BlackRocket

What are the best brake calipers for the $$$?? I've run Wilwood's on Late Model GTA race cars for years with good service...but never on a street car. There was some info on having to tilt them to bleed properly...but they seem to have the best bang for the buck on paper.

Wilwood 14" 6Ps are the most cost effective...

Baer 13" 4Ps cost a little more...

StopTech/Brembo's seem cost prohibitive...

ZO-6 calipers are known to fade when used on the track...
(even though this is a street car that info shows a lack of durability)

Any suggestions?
Thanks!
B-R

Here's the links;

http://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/Bra...tte&option=C-3

https://www.carid.com/baer/track4-dr...ent=4181287666

https://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corv...982-16661.html

0Todd TCE

Going to come down to your choice of wheels here.

The D8 caliper kits are stock replacement and fit the 15" wheel. The other kits (I believe all of them) will require 17" or larger.

The bleeding issue is going to be on all of those if they mount in the 12 o-clock position as the caliper is no longer vertical. It's not a big deal..just a bit of a pain to do but unless this is an open track car you'll hardly be dealing with it on a regular basis.

Most of those will also require a new and smaller bore master cylinder as they have much less piston area than the oe D8 calipers.

Of course some folks have adopted all kinds of things to this car so the market is wide open to you. If you have any questions on the Wilwood parts feel free to ask. Here's the entire menu we offer: C3 BIG BRAKE KITS

Big2Bird

There is another choice:

http://ssbrakes.com/c-624171-vehicle...-products.html

Street Rat

I'm getting ready to sell an A109S kit from SSbrakes (above link). Calipers, pads, and stock type replacement rotors are going to be for sale.

Richard454

WOW- I could have had a V-8!!!!

And looks like it'll fit 15" rims.

http://ssbrakes.com/i-10092053-1965-...pers-a206.html

Big2Bird

It does. I have a friend with a 69, 15" rims, fits fine.
I believe they were available before the Willwood db8 came on the market.

Big2Bird

I'll bite. Why did you choose the Willwoods over the SSBC? Just curious for the sake of conversation.

Jason Staley

I have SSBC's previous version direct replacement aluminum calipers, but it looks like they have discontinued them. Been on my car for over 15 years and have had really good luck with them.



On the rear, I am using Wilwood Dynalite calipers on the rear.



Nice thing about this combination is that both calipers have the same piston size as factory, so they didn't upset the front/rear balance and I didn't have to change the master cylinder.

I'm using VB&P's aluminum hub w/ bolt on rotors on the front.



I built this system long before there were any kits available for C3's.

Big2Bird

I have those rotors. Are those rotors on the hats from Coleman? Do you know the part #?

Jason Staley

I've always bought my replacement rotors from VBandP. They sell them in two versions: non-slotted $99/ea, and slotted "sport" for $199/ea.

I don't know who they get them from, but I have only had problems with one set and it wasn't their fault. I overheated the brakes during a track day. Since I installed brake cooling ducts I've never had any issues with them at all.

Street Rat

I bought the SSBC kit when I first purchased my car. It needed brakes right off the bat. All I could afford at the time. They are SS sleeved cast iron with lip seals. Nothing wrong with them. I wanted the look of the calipers and the o-ring seals for longevity. The calipers from Wilwood fit in my price range currently.

The big brake kits are the way to go. If you have larger diameter wheels you can fit those in. Other brands offer Corvette specific kits also.

I'm also tired of bleeding brakes with my old set up. So I started fresh. I now know why.

I had a hell of a time setting up my runout on the right side. Now I know my runout on both sides was way out. Causing air to suck past the seals I suspect. Thus another brake light on the dash. It was happening about every six months or so. Driving me bug nuts.

gkull

to increase brake performance with your existing master cylinder you have to increase the piston area. Off hand I don't have the piston area of our stock brakes.

the wildwood kit that you posted has 4.04 sq inches of piston area. which is probably near our stock size. (Does anybody know the SQ inches of the OEM?)

I would call Wilwood and see if they could sub in the Grand national calipers that get you up to the 5.40 sq inch of pistons. Even the D8-4 is 5.56

I have the older late model stock car application with nearly 6.21 SQ inches

http://www.wilwood.com/Calipers/Cali...&pistarea=5.56

0Todd TCE

The D8 Wilwoods are the same area as the iron D8.

