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Does anyone know the front caliper mount offset for a 1972 Corvette? I am looking for the correct distance from the mounting surface of the caliper bracket (face closest to the rotor) to the center of the rotor. I bought a refurbished set of Delco brake caliper from Corvette Central that have been upgraded to stainless sleeves and o-rings. When I installed them, the inside brake pad is squeezed between the caliper body and the inside of the brake rotor causing the spindle to bind/rub on the brake pad. I have about 1/4" clearance on the ouside brake pad between the pad and caliper housing, so the entire caliper seems to be offset towards the outside of the car. I am not sure if the problem is the brake caliper, or if the mounting bracket is bent/old and not supporting the caliper in the correct position. The rear set fits perfectly. The front passenger side is sligtly offset towards the outside of the car, but does not bind. The driver side binds (pads forced against the rotor).
The fronts only have single bleeders at the top, outside side of the caliper. The rears have two on the tops. I don't know of anything else that used the 4 piston calipers
The rotors have a different offset front to rear, did you change the rotors?
IIRC, if you accidentally switch them, one end of the car works and the other end binds the pad hard against the rotor like you're describing (and I think the problem was on the fronts)
Rear ones should also have the 2 parking brake adjustment holes in them while the fronts don't but that's not always guaranteed
M
Last edited by Mooser; Dec 11, 2024 at 07:48 PM.
Reason: removed image, not the issue
No, I did not replace the rotors on the front. They are in relatively good shape, and still riveted to the spindle. Eventually I will replace them, but currently they are the originals.
No, I did not replace the rotors on the front. They are in relatively good shape, and still riveted to the spindle. Eventually I will replace them, but currently they are the originals.
Sorry, can't help then. Mines up in the air but the wheels are still one so I can't really check the measurements.
M
I'm rebuilding the front suspension on my 82 and the drivers side is all apart so I can measure it. I got my new calipers from CSSB when I rebuilt the brakes.
I suggested to Mike 72 that he look at Wilwood for dimensional data. That is where (in 2015) I got the dimensional and template data to do this mod. Wilwood seems to have removed what was there. Post #20 shows what data they provided at the time.
What are the part numbers on them.Possible because the calipers are 2 piece when being rebuilt incompatible halves were put together.Found this info in another thread.
CORVETTE BRAKE CALIPER CASTING NUMBERS
1965 - 1982
"First-Design"; 1965 and 1966 (and some very early 1967s, first few hundred Corvettes)
"Second-Design"; 1967 - 1971 (and some very early 1972s, first few hundred Corvettes)
"Third-Design"; 1972 - 1982 (the most common calipers on m Corvettes)
First Design Second Design Third Design
Front inner 5465954 5452270 5473795
Front outer5495952 5452273 5473796
Rear inner 5465902 5452281 5473806
Rear outer 5465905 5452284 5473807
I recently installed my new Willwood D8-6 front calipers and new rotors.
I found I had the same issue with the inner pads dragging on the rotors with the pistons completely seated in the bores.
I pulled the calipers and removed the powder coating off the mounting brackets where they contact the calipers and noticed a big improvement.
I removed a couple thousandths off the mating surface of the mounting brackets to completely center the rotor in the caliper.
I only removed enough material to center the rotors and not enough to weaken the mounting brackets.
What I found was that the front left caliper mount plate was bent - I determined this by comparing the left and right caliper mount plates. The left was bent by about 0.100" cuasing the caliper to be off center from the rotor. I carefully bent it out (difficult due to the thickness of the plate) so that it matched the right one. Now the calipers mount properly, and the new brakes work great!
What I found was that the front left caliper mount plate was bent - I determined this by comparing the left and right caliper mount plates. The left was bent by about 0.100" cuasing the caliper to be off center from the rotor. I carefully bent it out (difficult due to the thickness of the plate) so that it matched the right one. Now the calipers mount properly, and the new brakes work great!
"What I found was that the front left caliper mount plate was bent ..... I carefully bent it out"
How would this get bent in the first place? Running into a curb so hard that the rotor bottomed out in the caliper and moved the mount? Does the offset error make sense in that scenario?
This would make me more than a little nervous about the integrity of my car in this area. You were actually able to bend this yourself with ordinary tools?
Dont know how it got bent - 52 year old car. The integrity of the front end on both sides inspected to be fine - The only noticable difference was the difference between the left and right caliper mount plates. I was able to bend it by clamping it into a vice and pulling on it, using a large cresent wrench as a lever. Only had to move it 0.100 inches. weird I know...
Front Brake Caliper mount offset
