I came across a website from a guy who makes hubs and brackets to adapt C5 brakes to a 3rd Gen. Does anyone around here use C5 brakes?

I saw some of the post about the "LS1" Camaro brakes, sounds similar to what I am thinking of doing, only with the Vette parts.

Well, let me know if any of you are using them and what you think...

 

Yep, that's Todd, toddlsf here on the boards. There's a few guys out there with them. Personally, I have both the C4s and 1LEs but I will be installing the LS1s soon just to see what they're like. C5s require you to run 17s so I won't be doing that any time soon. hopefully someone will chime in here soon to address your question...


Ed

 

Yeah, I think that is the guy, Todd, that I have emailed a few times. The wheel thing is no biggie cause I have 17s on the car now. I really like to looks of the red ZO6 caliper and the price form GMpartsdirect is incredible. $85 for each, no core charge!!! Then I'll get some drilled rotors from Brembo or Baer and I'm in like Flynn...

 

what website is this?

 

Well, there used to be a link on the FAQ board, but I notice that the thead it was on is gone now. It was probably deleted because it interfered with a company selling overpriced aftermarket brakes. I understand the moderators looking out for paying sponsors, but there is not one "affordable" performance brake setup out there. I have been looking. So far, this C5 brake upgrade, or LS1, would be the most cost effective in my opinion, while giving you all the options of a Baer kit. Just my opinion...

 

well how about PMing me the link then.

 

When I get it from the source, I will either post it or PM it to ya...

 

I obviously have them on my car and love them. I was always a little worried when I took my car to the track, but now I don't worry -- at least not about stopping. I have put about 5,000 miles on them without one problem. I don't know if anyone else has them except for one person that actually had them on his car before I did. I can't remember his username right now though. I'd like to also hear if anyone has them done yet. There are some brackets out there and a few kits, so someone should have them working soon.
Todd
http://82lt1.cz28.com

 

I've had them for about a year now. I think I may be the person that Todd is talking about.

I'm the guy that like 40 people got pissed off at and called BS on when I made it known that I had installed C5 stuff on my car like 9 months prior to others trying it because I didn't come running here to tell everyone that I did it or how they should/could do it. I still don't understand that whole deal.

But anyway...

Eric

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Starting trouble again, Eric?

LOL

Ed

 

All that aside, how do you like them? The C5 brakes I mean...

 

the C5 corvette guys hate them. they go to aftermarket.

check the corvette boards, you should be able to find some real cheap.

personally I believe the pads make more of a difference than the hardware. I stuck hawk blacks in my stock 3rd gen calipers, I was able to lock the brakes with R-tires very easily.

 

What don't they like about them and which aftermarket brakes are preferred.

I'm looking into doing some kind of brake swap - havn't made up my mind which one yet. I use the car on road courses.

 

Wow, this is an old one. NIce to see some people use the "search" button!!

I can't say for full blown racing applications, but most of the guys that I know with Vettes, standard and Z06, like their brakes just fine. These guys use the cars for regular commuting and weekend racing. They do rotor/pad upgrades. Most of them agree that the aftermarket 4-6 piston caliper kits with 14" rotors would be sick, just way too expensive.

I have had my C5 fronts on for about 9 months now and have had nothing but happiness from the swap. Soon after I did the fronts I changed the stock drums out back with LS1 rear discs. All in all I spent about $1000 on the brakes total. All new up front, and a high quality used setup out back. You won't find a 4 wheel aftermarket brake setup for that, and if you do, let me know cause I would like to see what it has to offer.

So, if you are considering going with the C5s, I think its great...

 

Under heavy racing, the calipers spread and cause pad taper. Most of the LS1 f-body guys like Movit Porsche or Wilwood brakes.

 

The C5 calipers spread even with the stiffening ribs? I thought only the LS1 calipers were prone to spreading?


Ed

 

This is a little off topic......I really don't like my dinky 10.5" rotors stopping my 3500 car, especially now that the car is starting to show its age. One of my buds told me that corvette brakes will fit on the third gens, but he really didn't elaborate. I'm a student, so please keep in mind that this a daily driver, but i like a little performance as well. He mentioned that 80s model corvette spindles will bolt right on to my ball joints, is this correct? I have the 16X8 IROC wheels on my car ever since i decided to autocross, so i'm hoping they will clear the 12" rotors the corvettes came with. I know a lot of you will say to go aftermarket, or get 1LE's, but it would be nice to get some parts locally instead of having to wait for places to special order parts. (autozone sells the rotors for $50 each!) Anyway, if one of yall fellow f-body enthusiast would let me know what parts i need, i would really appreciate it.

