I was looking at putting on a set of Wilwood brake calipers on my 1968 Corvette with a 383 stroker. After reading reviews I found that people are saying the stock calipers with the stainless steel and o-ring are very good and since I am going to street drive it this might be the beat option.

I already have power brakes and stainless steel brake lines but I think the old calipers are ready for replacement.
Where is the beat place to buy these or any other recommendations?

 

Are you positive that the calipers that are on the car have not been sleeved? If they have been sleeved, consider rebuilding them yourself with O-ring pistons. You could do the entire car for under $200. If they have not been sleeved, send them out to Van Steel or Blairs or another vendor for SS inserts with O-ring pistons. Jerry.

 

How can I tell if they have been sleeved?

 

Sometimes the vendor who sleeves them stamps them such as Vette Brakes (now out of business I understand) used VB. See if you can find any such stamps on a caliper. If nothing is found, the only other way is to dismantle them. Since the car is a '68, the calipers have surely been rebuilt or replaced. If I had to guess, I'd say they are SS sleeved. How long have you had the car?

 

I have a 68 with non SS calipers. Once you take them apart you can see if they have the SS sleeve. There will be an edge you can see. I honed the non SS bores to a very smooth surface. I think I could have used lip seal or O ring type to rebuild them. I used lip seal style. If you use the lip seals be careful to install them correctly. They have to lay into the groove of the piston correctly. You have to be careful when pushing the piston into the bore that you don't cut the seal, also be sure you don't let the seal turn inside out.

 

I bought one of mine at advance auto.. stainless sleeved with stainless piston. rebuilt the other 3 myself. that was 8-9 years ago. there's a detailed youtube video on it.

 

If the car is still being built, remove one of the calipers and separate the caliper in two. Unless you have an impact wrench, break the caliper bolts while still mounted on the car. Once they are off the car, it is difficult to hold them and loosen them. As mentioned above, if they are sleeved, you may see a ridge at the top of the bore. The bore walls will also be smooth with a stainless steel finish. If in doubt, clean them up and post a picture. Jerry

 

The brakes used on the 1968 Corvettes work very well for a set of "stock" brakes made in 1968. I have had my C3 for almost 31 years now and I still have the same calipers I bought the car with. I was surprised to find that all four of my calipers had been sleeved with the chrome bore. That would be "normal" for a then 23 year old Corvette. They did have the old style seals so I went and replaced the pistons along with the O-ring style seals. The key to keeping the brakes in healthy condition is to flush the brake fluid every five years or so.

My factory power brake system works well enough that I have been happy with it the way GM designed it. The one thing that really needs to be updated is the flexible brake lines that connect the caliper to the hard lines. I put the SS braided flexible lines on the car and that made the biggest improvement in the braking system of all. The old rubber lines would expand as they got older, the SS Braided hoses do not expand like the originals did. They give me the best pedal feel of all.

The only problem I have had with my brakes was when the Master Cylinder became "hyper-sensitive" and then one day it just locked up and would not slow the car down at all. A new master cylinder and they have worked great ever since. Thank goodness my E-brake worked great and I was able to slow down using the E-brake and gearbox to slow down and get home.

Best regards,
Chris

 

Chris: I have had my 68 for 50 years. OMG. I did exactly the same upgrades to my system throughout the years. I even added Hawk pads. What a huge difference. Jerry

 

So mine are not SS sleeved. Is there any place I can send them to be rebuilt and sleeved?

 

Vett Brakes used to do this, but I understand they are gone. Do a Google search for help and I’m sure there are businesses doing this service Some may suggest just trading them in for a set.

 

I rebuilt mine in my 70. Was worth the $ vs new calipers.

 

You might try Lone Star Caliper in Canton, TX. (903) 829-8400 My only experience with them has been to purchase rebuilt calipers and send them my old ones as a replacement 'core'. If you want to keep the original calipers they might (and I think will) rebuild them for you.

 

CSSB has been a good source for parts like pistons and seals. They also offer rebuilding services but you should check to see if they do the rebuilding in house or if they send them out to Lone Star
https://www.cssbinc.com