I have the General Mortors Corvette manual and I'm about to swith the brake pads but I was wondering if anyone knows the torque for the bracket bolt(It doesn't say on this book). Or any other bolts I may need to torque. This is my first time changing the brakes myself. If anyone has detailed pics of the process I would really appreciate it. As always thanks in advance guys!

Ps. Any extra info on the process will help me! You guys always get me through my wrenching!!

 

Torque the mounting bracket to 133ft lbs early vettes
and 1990 onwards to 166 ft lbs
The manual does say to put adhesive on the threads (most likely loctite) you can get varied strength from auto parts suppliers.

 

You dont need to remove the caliper brackets to replace the pads. For the front is a pin that slides out. I have the C5 brakes but, I changed my 92 few times and thats how I did it.

 

If you are just swapping pads, you only need to remove the small bolts that hold the caliper to the caliper abutment bracket. On the front calipers, the bolts are torqued to 25 ft-lbs and you should clean the threads of the bolts and use a small amount of Blue Loctite.

The bolts thread into guide pins and these pins should be pulled out, cleaned, and re-lubed. This is a specific lube you can get at parts stores and typically come in a small vinyl package. Inspect the pin and the rubber boot for any damage. The guide pins and boots are a common GM item and you can get them at parts stores.

The rear calipers are similar but the lower bolt is torqued to 16-18 ft-lbs. Remember to release the parking brake and pull the cable off the bracket on the caliper before removing it from the car.

If you are replacing the rotors, the caliper abutment brackets have to come off. The large bolts in front ate torqued to 165 ft-lbs ( +/- 15 ft lbs) and the rear bolts are torqued to 70 ft-lbs. Clean the threads on the bolts and apply Blue Loctite. In spite of what the FSM says, you can re-use the bolts.

 

Yes I removed the calipers as well, to paint them and also to change rotors. So the big bolts that hold the caliper in place are 165 in front and 70 in back. What about the bolt the holds the brake fluid line to the caliper? I'll post some pictures tomorrow of my progress. I also started cleaning the arms and rack. 21 years of dusk and grease is hard to clean But will be worth it.

Jonathon

 

The rear calipers are similar but the lower bolt is torqued to 16-18 ft-lbs. Remember to release the parking brake and pull the cable off the bracket on the caliper before removing it from the car.

What it that?

 

Ill get pictures up so I can be sure. If there is one thing I want to be sure I do 100 percent right is the brakes!

 

The bolt that holds the fluid line to the caliper is tightened to about 30 ft-lbs but you may find it's not that easy to get a torque wrench in place to accurately set the torque value. Also, you will need to replace the copper crush washers that were there. Any parts store will have them; take one with you to get the proper size. The big front caliper abutment bolts have a torque value range: While the book says 165, there is a allowance of 15 ft-lbs either way. So 150 ft-lbs is OK as is anything up to 165. You can go to 180, but there is no real benefit going that high. And 180 can be a struggle given the position of the bolts and the short head on the bolt.

The parking brake cable hooks to a lever on the caliper. There is a procedure in the FSM for removing the cable prior to removing the rear calipers, but with the parking brake released, the cable should lift off the lever.

If you have the GM FSM (Factory Service Manual) there should be torque specs on the last page of each specific section. Torque specs should also be noted in the detailed step-by-step instructions.

Also for all of the bolts, they can be re-used even though the FSM says to discard the bolts. These bolts require some sort of threadlocker to be applied to the threads. GM bolts from a dealer come with a threadlocker applied.

If you have access to a bench grinder with a wire wheel, use the wire wheel to remove all of the old material from the bolts. For the female threads, I like to use a 12 gauge shotgun brass cleaning brush and some non-chlorinated brakes parts cleaner. After cleaning everything, apply some BLUE Loctite to the bolt threads and install using the proper torque values

 

Just want to say thanks guys! I got everything put back on. Finished late so I plan on bleeding the brakes tomorrow and taking the car to the shop to install the radiator I got from a good guy here on the forum and a trans cooler he threw in for free! Thanks again for that Frank!

Thanks to all the others that helped with my questions

Jonathon

Next Project, Replace a/c. Have the parts just need the labor