 

Most of the guys here would tell you to find a way to make an exsisting brake system work. I used the late model C5 front brakes because I wanted a 13" rotor and twin piston calipers. An aftermarket kit containing similar equipment would cost around $1000. I was able to get the C5 parts and install the system for about $600 using all new components.

As for your car, I would say either go with a C4 or LS1 Camaro/Firebird system because they used 12" rotors which should all fit nicely behind your 16" wheels. I have 17s so I had no clearance issues with the larger 13" rotor. The LS1 front brakes are basically the same as the C5 vette stuff, just slightly smaller rotors and the caliper is slightly different. The Vette has large fins for extra strength and cooling. I don't have any experince with installing the C4 front brakes, but there are about 1,000,000 posts here that deal with any of the aforementioned installations and where to locate parts inexpensively. You will need to buy or make a pair of brackets to mount the caliper carrier and you will need to buy or make a hub if you choose to go with the LS1/C5 brakes. Its not hard to find people here that can make the stuff for you, or if you are willing to spend some time, make the stuff your self. You can find all the info here if you look. THere is also spindle modification required for the LS1/C5 brakes and the 1LE, I don't know about the C4 though. ITs very simple. Mostly it requires, for the LS1/C5, you to drill and tap a few holes and cut off some excess material that won't be used anymore. Again, you can find directions here or find someone that could do it for you if you don't feel comfortable. What I did was buy a pair of spindles from the 'yard for $50 and I moded those while I drove my car. THen once I had all the parts collected, I installed the system over the weekend. I did someother front end work while I had it apart anyway.

I use my Z for daily driving and the C5 brakes are great. I also installed LS1 Camaro/Firebird rear disc brakes. The combo is rock solid and really gave my car a new attitude while driving. Not to mention brought the old iron front caliper/drum rear system into this century. Kind of scary to know that the majority of 3rd gens had front brake technology from the 50s installed from the General...

 

Ummm...no, not even close.

Ed

 

Same as C5 mods really, except you should also remove the "steering stop" from the bottom of the spindle.

Lucid, I've done all of these systems (1LE, C4, C4 HD, LS1, and C5) so feel free to hit me up for advice and stuff, glad to help.

Click the link in my sig for more info and pics...


Ed

 

Thanks Ed,
That is an excellent photo album, i must say the work and fabrication are awesome. You make it look too easy. I just think that after reading the posts and really sinking my teeth into the subject, that there is daunting amount of machining, the cutting of the spindles, milling of the old rotor to create a hub, and fabrication of the custom bracket. Most of the tools needed to do this are out of my reach, and the last time i did that type of work was in 8th grade on a lathe turning a hammer handle. Let me know how much actual work you had to do, and i just might do it, just for the heck of it. I would love to see the face of the guy at brake check who pulls off the wheels to poke his nose at my brakes and says OMG what is that? haha
Nice iroc btw

 

Even tho the C5 calipers are cast better, they'll still spread, prolly not a easily as the LS1s would. But this is under severe use. Street or light race duty and they should be fine. But for full blown racing they were not designed for.

 

When I did my C5 fronts, I found a guy that made me the brackets and hubs. I could have made my own, but that would have made my swap go a lot slower. The spindle mod is easy. I know it can seem overwelming, especially on a system that needs to operate correctly, but a half blind monkey could do the spindle mods with relative success. So you should have no problems!!

 

do the c5 brakes and dont look back ,they are totally awesome . ANd much safer, the stock brakes really suck when you see how good the c5s are . check out my cardomain page , i have pics of the c5 set up too.

 

HEy, what rotors are you running? Where did you get them and how much? I want drilled/slotted but I don't want to spend an arm and a leg to get them

 

I'm also running the C5 brakes up front. The car has "LT1" 94-97 Fbody brakes in the rear and a summit/wilwood style proportioning valve. The difference between stock 10.5/rear drums is amazing, you can't really compare them. I also paid about 600.-- total for the front brakes.

 

the rotors were like 75 each with shipping , they are gm . I got them from gmparts or whatever their website is .

 

hey guys, you almost have me convinced to do a C5 install on my car.

question I have is that I was planning to run with 4th gen offset using skulte 2" adapters. Will this setup work with that? I am almost thinking it will if disk is located between the "original hub" and the adapter? right?

 

Yeah you can use the Skulte adaptors and a C5 or LS1 front brake system. I am not quite sure if I understood your description, but all you do is put the adaptor on last. Then the wheel...I think that is what you were getting at. It's a really nice system especially if you have rear discs...

