Good'nuff

Trying to keep your car as original as possible is not easy.
In replacing all four calipers I have run into not only the seal question of going OE with "lip seal" vs. the allegedly Mo'Betta? "O-Ring seal"?? ... but also whether they say Delco or not? (Rebuilt with core charges vs. new with no core charges but no Delco name).
Then the kits/sets that I see come with just so-so "organic" brake pads. But no apparent option to choose to upgrade the pads. If you go with their cheap pads (only to shelf them) -- what are the best pads to replace them with? I have seen pads from $15-$150? At what price-point does "overkill" come in? I mean I want to do it right, just not stupid-right.
AND....
Shopping around between Zip, Corvette Central and Eckler's they all have some kind of "issues". Either on what is actually in-stock... or on extra charges for being too heavy or too large. Or going back on what they told you (the day before) about when something would ship out & when you'd get it / for how much.
Is there a 'BEST one' out there as far as Corvette Parts companies, as far as getting stuff that works (fits) correctly, is great quality and has reliable customer sales /service? I already know the answer is "No" but I'd like to hear what kind of luck others have had with these guys?

Bluestripe67

I suspect that a large percentage of CF members have now installed Delco calipers (possible original one converted) with stanless steel sleeves and o-ring sold by most of our supporting vendors or specifically asking their parts place, (NAPA, CARQUEST, O'RIELLYS etc.) for certain calipers. I ordered mine from ZIP, they were redone by LONESTAR, pads from my local CarQuest. ZERO issues at the start and to this day. Your experience my be different. Dennis

Daren67

Yellow6t7

If you have original rotors and want to keep them, I would stay with the organic pads. The semi metallic pads wear the rotors.
my $.02
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Westlotorn

Wagner Brake has been supplying OEM Pads for many years for a wide variety of cars and trucks. Their brake pads normally work quite well for stopping and noise control.
Wagner has about 900 blends of friction material to choose from to help keep your car happy. For a street car I just run what they recommend.
If you want to race your car or compete in auto cross regularly you may want to find one of the brake specialty suppliers.
What you choose is your choice, there are probably 8 different suppliers you can choose from but keep in mind when you choose a more aggressive brake pad they can be noisy and hard on the rotors but perform better in extreme conditions.

tuxnharley

R66

Metallic and Ceramic pads perform with less fade in extreme driving conditions - hard braking in auto racing or a lot of hill and mountain driving. If you don't get those pads hot, they seem to be not as effective as organic when driving around town. The metallic shoes I put on my drum brakes seem to require more pedal pressure than the organic.
Always follow the manufacturer's recommendations for your driving style. I also prefer Wagner. I also prefer organic pads. Put two non-GM SS o-ring calipers from Lonestar on the rear of R66 and am pleased with the performance.

59BlueSilver

Powershift

Both Lone Star and CSSB, Inc. sell conversion kits.

Also many Corvette vendors as well, but the two places above are probably the source.

Larry

Dan Hampton

Westlotorn

Should have mentioned, when you step up to the Performance Brake pads they need more heat to start working. They definitely work better in hot hard working conditions but if you are on a grocery run you will notice you need more pedal pressure to stop your car.
Whey they heat up a little you really feel them start grabbing.

tuxnharley

Good'nuff

As many different Corvette Parts Dealers that I have experienced in my 16 yrs. of Corvette ownership, I am really sorry to say I had never heard of CSSB inc. until a few days ago thanks to "Powershift" and Corvette Forum!

OMG! "Luke" and his company Corvette Stainless Steel Brakes, Inc. in Miami ARE The BEST!
THEY are the source, "the Fountainhead", if you will -- for all those other guys's CORRECT brake calipers, master cylinders, power brake boosters, etc..

Dealing with ZIP, Corvette Central and Corvette America -- they either had the parts but could not get them to me in a timely manner (weeks out)... with my car already sitting IN the shop awaiting parts -or- they could get me parts right away but they weren't correctly stamped or coded!
CSSB did BOTH ... correct to a 'matching numbers' car... and right now! They bent over backwards to make it happen... right away with no BS. And at a good price!
Highly recommend them if you need C-2 Brake parts!
Thanks Corvette Forum! ... Thanks "Powershift"! ... and THANKS "Luke" & CSSB, Inc.!

Powershift

When I redid the brakes on my 67 car back in the 1990's I bought everything from DR VETTE in Ohio. Good folks. Later, the Ohio business burned and went out of business. CSSB, Inc was a smaller company then, but purchased the DR VETTE company and its trademarks and products and tech knowledge. Since then they have grown into one of the best out there for Corvette (and other) brakes and associated parts..........including casting exact reproduction parts as well. They and Lone Star in Texas are the industry leaders in my opinion......and the opinion of many others.

Both CSSB, Inc and Lone Star are very friendly and helpful to us Corvette guys.

Glad you got to know them.

Larry

Westlotorn

If you look at brakes based on temperature capability they stack up like this. I will list the lowest temperature first.

Organic Brakes
Ceramic Brakes
Semi Metallic Brakes
Carbon Metalic Brakes

Ceramics are several generations into development today. The early ceramics 30 years ago did not handle much heat but the modern Ceramics will venture into the lower range of a semi metallic for heat capability.
The positive side of ceramics is the low dust and soft on rotor capability. If they are worked hard they wear very fast compared to other blends.
Even with Ceramics they vary in quality from company to company. A quality blend will operate quietly and feel very smooth to the operator while giving great life span.
Rule of thumb is that Ceramics work better when they run cooler. When GM went to Ceramics in 1999 for their trucks they upgraded to larger rotors so they would run cooler match the desired heat range of a ceramic pad. Many users got 100,000 miles out of those OEM brake pads.
Ford at that same time chose to stay with smaller rotors and ran a Carbon Mettalic pad on their F250 series, these ran hotter but worked equally well since Ford pads matched the Ford rotor and they worked in a temp range that was compatible.

There is no perfect brake that works on all applications. You need to match your typical heat range with the pads you choose.
If you buy High Performance Carbon Metallic pads thinking you want the best you may be very un happy, if you don't work a brake hard enough they will glaze over. A glazed brake will be a noisy brake and you will need more pedal effort to make the car stop.
If you install OEM organic blend brakes and then go racing they will fade quickly and wear very fast.
Based on the heat range list moving to a Ceramic on a C2 would be a first step upgrade over the factory organic pads, providing the Ceramic manufacturer is selling a good Ceramic material blend.

Good'nuff

In doing a Power Brake addition/conversion I've been looking at under-the-hood pictures of 327 engines With Power Brakes... and the new Booster combined with the Master Cylinder --together extend out PAST where my dip stick is currently.
Can not see a dip stick tube anywhere else in any of those internet photos.
But it has to go somewhere ? Where?
I know somebody on the Forum knows.... the Forum knows pretty much everything! (Except who killed JFK)

Powershift

Dip stick stays put and doesn't move. It all fits, do not worry.............

Larry

tbarb

I am not aware the dipstick location changes with power brakes.

Many times when there is a sqeak in the rear brakes it's rotor run out against the fixed caliper mounting.

Good'nuff

Thanks! That's a relief!!!