The BBK offerings (13 and 14" FNSL6 etc) will come in at 4.1" and thus as I stated will necessitate the use of a smaller bore mc to pair with them. While the current part will work; the amount of leg effort required will be far too great. The smaller bore is needed to boost the line pressure to match the caliper requirements.

I'll save you the phone call. The GN calipers will not sub into these kits in any way, shape or form. Everything about them is totally non compatible to the kits.

jb78L-82

There are 4 ways to increase the brake torque of a C3, reduce the stopping distance, besides better tires:

1. Increased coefficient of friction of the brake pads
2. Increased rotor diameter-increased brake torque
3. Increased caliper piston area-increased clamping force
4. Brake line pressure in PSI

Clamping force: The clamping force of a caliper is the force exerted on the disc by the caliper pistons. Measured in pounds clamping force, it is the product of brake line pressure, in psi, multiplied by the total piston area of the caliper in square inches. This is true whether the caliper is of fixed or floating design. Increasing the pad area will not increase the clamping force.

Braking torque: When we are talking about results in the braking department we are actually talking about braking torque - not line pressure, not clamping force and certainly not fluid displacement or fluid displacement ratio. Braking torque in pounds-feet on a single wheel is the effective disc radius in inches times clamping force times the coefficient of friction of the pad against the disc all divided by 12. The maximum braking torque on a single front wheel normally exceeds the entire torque output of a typical engine.

Clamping force is brake line pressure X total piston area of caliper in square inches

Brake Torque (The Holy Grail)= DISC RADIUS (half the diameter of the rotor) x Clamping force X the coefficient of friction of the brake pad.


The brake torque number can be increased with a larger diameter rotor which is why high performance cars today have 14/15/16 inch rotors usually with a LARGER caliper of 4/6 pistons (more piston area with more clamping force) versus the standard size caliper for that car.

I did larger rotors and increased piston number per caliper on 2 of my cars to increase the brake torque and the change was monumental:

2008 Chrysler 300 Limited: Went from single piston floating front caliper with a 12 inch rotor to Hemi Dual piston front caliper with 2 BIG pistons versus 1 piston and 14 inch front rotor...Holy Smokes did this change increase the brake torque! Car stops like a sports car now and it is HEAVY, no less.

1994 Mustang GT-Went from single piston floating front caliper with 11 inch rotor, changed to Cobra dual Piston front caliper with 13 inch rotors AND changed the GT master Cylinder to a Cobra MC for more line pressure. BIG DIFFERENCE in brake torque

jb78L-82

Those look awesome....8 piston aluminum caliper! AND fits 15 inch rims!

68-427Rich

Look through these posts.

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/...vette%20brakes

PainfullySlow

Forgive my ignorance and I am not saying this to be a putz. If the car is street only, what is wrong with the stock calipers?

I have heard that the OEM brakes on these cars are exceptional and that upgrades offer only marginal difference in stopping distance. No first hand experience so again please do not take this as inflammatory.

Oh, and no idea if it is a concern on cars since my experience is only with bikes but some all aluminum calipers had issues with flex and you would actually and up with LESS clamping force. Does anyone know if this holds true for the aluminum calipers listed above?

BlackRocket

Baer are a little spendy at $2,495 for the 14".
Trying to come up with something less than $2,000 for the fronts and run the stock rears for a while without losing balance...

*Running 18" wheels...

https://baer.com/Vehicles-with-1969-1982-Spindles/

0Todd TCE

Well stated. But considering the entire vehicle as it is with the notion of keeping 15" wheels choices 2 and 3 are immediately out due to bolt up. Neither of those options will fit the stock mounting or design.

Options 1 and 4 are possible.

1. Pads are down and dirty and easy.

2. Push harder on the pedal. That said.... changing to a smaller bore for more pressure will bump the line pressure. That however is not promise of increased stopping performance. The limiting factor will remain the tire's adhesion to the road. Opting to push harder or use the bump the pressure by the hydraulic formula will be the same net gain in pressure, it's just how you achieved it.

What's more important to the OP here: tires and wheels or bigger brakes? That's really all this comes down to to start with.

Big2Bird

Less un-sprung weight, and o-ring seals.