Torqued Off

I know you are right. I am being cheap. I just want the best deal for the “right” part. I am a Sunday driver at best. I just want to Cruise safely.[/QUOTE]

Beware of listening to people who can only think about a Corvette as a race car, versus simply driving on the street. No matter how you qualify a question here,....it is quite common, as you have read above, for postings to be made that address problems only from a race car perspective. It is odd,....because I bet 99% of the C3 Corvettes out there never see a race,....or drive on the streets at race car performance levels. I recommend buying good brakes.....not Chinese junk.....but you DO NOT NEED brakes at race car performance levels if you drive responsibly on the streets.

Mr D.

Best post in this thread, people way over think this topic when a basic FLAPS brake job is all that is needed. If you can't do your own work just go to your local chain tire store and tell then you need a brake job.

Mr D.

What you saw was a 50 year old used Chevy.

Bikespace

The stock brakes are great, when working properly. They were, in 1965, better than almost anything else on the street. If that's what you have, you're probably fine. The lesson many of us are trying to impart is that rebuilt brakes from a FLAPS are hit or miss (and a lot more miss these days). You'll get blasted calipers, painted bores, bad or missing o-rings between the halves. If your time has any value, it's not worth going that route.

You may not need Wilwoods, but there is a tremendous unsprung weight savings for a relatively (by Corvette standards) small amount of money. Some folks value that.

If you just want a good set of brakes for the street, rebuild your own calipers. Or buy a set of SS sleeved calipers at Carlisle or from someone on this Forum, and DIY with an O-ring kit.

gkull

I was thinking about the race statements. Odd. Everything motorized that I ever owned from the time I was a kid I mucked with. I hopped up my first brigs and Stratton go kart. I had the head milled, ported and a hotter cam installed with headers!. The first dirt bike I saved up my money and bought a better expansion chamber exhaust pipe then modded the piston and cylinder bore intake and exhaust locations to increase the power. When I was 15 I put headers and a 4 barrel on my straight 6 chevy pickup truck when the clutch went out I swapped out the 3 speed for a 4 speed. I bought a used hopped up Vega GT hatchback and put on a front air dam and rear spoiler kit along with wider tires and wheels. Then the rage was buying the V-8 vega conversion kit which turned it into a very fast ,but totally unsafe machine. I looped it a bunch of times. I bought some other cars and bought my vette Everything always got better. Like I bought a Ford expedition with towing package and the triton 5.7 liter. The window sticker had some terrible gas mileage estimate. Like 12 city and 15 highway. I didn't know anything about 3 valve ford motors so I researched online of how to increase the mpg. I installed a chip and a free flowing true dual with twin higher flow cats. It gained a couple MPG. Then I saw an article in hot rod magazine about what the triton needs is more air so I bought the summit FAST 102 mm trottle body and K&N cold air kit vs the little stock 94 mm or what ever. Now the thing is powerful and gets better MPG. Then I bought a Dodge dually 4X4 3500. turbos need to breath so I mucked with everything and recently went to an even bigger turbocharger it can do 40 psi and has tremendous power for towing big 5th wheels toy haulers. Yes it also blew the transmission and I had to put in the monster 1200 ft pound of tq tranny and a 4.10 rear end to do some more rpm going down the highway.

Everything can be made better! I used to drive my vette about 10,000 miles a year and I have something over 170,000 miles on it. I'm now into off road racing and bought the highest HP turbo 2022 side by side two passenger made. I owned it about a week when I ordered the full 3 inch cat delete racing exhaust to even get more power and boost out of the motor. I put on bigger tires, extra roll cage, racing seats. It can lay big long black marks on pavement and crawl up rock cliffs.

Torqued Off

I think the problem with racers is that they think everyone else thinks like them. Not everyone is in a race. There are other qualities of driving a car, including classic cars, that many appreciate beyond going fast. And nothing is free.....if speed and performance is the only criteria for the word "better".......then its just huge money spent for something some of us don't care about. It really does not matter to me that my 2006 Corvette can do 180 mph.....its irrelevant. If you care....look up my threads on my rebuilds....you will see that quality is, and can be defined, in ways different than a "race-car". Durability, reliability, appearance...and appreciation for the original character of a classic....all have meaning.

gbvette62

I have a little different perspective on racing and brakes. I've never raced, though I did a lot of autocrossing when I was younger (that's me in my avatar throwing my 62 through the pylons back around 1980), but I've been crewing on road race cars for much of my life. I've crewed for both amateur and professional race teams, and much of the time I was crewing on Corvettes. For the last 15 years I've been crewing for a team that vintage races Corvettes, in series where we're required to use stock, cast iron Corvette calipers. We have done some modifications to the brakes to make them a little more effective, but the castings are still GM J-56's. The stock Corvette 4 piston calipers are great brakes, our 65 often tops 160 at places like Watkins Glen and Daytona, and they stop it every time.

A lot of people seem to think that the Wilwood D8's are a performance upgrade over the stock Corvette calipers, but they're really not. They use the same pads as a stock caliper, so the pad contact area is no different then a GM caliper. Being aluminum they save about 4 pounds per caliper over stock, and the aluminum dissipates heat quicker, both good attributes, but hardly anything the average driver will ever notice in normal driving. A high quality, performance brake pad will do 100% more to improve your braking, then a set of Wilwood D8's ever will on the street.

