Brake upgrades
 

Without breaking the bank with Brembo or Baer brakes etc, is the cost of a C5 conversion kit worth the $$$ over slotted and drilled rotors with quality pads as a direct replacement for the original rotors?

Here is an example of the latter:
https://www.ecklerscorvette.com/1988...ails_tab-title

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Re: Brake upgrades
 

J55s are pretty good, in a 1991 Test they did 155 ft from 70, thats with old tech tires and pads. A c7 corvette can pull it down from 70 in 130-135 feet with big Brembos.... so take a 91 Z with J55s add in good pads, bias spring, and new modern tires you are not far off pace... repeated stops or on the track you will see a difference but daily driving the J55s are nice.....

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...mparison-test/

Re: Brake upgrades
 

Doug Rippie bias spring
Power Stop Z23 or Z26 pads
Stainless brake flex lines
High temp fluid
Russell speed bleeders
Master and calipers fresh
Do a clean up cut on stock rotors
300 wear rating tires
The engineers did a good job. You will surprise yourself what it can do on the street and on mountain roads. My practical nature says use stock to its maximum potential.

Re: Brake upgrades
 

Very good points, thanks. DRM brake stuff is going on my shopping list [emoji106]

I would think upgraded rotors in combo with said parts would be even better than cleaned up stock ones..?

https://www.powerstop.com/product/po...ior-brake-kit/

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Re: Brake upgrades
 

Thumbs up for power stop Z26 drilled/slotted rotors plus matching pads. Following the recommendation of the brotherhood I upgraded my 30 years old stock brake system and it works great. No noise (I mean NO) and very little brake dust (yet more than on quality ATE Ceramic Pads). Brake dust is grey so you don't recognize it too much on argent wheels.

Brake force is good, yet the modulation can not keep up with modern cars to my opinion. You get what you pay for, i.e. heavy brake power will need heavy leg power as input, still. Neither is it as sensitive / giving good feedback like a modern brake. But the overall stopping power is great and does THE BEAST justice.

Braided hoses probably improve the feel. They're on my list.

Re: Brake upgrades
 

Thanks for the reply. Looks like the way to go.

I think I will add these from DRM since I already consider the DRM coilovers :

https://www.dougrippie.com/c4-corvet...el-brake-lines

https://www.dougrippie.com/brake-bias-spring

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Re: Brake upgrades
 

I'm also thinking about the DR spring... Does he ship to Europe?

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Re: Brake upgrades
 

I went with Wilwood six piston narrow lights calipers up front and c5 four piston calipers for the rear with front and rear Baer eridaspeed 3 piece rotors. DONE!

Here is the money shot on the rear

Re: Brake upgrades
 

Wilwood 6 pistons up front and Wilwood 4 pistons rear with Mr. Parker?s parking brake set up.
http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=24546

Re: Brake upgrades
 

6 piston front 4 in the rearAttachment 16696


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Re: Brake upgrades
 

Wilwood did not have a kit with parking brake for the rear when I did mine. This is more clean solution.:cheers:

Re: Brake upgrades
 

Same here but I went with the street shop parking brake solution vs Mr. Parker. This also allowed me to retain the parking brake option as well.


GC

Re: Brake upgrades
 

Stupid question maybe, but can "Without breaking the bank" and "Wilwood 6 Pistons" be cramped into the same sentence?
My perception (but not experience) of Wilwood is that they make amazing stuff but also charge a hefty premium for their plug'n'play solutions. Out of curiosity - what financial frame are we talking about?

Re: Brake upgrades
 

Without checking the current price and additional bits and pieces, I guess roughly $4,000. Lesson I learned is it?s cheaper to do it once rather than interim solution followed by another upgrade. It all depends on where you want to take the car ultimately.

Re: Brake upgrades
 

I sell the C5 / C6 upgrade kit for the front on eBay here in Germany for many years now and I think there is no one who would step back to oem C4 ZR-1 front brake after installing this brakes. The main difference are the 50 % larger brake pads if you compare C5 / C6 with C4 ZR-1.

https://www.ebay.de/itm/334050662572...kAAOSwuhhXVYIj

Re: Brake upgrades
 

I did the C6Z06 upgrade including the Street Shop rear brake adapter. I know the C4 J55 were adequate, but there have been times I absolutely give thanks for having the Z06 brakes. They continually stop u sooner than you think you will and I love that extra margin for error.

I think I paid $700 for the F/R takeoff brakes w rotors and stock pads, $150 for front adapter, $700+ for Street Shop rear adapter.
Of course, this assumes you go w 18? wheels in front to clear the caliper.

Re: Brake upgrades
 

Thomas, great piece, great price! How do you maintain the balance of front versus rear brake force? Or will die ABS system sort that out? Sorry, maybe a stupid question but I never did a front only upgrade.

Any modifications to the master cylinder needed to cope with the new calipers?

Personally I see the waste of contact area (too small pads over a well sized disc) as biggest issue with that brake.

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Re: Brake upgrades
 

Hi Matt not a stupid question. In my case I bought my front set Wilwood Narrowlights off of corvette forum for less than half than new. Also the street shop rear parking brake solution was also bought at about half price also at Corvette forum. However to be honest by time I was finished doing everything it was probably close to 3k but you have to piece it out over time to absorb the sting. You want big brakes it will cost you.

