Have had my '72 for some 20+ years now, tired of all the brakes problems,.....the entire system is a complete disASSter to put it bluntly.....bought the car with SS calipers, replaced the stupid lip seal/pistons with O rings.....went Hydro Boost for pedal feel/reliability/driveabilaty honestly tired of the lack of reliability of the calipers, especially up front.....


SO to find another car that can yield calipers that are basically bolt on and give same swept area on stock rotors....


I know there has to be some common caliper out there that can be easily bolted up, maybe even floating design....just clamp the freeking rotor and get over it.....

NOT spending a grand on some 'upgrade' period....there simply has to be other cars out there with compatible/BETTER designs....

 

My brakes work flawlessly.....I can lock them up at will, still a stock brake system with no mods. Something still has to be discovered in your system that is causing your frustration.
Not having good brakes would surely pi$$ me off too.

I can only suggest to keep looking

 

Is your problem with leaking or gradual soft pedal over time ? or just poor stopping power ?

 

Good question.....I'm interested too.....for future brake-rebuild decisions I may have to make.

 

i came from the c4 section, they are frustrated with stock brakes as well

 

C-3 breaks are a pretty good system , yes a few minor flaws but over all in no way are they poor performers stock.

Sounds to me like you have not set them up correctly. Make sure they are bleed correctly and the run out is set ..

 

I saw this in an ad in Vette magazine. I'll probably get a kit for my car.

https://www.shopebcbrakes.com/EBC-Kits/pc7542/

 

You've got to wonder why GM would manufacture a brake system for 18 years with virtually no changes, when they were so flawed.

 

Fwiw, I think the main problem is lack of use. I have had the same issues, to the point that I was going to bolt on the Wilwood kit and just be done with the whole stock brake thing. I guy I work with who is into Corvettes and DDs his 67 tells me he never has an issue with the brakes, you're not driving it enough he tells me constantly. I maybe put 500 miles on a summer, could this be the issue?

 

Four black streaks, or two?

 

You don't want the back brakes locking up.

 

Kinda wonder that myself.

 

The 84-87 C4 brakes were a step backwards from the C3 brakes since the C4 had 11.5 inch vented rotors front and rear AND more importantly or lamentable, 4 single piston floating calipers front and rear versus the C3 11.75 inch vented rotors front/rear AND 4 piston fixed racing style calipers at each wheel, front AND rear....there is no comparison in braking performance-the C3 has 16 pistons acting on the 4 wheels of a C3 versus a total of 4 pistons acting on the C4 rotors on the whole car.... you don't need to be Einstein to understand the difference in braking forces between the 2 model corvettes. The C4 aluminum calipers offer better heat rejection under stress and they will not leak as easily but other than those 2 points, you can have them. Beginning in 1988, the C4 offered the "Big" brake package of 13 inch front rotors with a dual piston floating caliper (inferior to the C3 4 piston fixed caliper) but better. A few years ago I upgraded my 94 mustang GT with 11 inch vented front rotors with a single piston floating caliper and 10 inch solid rear rotor with a small single piston caliper (Like the C4 rear caliper) to Cobra brakes with 13 inch vented front rotors and dual piston caliper and they still are not as good a brake system as my C3. The wilwood aluminum 4 piston or even better 6 piston fixed front caliper and 13 or even better 14 inch front rotors is a true upgrade for the C3 brakes. I would forget even considering a floating single or dual piston front caliper since these calipers do not apply even front pad pressure (they only apply force from once side of the caliper to the pad AND they flex/bend under extreme brake pressure). EVERY true high performance car on the road today uses a FIXED racing style caliper, front and rear, like the C3 brake system for a very good reason...it is superior to the floating caliper design.

As for driving the car regularly to keep the C3 brakes operating correctly, I would say it can't hurt but my 78 with VBP SS calipers installed in 1985, SS braided brake hoses, OEM master cylinder, OEM power brake booster sits 99.9% of the time, driven 500-750 miles per year and has had ZERO brake issues...I change the brake fluid every 3-5 years...hmmmm

If the stock C3 brake system is giving you fits, SOMETHING IS WRONG with its operation....correct the problem, and you will be very happy with the brakes.

I think that you are out of luck looking for another caliper that will just bolt up to the C3 spindles...GM ONLY made the 4 piston caliper for the 65-82 C3's...no other cars at that time. Your best bet is to hunt for a used Wilwood C3 aluminum 4 piston caliper.....OR a custom mounting bracket to mount another style caliper...

 

thank you for your expertise...

so what is 100-0 c3 vs c4?

I had an 85 when new and a 89 for 5 years in the recent past, and to put it frankly, the brakes were scary...my 2000 Saturn wagon is better in braking

when i bought my first 1982 c3 june 2015 i was immediately impressed with the "stopping power"

i am not racing so it's nice to know now that although heavy the mechanical design of my brakes are cutting edge.

i just did a braided steel lines mod and after struggling to learn how to bleed the brake (successful), the already great brake became simply "unbelievable"

 

It's been awhile since I did that test, so I can't quite remember what I had. I do know there was two for sure, but can't remember if the rears locked.
Maybe I need to do another test......

 

I looked into this some years ago. My conclusion was that C3 brakes are unique and no other calipers or rotors will bolt on.

Your choices are to try and make the stock stuff work, or go aftermarket.

 

No doubt this is true.

Fresh fluid now and then helps. Still I sympathize with the OP. I own two Corvettes that don't get driven enough. One or the other seems to have brake fluid leaks.

 

The 78/79 C3 braked from 80-0 MPH in 244 feet with the only cars with better brake times in 78 being the Porsche 930 Turbo and Ferrari BB 512..at 239 ft and 241 feet respectively. Keep in mind that 2 other factors must be considered in braking performance...weight of the car and tire quality and tire contact patch. The C4 wins in both categories but my 78 with 255/45/17 ZR ultra high performance summer only tires I am sure can easily outbrake a stock C4.

 

I'm with ya..


My brakes suck, I've spent thousands on the system trying to make them work reliably... I've had at least 5 sets of calipers from all the usual vendors, every freakin thing in my system is new... Brakes are still weak, unreliable.

I was going to do the Wilwoods C3 replacement calipers but after reading about the bleeding issues, I don't want to fool with them. Plus they are still picky about run out.

Floating style calipers like from a C5 or C6 is the fix I believe... The problem is they can't use the stock rotors, then bigger rotors = bigger wheels etc etc.

I too and looking for the TRUE solution, that will keep the stock size rotors.


Most people that have C3s with good original brakes, are usually using ORIGINAL calipers that surprisingly have never leaked or been rebuilt.. They have the ferry dust sprinkled on them.

 

have you tried calipers from Autozone?