can you use c3 4 piston calipers on a c4 vette. they seem to offer better performance giving greater contact area than the 2 or single piston brakes

 

In my oppinion C3 brakes are inferior they are heavy boat anchors by comparision. Your far better off with the stock set up if you really interested in an up grade the the only way to go is aftermarket.

 

Theres a reason why GM did'nt carry over an existing parts line to the next generation...because the new brakes worked better and met specs. The last thing you want is to add weight to a wheel. Also called "unsprung" weight, its the load that defeats the spring and shock before they get to their duty. Like the engine having to waste HP just to turn pulleys and accessories.

Also why we like aluminum wheels...less unsprung weight so the suspension works better.
Just because a caliper has additional pistons does not mean that it works better. All that means is that there is more potential Pounds PER sq Inch against the pad. It still takes more oil and more pressure to achieve more braking force and most folks never come close to using all that potential.
Same principle as 4 valves per cylinder...the 4 smaller valves have slightly more vol than 2 larger valves....BUT the trade off is more mechanical stuff to fail and in the case of brakes, more weight and the need for more oil to do the same amount of work. If an upgrade is desirable, go UP instead of back, and get something thats comtemporary and designed to be liteweight and higher performance. My Zo6 calipers are twice the size of my stock 87 calipers but weight about the same. And they DO use a lot more pedal to do the same work.

heres the rub...

if you have 1cc of oil from the master cylinder thats applied to the caliper, whats going to move MORE? the single piston with approx 4 sq cm of hyd piston surface....OR the 4 pistons that have a combined 6 sq cm of piston face?
Guess what? your brakes are less effective.

How thats compensated for is by moving MORE oil, usually by a longer stroke of the master cylinder....the brake pedal going further and closer to the floor to get the same result.

The solution is a more productive pump (master cyl) but few do that because thats where it stops being sexy and becomes work and involves having a plan..

6 piston Wilwood calipers are sexy as hell....

a new master cyl with 1.5 cc more output per cm of stroke.......not so much.

 

You would be a lot better off going with finding the 13" J55 front brakes or even a C5 front brake conversion. Add a good set of high performance pads, DOT4 brake fluid and possibly brake ducts for added cooling air to the front rotors and you will have excellent brakes. Far better than what a C3 system can provide.

The C3 calipers will be way too wide for the wheels to clear, you will not find suitable adapters to mount them on the C4 knuckles, they will need more fluid than the stock C4 master cylinder can provide and you will find that there isn't a lot in the way of good high performance pads available for them.

 

Oh my...

Let us know how the bracket works and watch out for caliper/off-set wheel issues.

Are the brakes the only retro you re modifying?