 

thanks 92, that's exactly what I was getting at.

 

Kinda off topic question here but I powdercoated someones C5 brackets from where awhile ago but forgot who.

If you the guy and see this Please PM me.

THANKS

 

that was probably me. PM sent

 

Or me...

You did my brackets and spindles in a gunmetal finish and the caliper abutments in a red to match the calipers. Sent PM...

 

Got your PM... yep now I rem.

sent ya a PM back.

 

so from what i just read there is a company that makes the spindles and hubs? or i need to find a shop to make them for me. Cause i am definately doing this to my car. i just need to knwo what i am gonna need to get.

 

don't know if it is a company now, but there is a few guys on this board who machine the hubs and fabricate the brackets for the rest of us.

Todd is one of them (don't remember the handle), I think ebmiller88 also does them, and there may be one or two more.

 

Does anyone have a 2d dimensioned drawing of the "bracket" for the C5 upgrade? I would be willing to make a few if someone does. Have a full service machine shop for aviation at my disposal.

 

take a look at this page: https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=183169

I think the very first post has exactly what you need (both LS1 and C5 brackets). But I don't know who is .dwg format (AutoCAD?)

So you have a shop, eeh? What else can you do?

 

That drawing is marginal at best.
Anyone have a better one? Multi view? If someone can measure one they have I can draw up a good drawing you could take to any machine shop. Would only take a an hour or so for the machine shop to make from a good drawing.

We are a full aircraft machine shop.....Use your imagination

 

What about the aluminum guage surround rings for the firebird dash being discussed in this thread. There is a lot of interest in these, especially if the price is reasonable.

 

Marginal? The only TECNICAL thing missing is radius #'s
what more do you actually need. the .DWG file is there also.

thats all you need to program a cnc lazer cuter. Im having some made local here. I have access to any kind of machine you can think of to make parts in the industry.


wilyk9,

bnoon should have them rings covered. I think I know which compnay he has doing the proto types and if Im correct they will be well worth the wait. I'll get ahold of bnoon and see whats going on with em. PM me if you like.

Lets get this post back on topic and keep the other stuff in the right posts.


C5 setups....

My Rims and Rotors and caliper. Im powdercoating my brackets/hubs/spidles now.

http://www.cecoatings.com/images/Car...Z/Rims/SS2.jpg

I plan to strip and powdercoat the rims Black Chrome also and polish the lips of em.

Hubs/brackets/spindles all done my me.

 

what parts are needed to do the c5 swap up front?

 

can you powdercoat them in hugger orange?

 

not mine... but yours.. Sure....lol.

 

prepping the car for an el cheapo paint job...buddy has some leftover hugger orange from his nova..lol

 

add me to the C5 brake upgrade. How can I open the .dwg file or save it to a disk so I can give it to my dad so he can make these brackets for me? also, has anyone confirmed how long the new wheel studs should be?

 

sent the file to ya..

 

I have the file but I can not open in on my computer. I sent the file to my dads computer which he uses at work and he is going to try to open it with Solidworks. I guess that is the name of the program they use in the shop. (he is a machinist for the U.S government) I hope he can open the file though. I showed him the Jpeg pic of the file but it doesnt have any radius measurements to go but. I'll see what happens tomorrow after he gets home from work.

 

I have looked all over the place and maybe I just seem to be missing it but does anyone have a picture of the modified spindle. I need to know exactly where to cut it and what modifications need to be made to any holes on the spindle. I am racking my brain out here trying to gather all this info together.. I know what I need and thats the easy part. I just need to know what needs to be done to the spindle and holes. Is there any other modification that needs to be done anywhere else? let me know if I have missed anything here:

modify both spindles(still looking for info here)

have my rotors turned down( I remember reading the diameter somewhere(5.85"?)

install longer studs(NAPA 6411581?)

make some brackets(working on this)

locate all parts needed for the brakes(working on it)

the rest I guess is just installation and I will figure all that out once I get all the parts.

I am not in a rush for this since I have other things lined up first but I am just trying to get all the info needed so I can slowly accumulate the parts.

Is there anything missing here, like any small modifications or anything that I may have to do. my dad is gonna try and get that bracket file opened up at his work. I hope all goes well there, I then have to finalize the measurements for the rotor and spindle(need help there) and finally I need to get any info on these modications to the holes on the spindle and stuff like what sizes and all.

 

lol.. Ya I told you via e-mail you needed a cad program. Solid works will work fine.

heres a spindle moded picture.