I've been told that the early C4's brakes were not good...If so, was it the calipers,the rotor size,the master cylinder? all undersized? when and what did GM do to improve them?
Thanks
BBagman

 

'88+ got twin pot front calipers.
'88+ J55 HD option got 13" rotors
J55 brakes will swap onto yours but you need a custom caliper adapter.

Most fit C5 fronts now ( cheaper ) but you need larger wheels to clear larger caliper
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-t...ally-done.html

 

judge for yourself whether they are good or not. the brakes on my 84 are pretty darn good. with a set of performance pads (like hawk hps) and some decent tires, you should be very impressed with the stopping power.

 

Another thing about these early c4 brakes is that they are very light, back when these cars were new nearly every car had iron calipers & heavy rotors.

 

Thanks Rodj...

Mazdaverx7, What RX7? how do your 84 brakes compare with it?Have you ever tracked your C4? how do the brakes hold up for a session?I imagine Hawke blue or black pads are available...

Dave,I've raced a 2gen RX7 for years in ITS(SCCA)

BBagman

 

As you stated, the Hawk Blues or Blacks will work and there are some good pads from CarboTech (a CF Supporting Vendor) for performance use.

You didn't say if the car is for street use only or for autocross or HPDE's, but I would start with Hawk HPS as they are better than stock pads. Decent initial cold bite and will take some heat. For autocross and HPDE, the Hawk HP+ is a good pad but they need a little heat in them to work. They can be used on the street but they will dust pretty heavily and can be noisy when cold. Make sure to keep the dust off the wheels as the dust will quickly eat away the finish when it gets wet!

Another good thing to do is to install brake cooling ductwork. That will keep the fronts cool and help the brake fluid from boiling in high speed use. Use a good DOT4 fluid. Stainless caliper lines are a good upgrade too.

I have C5 brakes on the front of my 87 as seen in the link provided by rodj. I got a good deal on the custom bracket and paid about $650 at the time for all of the components. If you go this way, make sure you get the custom brake bias spring from Doug Rippie Motorsports. Without this spring, you can lock the rear wheels up with no more than 50% pedal pressure. About $25 delivered (note that there are different springs for ABS and non-ABS C4's)

The pics in the link to my thread that rodj posted are HUGE!! At the time the Forum didn't have the auto re-sizing ability.

 

i've autocrossed my 84 and i have a standard set of pads on it. i don't generally get too much brake fade. i've used hawk hps pads on the first gen RX-7 that i was autocrossing and driving on the street and the hps pads give a slightly better pedal feel and they don't fade like semi metallic pads. as far as comparing the FB's brakes with the Vette's, i feel that the Vette's brakes are superior. the RX-7 has a better pedal feel but the stopping power is greater in my Vette.

 

My 84 brakes were pretty lousey.....i was beginning to be nervous about driving it. I took it to a shop I trust and they told me the brakes pads were about finished, and heavily glazed from the heat. He recommended I switch to ceramic pads. After he did this, the 1st time i jumped on the brakes, just as a test, I about went thru the winshield. I guess they work good not. We will see how they last.