having my 16 inch wheels redone at a metal shop.....now i'd like to upgrade the front braking system....looks likes some of the upgrades require a 17 inch wheel...is there any better system that the stock 1 piston calipers now that I can put in without fitment issues.....thanks for the input....

 

Measure your wheels and see what can be accommodated with the "barrel size" of your wheels. You might consider if the wheels aren't at the shop yet find someone with an '88+ car and see if your wheels will clear the later C4 brakes OR what might need to be done to clear the later C4 calipers and hardware. Maybe just a simple spacer will allow the use of yours with larger brakes OR maybe NONE will!

I don't believe with your wheels there's a simple answer that you're looking for. Learn how to measure and make templates to answer your questions.

 

Here is the best thing to do if ya got the Dough or you can do the C5 swap

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...onversion.html

Here is all the different factory wheels you can possible run

http://www.joby.se/corvette/div/corvette_wheels/

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...s-on-a-c5.html

 

A common upgrade to the stock brake system (i have an 85 too)is a C5 calipers 2 pistons.But ,as you know you need 17"rims and even the sawblade 17 don't fit .Usually the A-mold 17 are the choice for a C5 calipers upgrade.Since you have non stock rims,as said, you have to trial and error the fitment. i bought a set of 4 x 18" rims (4 rear C5 "wagon" that lot of guys here said look very cool an an old c4),i used 2 adapters...done ,huge improvement for a cheap price.

 

What sort of use will the car get? Track days? High-speed Autocross? General street use/cruising? Depending on use, you may be better off with a good set of performance pads. There is a wide variety of aftermarket pads available for the early C4 brakes that will make a huge difference in braking over the stock pads.

I did a front C5 conversion some years ago on my '87. IIRC, I paid about $700 at the time just for the C5 brake components and another $100 for adapter brackets. I used AFS Wheels ZR-1 style wheels in 17x9.5" with the correct 38mm offset for the 84-87 cars. Because the car is used primarily for autocross and track days, I thought that a brake conversion would be worth the time and money.

I found that it really was worth it for what I use the car for, but for general street driving, the OEM brakes will work fine. Good performance pads, a quality DOT3 or 4 fluid, new stainless flexible brake hoses and good rotors will provide very good braking performance. I also believe that there is no huge improvement in braking with drilled/slotted rotors for general street use.

If you are intent on a C5 front brake conversion, note that the special adapter bracket is slightly different for the 84'87 cars compared to the 88 and later. Make sure you get the right ones. For the C5 caliper, there is no difference between a stock C5 caliper and a Z06 caliper other than paint color. Same with rotors. Same diameter, same width. I've been using stock Z06 pads and they work well for my car. Again, there are lots of good aftermarket pads depending on the use of the car.

Get stainless flex hoses to replace the stock hose. Use hoses for your year of C4; they will attach to the C5 caliper. You will also need a different brake bias spring (goes in the master cylinder). Doug Rippie has them and make sure you get the spring for a non-ABS car!

Unless you are going to be doing serious track days, there is no need to change the rear brakes. Good rotors and good pads will work.

 

just really interested in making it stop a little better....don't race it...drive it around the block on sunday morning.....just figured I could get a two piston caliper on it....

 

I recently put new delco rotors and hawk hps pads all around. Im happy with them. I have since purchased the steel braided hoses and judging by my discolored brake fluid, after install and flush Im hoping for a little better braking afterward.

 

Then look into the Factory J55 package. Then replace all the junk rubber hoses and swap over to all stainless steel lines. Factory tin lines expand and go with the best brake fluid money can buy with some real nice pads.

 

Here is just one thread of thousands on the J55's
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...e-upgrade.html

 

Not to hijack the thread, but are you sure the car in this picture is an 85? Never saw an 85 with a third brake light on the roof panel; 86 was the debut year of that silly safety feature. Was it added on at some point??

 

mine is an 85 and she has it,but i can tell if it comes from factory or was added later ...

 

.it's an 85....took the iron heads off myself....

 

The "iron" heads don't make it an '85 and the CHMSL doesn't necessarily make it an '86 either. ABS and VATS ignition cylinder would make it undoubtedly an '86 with of course a VIN check.. Lack of ABS, and VATS would hint very strongly that it's an '85.

I understand the desire to keep your wheels and that's all I mentioned in my post earlier. Measure them or learn how to and if you can try them on a later MY like I mentioned. There's options.

What width are your wheels? I like the idea of keeping the wheels.

 

I don't have vats so i'll go with 85....really don't know the size of the rims...they were on the car.....i'm figuring they're old since I can't find them anywhere, or see them.....Ill ask the rim dr...that's where it's at....after resoration, they're painting the honeycomb inside same color as car and polishing outer rims with a clear coat...i'll post pics next week..hoping it looks cool....wasn't cheap...could have bought new rims.....

 

I would think that the JL9 brakes from '88+ would likely fit and there would be I'd think an improvement with the dual-piston calipers. The easiest test is to try them(the wheels) on an '88+ JL9 car. When you get the wheels back the width and offset should be cast into the back-side of the wheel. If for some silly reason it's not then measure the "total" width of the wheel and subtract 1" from that for the advertised width. A 9.5" wheel measures 10 1/2", a 9" wheel measures 10" etc. We could change back-spacing to offset but the wheels are what they are at this point.

JL9 calipers, brackets etc. should be very easy to come by and the adapter to mount them to the early knuckle I would think is likely the same as used to do the later J55 to that knuckle. DRM was the last known vendor I believe, at one time Corvette Central I believe even supplied some. The adapters could be an issue. I've never needed to look.

 

I bought a J55 kit from Corvette Central about 15 years ago. The caliper brackets were made by Stainless Steel Brakes Corporation. I had a lot of problems with the kit. They sent the wrong caliper brackets and two right hand rotors.

I have the Enkei Z51 wheels and they did clear for a while. Then the pins got worn and the calipers started moving around and scraping on the inside of the wheels. I was filing off the cooling ridges to get more clearance but that was a temporary solution that didn't last. I finally went to 17" A-mold replicas with the older offset to fix the problem for good.

 

I certainly appreciate the input.....had so much other work to get done on the car that I didn't think upgrading the brakes would be a project when I got to them.....guess nothing's easy about these c-4's....i'll be keeping at it .....thanks all