Having just been through this will share my experience.

You need the calipers, bleed fittings (I got speed bleeders), pads, retaining clips for the pads, the guide pins, and fluid/anti-squeal compound. I also went for new caliper bolts and new stainless brake lines.

When assembling the front caliper I had some issues getting the (1-piece) pad into place once the pins and retaining clips were in place - what I wound up doing was getting the pad and clip into place and then putting in the pins. When putting the pin in it would want to push the pad away and had to "finesse" the pad onto the first pin - then the others went in OK.

Regarding the pins - I read in places to use blue loc-tite and 30lbs torque - and in other places to use anti-seize instead. I also read a post from someone who had used loc-tite and 30lb and later couldn't get the pins out. I also thought 30lb was a bit excessive - wound up using anti-seize and 20lb.

With the calipers assembled I removed the old stuff - which I weighed (on a bathroom scale):

C5 front rotor 18lb
C5 front caliper 10lb

C5 rear rotor 13lb
C5 rear caliper 8lb

C6Z front rotor 23lb (Baer 2-piece)
C6Z front caliper 10lb

C6Z rear rotor 16lb
C6Z rear caliper 4lb

So I went from 28lb at the front to 33 and at the rear from 21 to 20. The C5 front calipers are heavier than you would think. I was advised that going 2-piece - although pricier - would keep the weight down to a manageable number.

The rear calipers slid right over the new rotors - at the front had to use a C-clamp to get them pressed in that last little bit before they would fit.

Getting 125lb on the bolts in the driveway was a bit of a challenge! Turning the front wheels made access easier - the rears were difficult.

It then came time to run the lines - and there I ran into a problem that every backyard mechanic runs into - "Do I force-to-fit or err on the side of caution?" When I went to screw in the brake line fitting into the new brake line I could get only get about one full turn before the brake line fitting "just stopped" and would go no further. I then got my old line and repeated - with that one I got about 4 turns before it stopped. The old lines were long enough so I reused them. In the picture below you will see there is a difference - the old line (on the left) has a nylon seat which is concave - whereas the new line has a protruding fitting which is convex and sticks out a bit. Saved the new ones and figuring out what to do with them. I did use the hardware with the new ones and changed out the bracket and clips.

With everything connected time to bleed. Now I had purchased a Motive power bleeder for this job - I put some fluid in it and pumped up the reservoir and in short order found a leak.at a banjo bolt fitting. I soon discovered that this was really the best use for the power bleeder - pressurizing the system and chasing leaks - and there were a number. The powder-coated calipers had a protective cover where the banjo bolt attaches - I used a razor blade to carefully remove it (not wanting to get anything into the caliper). Looking back - it would have been a lot easier to do this BEFORE attaching the caliper to the car. Anyhow - on one of the calipers I didn't remove enough material and the crush washer didn't have a good seat. I tightened other banjo bolts, brake line fittings - and even the fittings on the lines that run between the sides of the front calipers. I set out clean pieces of paper towel under each wheel - pumped up the bleeder - and waited. Getting everything tight took quite a while.

With no leaks - got onto the business of bleeding. I pumped up the bleeder to 10lb and cracked the pass side rear bleeder - I noticed some bubbles - and then some fluid started coming - but soon stopped. Pumped up the bleeder again but hard to tell what was going on. I'm thinking that maybe the power bleeder had problems pushing past the resistance of the speed bleeders? I wound up using the pedal to push fluid through - while the pressure bleeder was busy keeping the reservoir full.

With a firm pedal - broke out my laptop and tried to use the Tech-2 to power-bleed through the computer. I got this all set up and when it started it ran the ABS pump so hard I thought it would explode! I had mixed results with this and gave up after 2 wheels. I did another manual "touch-up" bleed and then made a final cleanup before putting the wheels back on - and learned another lesson here - the CORVETTE logo on the calipers is a decal and will not withstand brake parts cleaner - I damaged one of them and will have to try and figure out how to get a replacement (tips appreciated here).

Oh yes - the TSW wheels cleared the fronts no problem

And as you can tell in the last picture - it started drizzling on me and I was unable to get it out on the road and bed the pads. Will get after this now and hope the bite on the Hawk ceramic pads (yellow) works for me.

Hope this helps others considering this project.

 

Sweet brakes

I know people have done c6z brakes on the C5 forever but curious if the c7z calipers are the same as yours besides the script.

Do these calipers look physically the same as the ones you recently put in?

 

During lunch today I saw a C8 in a darker grey (Magnetic Metallic?) - and noted that it had "yellowish" calipers - glad that The General paid attention to my lead!