Corvette Brake Conversion

[Gbody_and_taco_pat]

Gbody family does anyone know if I upgrade to C6 brakes will everything fit within a 17 inch wheel?

I am looking at UMI 1978-1988 GM G-Body C5/C6 Front Brake Conversion Brackets, factory C6 caliper/bracket, and 2006 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Power Stop Z26 Street Warrior Performance Brake Kits K1444-26. These rotors measure in at 13.97".

Anyone else upgrade to C6 brakes piecing everything together themselves vs of buying one of those ridiculously priced units from Willwood or Baer?

 

[Streetbu]

From what I understand, they MIGHT fit in some 17" wheels, but for the most part, no they won't.

 

[Gbody_and_taco_pat]

I reviewed UMIs site and it states C5 Z06 brakes will fit with my application. So I'll end up going with C5 brakes vs C6 (still 10x better than stock). Still wondering if anyone has advise on piecing this set up together as it seems much more cost effective over going with the big name complete packages out on the market.

 

[xylorex]

I'm running c6 calipers on my 78 monte carlo with 17" wheels (2002 camaro)

 

[Supercharged111]

A couple things need to be clarified here. First, C5 and base C6 brakes are the same. The C6 got a reinforced caliper bridge area in the caliper itself, but that's it. Next up are the C6 "Z51" brakes. These brakes were an option on the base models as well and I forget their actual RPO code. Front and rear rotors were slightly larger, caliper mount brackets were different, as were the rear calipers themselves. Next we Arrive at the Z06 brakes. If you're looking at 14" rotors, chances are you're in C6Z territory as the Z51 rotors are only like 13.3" up front. Z51 brakes will not play nice with a 17" wheel but the C5/base C6 will. Of course this depends a little on wheel design too, but rest assured you're hard pressed to get a 17" wheel to play with all but the C5/6 base.

 

[carnutjw]

I did the KORE3 brackets with base (12.9") C5 Rotors/ C6 calipers with 17"x8" American VN501's. Clearance is adequate, maybe 1/8-1/4" but I did have to move the stick on wheel weights from their previous location inside the rim. KORE3 has templates on their website for their various kits that you can print out, transfer to heavy paper, then use to check fit inside your wheel/hub. I don't know if UMI has anything like that or not, or how UMI's kit profile compares. Obviously wheel cross section shape would play a big part, but based on my experience, anything bigger than 13" rotors is questionable.

 

[Gbody_and_taco_pat]

Thanks for the quick feedback fellas! I'll do a little more research, but it looks as if the base vette brakes (C5/C6) will be happy in a 17 inch wheel. I looked at kore in the past as well. Like I said a little more research and Ill make it happen. Keep the team posted on results. Again thanks for the quick responses!

 

[64nailhead]

Supercharged is correct - C5/C6 brakes are the same as long as the C6 are not the Z06 upgrades. We pieced all of it together - Blazer spindles, Scarebird (or something like that from Ebay) caliper brackets, used calipers and hoses, slotted rotors from Power stop and pads from EBC. Depending on the pad, be sure to break them in the way they describe. You'll be best served with a different master cylinder and possibly proportioning valve. The proportioning valve is of minor importance in my experience.

And hold on if you have a decently sized tire up front - they will make braking events turn into BRAKING EVENTS!!! Absolutely night and day compared to the stock front discs.


And you are correct about the pricing of the kits from Wilwood, etc. - we had less than half of the big name kits in ours.

 

[Clutch]

I'm glad to see this thread looks like my boss is getting a corvette that's in one of his impound yards because he wants the motor for his mustang. I recently got a set of blazer spindles and he told me I can have the front brakes off the vet. Unfortunately the vet is burned pretty bad and me not being a Corvette guy I have no idea what year it is but it's got cross drilled and slotted rotors with big red calipers they look like maybe 6 piston? I didn't have time to look at them good yet. The car is part of an investigation so it's do not touch until the sheriff's department is done but when they are it moves to the other yard and it's game on. I don't know if the parts will work on my car or not but I'm willing to try. I'll see if I can get over there when it's unlocked and get a picture some time this week maybe you guy's know if it's going to work for me.

 

[Gbody_and_taco_pat]

Thanks Fellas! 64nailhead what bracket did you use to mount the calipers? I have junkyard 96 S10 spindles on the car already.