tiborrules

I am switching to iron z06 brakes on my 15 z51 as you have outlined and have run into a problem. I can't find the part number for the pin kit on the rear calipers. I have bought all the parts on amazon prime as you suggested and definitely saved a lot of money. Unfortunately, they don't have the drivers side z06 rear caliper in red. I have found it at some other online GM parts stores but it is about $100 more than amazon. Any ideas before I spend the extra $100 as it is the only one I can find?

X25

Regarding the pin kit, they are the same as your rear Z51 pins, which is what I used on my conversion.

tiborrules

Ok. Good to know. Thanks.

On my z51 brakes, I have been switching back and forth between street and track pads for each track day. Any idea on how many times I pull the pins out before it is a good idea to replace them?

X25

Honestly, I never needed to replace any of the pins on any of my cars. I'd hope that they'd last the life of the car? Even the caliper rebuild is pretty much (optionally) the pistons and inner/outer seals. One benefit of an overkill rear brake is that you'd likely never need to rebuild it, either : )

tiborrules

Ok. That makes it easy then and I don't have to worry about finding new ones.

X25: Your track build and z06 brake build have been invaluable. I know it has taken a lot of your time to document and comment on these. I know you have been told this before but I really appreciate it!!!!! I want to get the most out of my Z51 and your threads have been invaluable. THANKS!!!!!

X25

It always makes me very happy to see that it is appreciated; thank you!! Indeed, it takes a bit of time, but I obviously wouldn't do it if I didn't personally enjoy it. After all, it's a hobby : )

village idiot

Yup, love following your build.
As soon as my warranty is up, I'll doing the same.

Jet Vet

Many thanks X25, I was going to spend $4k on a set of AP racing brakes, but I'm definitely going to try these out first.

JV

leadville1

Interesting thread, I have been tracking the Wilwood kit for 2 years now, and I have to say I think it is a better set up than this one. Your parts will be about the same, but the rotor that comes with that kit is superior to this rotor.

The Caliper is smaller and lighter as well, their are no dust seals, which will fail on the track and the pads are very inexpensive.

I have driven them at some of the fastest tracks in America and lap after lap they are awesome and never fade, the best feeling brake pedal I have ever driven.

Those Brembo's are huge heavy rotors and the fact that the front rotors are the same part number means they are not veined directionaly.

I would go Wilwood, Stoptech or AP, just my .02 cents.

X25

This is just my opinion, and I'm not an expert:
I've used both Wilwood and StopTech kits, as well as stock Brembos on many cars. You're right that the stock front rotors are not directionally vented, which is a big issue, but they're not heavier. Nevertheless, I've since switched to Girodisc, which are not too expensive, and ring cost is not too bad.

Moving on to calipers, though, Wilwood calipers have been the worst in my experience. They're very flimsy, and they do flex. That small size becomes an issue. In comparison, StopTechs have been the stiffest calipers I've used. They're 2 piece, but still feel stiffer than the mono block OEM style Brembo calipers.

Wilwood has recently responded to these criticisms, and released their aero calipers. These are much stiffer than their older stuff, but they do have an unremovable mid bridge, which means you have to remove the whole caliper to just change pads - unacceptable in my opinion (I'm lazy).

I think Z06 calipers are great and the system can easily be made competitive to BBKs with better rotors (what I did). In my opinion, Wilwoods would be a downgrade - either due to much weaker calipers, or due to an impractical design that forces you to remove calipers too many times.

0Todd TCE

To an extent I would agree with some of the comments above regarding the Wilwood calipers. Having been a dealer now for 24yrs I've seen various levels of product released, altered and redesigned.

The early, and still popular, kits were produced with smaller Billet Super Lite Six's which were simple machined billet extrusion. These were then replaced later with a move to more larger model rotor with the W series- which retained the very popular top loading feature the company was known for. The W series did very well on a wide variety of uses up to an including a lot of open track users. Some still felt there was a need for improvement however.

A few years ago the W series morphed (in part due to military contracts) into what is now the Aero line of calipers. This was one of the first closed bridge models the company had ever produced. While some track guys shouted it was a huge loss to the ease of pad change, others rallied behind the fact that they now had a caliper equal to or better than some other product on the market. And made in the US at a price point the others cannot touch.

Also a few years ago now the entire BSL line was upgraded. Today's smaller kits (ie. smaller kits with lighter and smaller calipers geared more towards the street user) are fully stress flowed forged ingots and no longer bar stock with the problems related to grain structure. Thes bodies are significantly heavier just picking one up. The have addressed the stiffness and flex issues to the point that they are no internal crossovers and no longer have the external pipe- still found on a number of other manufactures. So much so that even the top shelf GN6R winning caliper in TA is now internal. That says something for the integrity of the product and the belief it in as high stress and flex would lead to leaking issues...

Overall the entire line has been improved and redesigned. AND yet the price point has been the same or now even LESS than it was some years ago! Still some folks shop the wrong product for the use- that's not a manufacture problem, that's a user problem. I'd stress everyone look at their needs and make a purchase you're comfortable with.

Hope that bit of history helps shed some light

Rob#2

I believe you need an additional 4mm if I remeber reading correctly as Chevy offers this as an accessory for both the base and Z51. I was looking at doing this for my Z51 and putting my calipers on our Silverado and sell it as a safety upgrade to the wife. Thanks for posting up the details and bonus points for using Amazon.

jonparks

X25 Thank you for starting this killer thread. Huge help!!

village idiot

can we not use our old hose and hardware kits?

also, has anyone found a cheaper price than $600 for a pair of rotors?

tiborrules

The pin kit is different on the front z06 calipers than on the z51. The rear pin kits are the same so I reused mine. I bought girodisc front and rear rotors to save a little weight.

I installed front s.s. lines as I have heard that the lines on for the z06 are about a 1/2 inch longer but don't know that for sure. Changing out the front lines is a pain. If I did it over again I would try using the original lines but have a set of s.s. just in case. After you hook them up turn the steering lock to lock to make sure they are long enough.

The end product is worth it!!!! I had a track day with the z06 brakes and my car stopped great!! Definitely and improvement if you track your car hard. My car has a procharger on it so I hit higher speeds down the straights.

village idiot

Yeah, I thought the weight savings would be bigger. Only 1lb up front.

Rears are incredible- 8lbs EACH

X25

FRONT: It's hard to save weight when even the OEM is 1-piece, but you should also note that the Girodisc unit (or the DBA OEM-replacement ring for that matter) are DIRECTIONAL, and will allow much better cooling. Even for this very reason, switching is very appealing. To save $$$, you could also just switch to DBA rings when yours are done, but please note that they are a little bit heavier than OEM.

REAR: The savings with switching to Girodisc over Z06 rears is huge! The reason is that the OEM 2-piece has an iron hat to accommodate heavy hand brake use, while Girodisc unit has a simple aluminum hat (would've preferred an iron liner there to be honest). So, if you are OK with not drifting with your Corvette, you should switch. IIRC, Z06 rear rotor weighs 24.8 lbs, while the replacement Girodisc unit is 16.7 lbs.

From my build thread:

village idiot

Did you just use z51 rear calipers with the z06 rotors?

X25

Unfortunately, that's not possible, since the caliper is further away from the hub to accommodate for the larger rotor, even though the caliper itself seems to be the same size.

NoOne

I was look at the lines, do you need them if you have a Z51?

I know your car was not a Z51 but all the lines I look at say C7 Z06/Z51 for fitment.

I'm placing my order right now but do not think I need the lines.