eboggs_jkvl

The UPS guy had to make 3 trips to the garage last week. These things were heavy!




Ok, time to do some prep work before the installation process. First on the list is to assemble the hats to the rotors.





Torquing the bolts to 85 lb in.





Ok, all of the bolts are in...





...Now, let's lock those bolts so they won't back out in the future.





Here's a close up of the locking process...





Time to load the pads into the calipers, uhoh I've got a problem...

Look closely at this picture. Look at the caliper on the left. See how smooth the two halves are assembled? Now look at the right caliper, it has a mismated union in the middle and the powder coating has been damaged and scraped off to the bare metal.




Here is a close up of the good joining halves.



Here is a close up of the bad caliper and the damage to the powder coating.




I've contacted the vendor and sent the pictures to him. He is contacting Wilwood today (03/28/2011) to work on getting a replacement caliper to me. The rest of the calipers look fine and are ready for installation. I'll continue with this thread when I get an update to the issue at hand.

I'm also waiting for my 1/8" spacers to arrive so there's no way I can do any install work until I get the spacers.

3/30/2011
Wilwood was supposed to contact me yesterday ICW the return and replacement of the faulty caliper. They were remiss in their obligations and did not contact me as promised.

Afternoon of the 30th, I contacted my vendor and he got a little brusk with Wilwood and they responded immediately via e-mail. Anyhow, waiting for Wilwood to give me the instructions for their RMA procedure.

3/30/2011 3:50PM My vendor says the spacers have shipped. He's close so they might get here on Thursday.

3/31/2011
Wilwood responded today @ 11:00AM. They will work through my vendor for replacement of the caliper.

Current plan, they are shipping me a new caliper today and they will include a return label to get the bad one back. Very Good response!

Spacers came today. Packing slip says 4, I got 2. I asked for 1/8" got 3/8". What the hell else can go wrong. :think: Called vendor, he chewed on the spacer people and they are redoing the order on a rush basis!

I'm glad I'm old, I can put up with a lot more stupidity from the world and not get upset about it.

04/04/2011
Well, we're looking at a tracking number that says Wednesday 04/06/2011 for the arrival of the replacement caliper. I'm waiting for UPS to call and make an appointment to pick up the boxed defective caliper.

Still no word on the arrival of the spacers but the day is young.

04/06/2011
Received the Wilwood caliper today. Guess what? The caliper does not match my other front caliper, nor does it match the caliper that I'm sending back.


The two boxes. Left is what I'm sending back, right is what I received. Notice the part numbers.....




Here are two pictures of the calipers. The one on the left is what I received, the right is part of the set that I have.







Here is a close up of the differences. Left is the replacement, right is existing set.

I called Wilwood. Hit the voice mail, I'm waiting to talk with my California supplier.



Ok, after the call, we have a new plan. Wilwood superseded the old style with the new style. So, they are going to send me a "new" style passenger side caliper to match the "new" style driver's side I got today. Hey! Don't be sad! There is a really bright side to this! The newer style is .25" narrower than the ones I have. I might not need spacers with the new calipers!

So, we're back to waiting on Wilwood to ship. I'm still waiting on the spacers. I now have 2 boxes to ship back to Wilwood!

4/7/2011
Whelp, UPS made it to the house today and picked up both old calipers and the boxes are in the mail. Of course they were supposed to call and set up an appointment but hell, beggars can't be choosers, I guess.

Still no spacers have shown up.

Wilwood says the caliper was shipped yesterday. No tracking number given.


4/09/2011
Sitting in the keys waiting for a caliper and spacers to show up on my doorstep while I'm out of town. Figures everything would time out so badly.


4/12/2011
Well, the government screwed up my daughter's business trip. I was going to the Keys to take care of the granddaughter for a week so back to Jax...

Hm... on the door is "failed attempt #1 to deliver the caliper" I'll be here tomorrow for the next try.

Got all 4 spacers today so that issue is done.

We're gaining on it!

4/13/2011
Well, after entertaining thought of having the calipers installed professionally, I decided that $515 is too much for this job. Making that decision, I sat and read through the instructions that come with the kit. Good thing that I did as it says that the OEM brake lines will NOT hook up to the Wilwood calipers. It seems that I need to purchase the Wilwood brake line kits to get this stuff on my car. So, ordering 200-9100 & 220-9101 flex brake line kits for the calipers. Looks like another little delay in the actual installation.

All of the other parts are now safely in my possession. One step at a time...

Southern Car Parts (my brake kit vendor) has the two brake line kits in stock. They shipped out today and he is located in Southern Georgia. With luck, I may have them by Thursday. Looks like I need to make a run out and buy some brake fluid for the bleeding process.

4/14/2011
Received both brake line kits from Jim Vose today. Picked up a quart of Dot3 last night. I believe I have everything that I need. I have a parade to work this Sunday (Carry a beauty queen on jump seat) so I'll probably wait until early next week to do this project. I don't want to disable the car in the garage and have something bite me on the *** and screw up the Sunday parade.


4/18/2011
This is so bad it's funny. Mounted RR on and no problems (problems later though). Went to RF put on rotor & caliper, perfect alignment. Tried the wheel with the 5mm spacer, the caliper hit the wheel. Thought for a minute, said what the hell, added a 2nd 5mm spacer for 10mm total. Caliper clears and the wheel turns without touching. Tried to put on the lug nuts to make sure of clearance, lugs are too short and can't bolt up the wheel. Call Vendor. Call Wilwood. Wilwood mulling it over. They call back and say the kit is for the Z06. I remind them that I have the C6. They are back to the drawing boards. I think they are going to replace the calipers with the "superlight" model and that should work. Here's the two spacers I had to use to get clearance.




New caliper that is too big still connected so I don't keep draining brake fluid out from a disconnect line.










Installed the LR, all is good. I noticed that when installed the way they suggest, the caliper touches the rotor. Pull of the caliper and add some shims, perfect, clearance is spot on. Here is the completed LR (less bleeding).









Go back to RR and check and sure enough, the caliper is touching the rotor. Pop off the caliper, add the same shims as the LR and plop on the caliper and the clearance is just right. Set the torque wrench to 35 lb ft & tighten the bottom bolt.... click-click. tight. Go to the top bolt and tighten... tighten... no click-click, hmmm,,, sure seems tight, maybe a half turn more. Splang..... Bolt snaps off. Damn.... Ordered new caliper bracket for RR.

Here's the damage. My torque wrench is working just fine.




Car is now sitting in middle of garage on 4 jack stands. 2 calipers RR and LR need bleeding. I need to take off the RF Z06 caliper but I'll do that tomorrow. I'm waiting for Wilwood to call and offer the superlights in lieu of the Z06 calipers. Looks like they went home for the day. They'll call tomorrow. Car might be on jack stands for a week! Damn.

Project on hold...



Remaining stock caliper and rotor. Still waiting to hear from Wilwood to tell me the stuff has shipped.




4/22/2011
Well, per Wilwood, the complete front brake kit left Wednesday in 2Day shipping so hopefully the hats, rotors, and calipers for the front will be here today. The stud for the rear caliper is another story. Nothing from Wilwood on it being accessible or sent. I need that to complete the RR caliper installation.

Nothing to do but wait or maybe pop open a brew.



Ok, eeeehaw! I got the front brake kit and I've installed it. No problems at all.






I still need the rear caliper bracket before I can move the car.

We have bled the brakes and I'm 5 minutes away from finishing this job if I can get that rear caliper mount.

Nothing to do but wait some more.

I found a stud that I can use at NAPA for $2.88. Wilwood want $200 for the entire caliper bracket. They can replace the stub but it'll take a while to get it in stock so we'll go with the NAPA bright metal stud until they can get me the "black" stud and I'll replace it for aesthetics.

Here's the final product on all 4 corners.










I'm going to do the pad bedding later this week.


I'd like to thank Jim Vose at Southern Car Parts for his help throughout this ordeal. I'd also give kudos to Jeff Baluyot at Wilwood for his help and the replacement of the over sized parts. All it took was patience!


I'm done here.


Elmer

eboggs_jkvl

Anyone know a vendor that sells spacer plates? The 5mm that I am using give me clearance but I can get by with less of a spacer. I'm looking for 3mm to move in the wheel a tad more.


Elmer

gunterwalker

Those look very nice. I wish GM would put those on from the factory.

timd38

Pfadt has spacers.

My Wilwoods went on with no drama. Did SKF bearings at the same time with long ARP studs.

Bill Dearborn

They are nice and work well but they probably don't meet GM's durability specs. The Wilwoods are race calipers and do not have have dust boots so are susceptible to getting dirt into the seals when changing brake pads and pushing the pistons back. I ran mine for 4 years on my C5 but I always used brake cleaner to clean the exposed parts of the pistons before I pushed the pads in to loosen them.

Bill

southerncarparts

Hi Elmer,

I think I can get you 3mm made...checking now...

Jim

eboggs_jkvl

Thank you Jim.

eboggs_jkvl

OK, last update on the project (for now). I went to NAPA and found a replacement stud. It is not the same color or exact length but it will work until Wilwood gets some studs in stock. I've place an order for a stud ONLY. The caliper bracket that come with the kit had a $200 price tag on it. NAPA's part was less than $5. I'll put the aesthetically pleasing stud from Wilwood in later to make the installation look better. Right now, the car is functional and can be driven. Did I mention that my wife stopped divorce proceedings against me now that she can get her car into the garage?

If I can get the thinner spacers in there without rubbing I'll do that too to tighten up the wheels to the hubs.

Elmer

oldmansan

CCW for the spacers. Talk to John.

San

LEAVINU

So what size spacer are you using with the SL's?

Based on your avatar we have the same wheels and I did the SL kit as well and needed a 5/16" (8mm) spacer to clear the spokes. I then had to add ARP studs as the stockers were to short.

If you're running about the same spacer and still on stock studs you might want to pay close attention to the total turns you have. Without longer studs I could only manage @3 turns and I think 8-10 is the least you want IIRC.

eboggs_jkvl

Right now I'm running 5mm spacers on all 4 corners. I have a gap between the caliper and the stock rim. I think I can get by with 3 mm spacers and move the wheel in a tad more. I need them in hand to check 5mm is 3/8" 3 mm is 1/8". I want the wheel as close as possible to the stock position. So the 1/8 would be better than the 3/8, IF it'll fit.

Elmer

LEAVINU

Wow, thats crazy how much tighter yours fits than mine with same wheels and brakes. I can barely fit a piece of paper between my calipers and spokes with a 5/16" spacer.

Biggest thing I learned over time was ensuring the caliper was dead center over the rotor. I didn't do this the first time exactly and had piston issues after the pads started to wear. Also, watch your pads and flip them as they taper otherwise you'll start to get some drag on one or both front wheels. Just sharing my lessons learned.

eboggs_jkvl

Good to know, I'll stick that info in the remember locker for later.

Your avatar shows black wheels. Are they aftermarket and what's the offset?

Elmer

LEAVINU

Stock powdercoated your style wheel.

Deicide

5mm is actually only .1965" (a little under 13/64")

3/8" = 9.525mm


Unless you mean the gap it created...

eboggs_jkvl

Yup. When I measured them with my ruler, it was 3 lines and my brain said 1/8s. The ruler said 1/16s so 3/16 of an inch is 5mm.

Thanks for keeping me honest.

Deicide

No worries. If nothing else - a 3/8" spacer would give plenty of clearance.

southerncarparts

Congrats Elmer....Glad it is done....Looks great!!!

Smallest spacers I can get are the 5mm.....sorry...

Jim

eboggs_jkvl

I found 3mm spacers and ordered 2 sets. Needless to say, I was charged for 2 sets but only received 1 set! DAMN! What kind of bad luck string is going on here!

Anyhow, I just put the 3mm on the rear of the car and life is good. It is a perfect fit and I mean perfect!

I'm sending messages to Pfadt Racing and inquiring where my other set of spacers have disappeared to. Someone named "Jen" at Pfadt is my e-mail target.

When I get my 2nd pair of 3mm spacers, I'll give them a try on the front. It'll be close but all I need is for it to miss the caliper to work.

Elmer

eboggs_jkvl

OK, got the pair of 3 mm. Took off the wheel and taped the caliper so as not to scratch it.

Tried a fitting and 3mm is too small. I put the 5mm back on and torqued the nuts.

Job is done.

3mm for the rear & 5mm for the front.


Elmer