Re: Brake upgrades
 

Yep if you are on a budget and have the 18inch wheels this is the Way to go Dom. However I was not letting my 17 inch FIKSE FM5s go so it was a bit of a challenge to piece everything together to fit. :cheers:

Re: Brake upgrades
 

To all our friend at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean: you are lucky in the US! You are allowed to install what ever you want on a Z...but un fortunately not so in Germany. Today it?s nearly impossible to pass the 2-yearly technical check (by law!) at the German T?V with none oem parts such as Wilwood brake, aftermarket rims or what ever. It?s getting more difficult day by day.

@ Matthias: I have BIAS springs for the master cylinder to get the fitting brake power to the rear

Re: Brake upgrades
 

In my opinion, unless you are tracking the car, no. J55's do the job just fine unless you plan on doing repeated hard laps on a circuit. If you want the looks or the warm and fuzzy feeling of upgrading your car go for it though.

Re: Brake upgrades
 

I totally agree 100%. I did not feel I needed a brake upgrade until I tracked my car. Even with the best pads and fluid, the stock brakes could not handle the abuse all day at the track. I do like the looks and warm and fuzzy as a plus on the street though.


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Re: Brake upgrades
 

I hear but I don't 100% agree with this statement. My decision was guided by the stroking out of my motor to including full porting including the heads, injector housings, plenum, air horn and TB, Jeal headers etc. These mods required superior cooling, superior braking etc because the engine went about 135hp beyond stock.

However I do agree if the car is stock and your not tracking it the J55s are fine. But performance can also have bling. GC :cheers:

Re: Brake upgrades
 

Amen, brother! What a true statement!


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Re: Brake upgrades
 

Upgrade the pads.
Stainless lines and the DRM upgrades.
Make sure all else is as it should be.
Anticipate the stop / slow-down by being prepared.
And yes the J55's will handle most all needs of street driving.
Auto crossing is also well within their capability.
Track?
Doug Rippie tracked it successfully with that setup.
How many still see track duty?
A howitzer is not required to blow out a candle unless of course you want to make a real show of it.
:cheers:
Marty

Brake upgrades
 

Well, maybe so in the world according to Marty. I believe I am entitled to my opinion and who are you to counter my thoughts? I don?t care what Doug Rippie did or your experience. My car also had stainless braided lines and bias spring. All I?m saying is I spent the day at Laguna Seca and decided ?I? wanted to upgrade MY brakes; as a plus they do look good and help braking performance no matter what, and regardless if needed or not. They were more than sufficient in their time and still now to some.


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Re: Brake upgrades
 

I welcome and respect your opinion, apparently quite a bit more than you do mine.
The majority of WOW upgraded brakes are on cars sitting at cars and coffee or at other shows.
Sure driving around all of those trophies could require more stopping power then the J 55's, but unlikely.
If your car has numbers painted on the doors, then by all means upgrade your brakes to the limit.
If it sees the track once every five years, spend as you wish.
If it never goes there; enjoy the looks you get.
:cheers:
Marty

Re: Brake upgrades
 

I am going with Mov'it. Mov'it is the only one to have developed 4 or 6 piston calipers that is precisely matched to the C4 braking system. It cost a bit more but is worth every cent. A hard braking pedal and easy to dose. C5 calipers have about 11% more piston volume than C4 calipers which is not ideal when you like to drive your Z fast and expect a immediate pedal response. For cruisers C5 brakes are okay.

Brake upgrades
 

I understand from a lot of your posts that you are a know it all smart *** I got it. Your opinion could have been posted in general but you replied to my own thoughts. I guess I?m not that kind of person. You are right about the car shows, show offs and I don?t know who those folks are you are implying about race tracks every five years. Ha ha! Funny guy. As long as everyone enjoys their own car is all that matters.

Craig


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Re: Brake upgrades
 

Craig,
For a moment I was sorry that you so misunderstood my initial post.
You should know that I was in fact agreeing with you.

However after your uncalled for snark, that moment has passed.

Before your fuse burns down, take the time to actually read the post.
Or not.
No matter.
Either way, your disrespect was uncalled for.
You are not the only one who knows these cars.
Marty

Re: Brake upgrades
 

After seeing the current lead time with willwood and baer, I decided to just do c6 zo6. Car is down for headers and other mods but should be back by spring.

Re: Brake upgrades
 

U won?t be sorry.

Re: Brake upgrades
 

I remember you sharing the Mov?it system many years ago and it was very impressive, especially how they designed very big brakes to fit even ?17 wheels. You get what you pay for and a lot of thought was put into matching the car?s braking system to work in concert for the best results.

Re: Brake upgrades
 

Sorry if I misunderstood and you felt disrespected, but it appears you?re talking to me since you quoted my post. I felt disrespected and I don?t claim to much about these cars at all. I just share what I have done and why. I am not the type to question why others do what they do. I actually explained why I upgraded my brake, but you made no mention to anyone else posting all their upgraded brakes without an explanation.
Thanks for explaining your position and I appreciate it.

Re: Brake upgrades
 

Yeah that was true old school back in the day where the larger machined rotors pushed everything out of the way. I had never seen that before. Definitely an engineered solution. :cheers: