse and buggy kind of way. But big or small, wheel and brake proportions matter for appearance, whether you need the stopping power or not.

But since you'll have an engine that, on rare occasions, might require such stopping power, then the big brakes can serve that purpose too, even if that isn't their main purpose.

Regarding "out of stock" at BBU, my supposition is that, with so many new, expensive options now, he probably buys and builds to order. It's not like the simple LS1 brake upgrades are as hotta ticket as they used to be, where he could afford to have everything on hand. But he does offer all of the partial conversion kits, front and rear, for newer and older brakes upgrades, such as conversion brackets, backing plates, parking brakes, hardware, brake lines, etc., so people can always get calipers themselves for the upgrades they want. Again, that's just my guess, but he's easy to reach, and he always replies to people and helps where he can, so there's only one way to find out what he can do for people, and that's to email him.

 

I just replied to the thread about the hawks spindles and the Wilwood calipers! Amazing!

 

Looks like Wilwood will be what I go with. Will be a bit pricey but worth it. They have a C6 Z06 upgrade caliper that is massive and fits on a 15" rotor. Will really fill up 19 or 20 up front. For the rear, they have many options for a Moser 12 bolt. Will go with 12.9" rear rotor with a 4 piston caliper. (The normal calipers they offer for third gen fronts). I will also get their electric e-brake mini calipers. Makes the emergency brake upgrade to electronic super easy.

This is all possible due to Hawks spindles converting the front to a modern vette and the rear being a 12 bolt.