I love Wilwoods, they make great brake parts, I've sold they're calipers. I just hate to see people buy them thinking they're getting an upgrade to their stock Corvette brake system. For someone who autocrosses or does HPDE track days, the reduction in unsprung weight, and the Wilwood's better heat dissipation, can certainly an advantage. Or if someone wants them for the wow factor of having red calipers that say "Wilwood" on them, then go for it. I never want to tell anyone how they should spend their own money, I just hope people realize that while Wilwood makes a great product, they're D8 is not a performance upgrade over the stock calipers, for the average Corvette.

Gary, unless something's changed recently, Muskegon has been having their calipers done by Lonestar for a long time. 15-20 years ago, Lonestar use to be right across from me at the Knoxville Corvette Expo. Muskegon would come by Lonestar's space at night, after the show closed, and unload all their cores into Lonestar's trailer, and replace them with boxes of freshly rebuilt calipers. We all use to kid about it.

gkull

Yes, I'm very sorry that you own the low hp 405 or 505 hp junky vette. They also fill the car with brake burning smoke within a couple of laps and you have to pull into the pits because you feel sorry for the poor car. Just my experience as an SCCA driving instructor. People would do the hoops of HPDE and finally get out on the big track. They are so disappointing to drive with your foot on the floor all the time unless braking and then the brakes over heat and the day is done.

Kinda like the crybaby at a vette event telling me that his new c7 z06 was fun but he didn't know that the 2500 dollars of tires only lasted about 5 months

He needs to get back home in his classic Pinto station wagon

Torqued Off

See, as usual......everything is about racing to you. Its not about that for many of us.. I love all my Corvettes....and that admiration has ZERO to do with how the car would perform on a racetrack.....because THAT is irrelevant to EVERYONE except people who race. Pretty simple.

Point is.....as it relates to this thread....brakes and rotors that heat up cherry red on a race track can and will perform to 100% of the requirement for brakes on the street. So....what that means to the OP is that he can keep his stock C3 Corvette brakes, rebuild them and he will have all he needs, and more, to meet his requirements for the car. Again....very simply logic. And something the OP should remember.

And as for your "junky" Corvette comment......well I am quite happy with it. Its a great car. I would take insult to your comment....but, frankly, I didn't ask for, nor do I need an "SCCA driving instructors" approval or respect. The picture speaks for itself. Enough said.

4-vettes

Geez Gentlemen. Let's calm down.
I agree, my Stock C3 brakes, lip seals and all will throw you through the windshield if your not buckled up. But on a race track???
I thought it was a sports car not a race car.

cottoneg

The calipers you have are fine for street use if you properly service them.

I used to time trial my 1969 at Bridgehampton years ago. I’ll never forget the first time I had the brakes fade badly. I still remember pulling in the pits and coming to my parting spot and the car would not stop. Luckily the chain link fence stopped me. I realized that if I was going to do multiple stops from 150, some work was needed. I also want to note I ruined a rim when the pin that holds the brake pads in broke. I went to L shaped pads and calipers.

First thing directed at the none racing guys:

· Do you change your brake fluid at least annually? Most calipers that leak is because they rusted internally. Fresh brake fluid helps rid the system of moisture.

· Have you check rotor run-out? You should also check run-out for the hub it mounts to.

· Do you have the right pad material for your application?

· Consider changing your rubber brake lines to stainless steel braid. The old lines can seize!! I’ll learned from experience. The car felt “sluggish” one day. I got out to see my rotors glowing red.

· Consider changing your brake lines to stainless steel. I had a Suburban that had rusted lines and one day they ruptured. Not fun.

· Since I do you the car at time trials and HPDE, I run brake vents to the front calipers to help with cooling.

Experience is a great teacher. Also, take care of the basics first.

wwiiavfan

One of my favorite quotes:
“Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.” – Steven Wright.

CiCiC3

I've seen plenty of Youtube videos that seem to prove they are not better anyway than the normal. They are certainly impressive to look at and are easily noticeable with the spoked wheels.

mardyn

Used some rebuilt calipers from Oreilys on my '73.... worked fine and were reasonably priced.

mardyn

99 Black Bird TA

Stop whining. Quality stock replacement irebuilds are available. Wilwood is reasonable if you want to upgrade.

All four can be replaced for $400 even today with quality stock rebuilds.

I've had four AutoZone rebuilt calipers on my 72 Vette since 2008 with ZERO issues. They see still less than $90 each on exchange.

The 72 has been in the family for 40+ years and the last 14 years are the only time the car has ever went more than 5 years without a caliper issue. I know the car history back to 1979 and the cars OEM calipers had issues within seven years.

bruiser

Autozone calipers are now rebuilt in Mexico incorrectly. They sandblast and paint the bores and they all leak. Muskegon Brake sells Lonestar rebuilt ones with oring pistons for $125 plus $75 core deposit the price has jumped $25 since spring, a much better choice than the autoparts stores.

Bikespace

Thank you! This post, and that image, should have been the first reply in this thread.

I guess many others would rather have the experience of doing it wrong the first time.

mrvette

I have owned my '72 for some 30 years now, and early on I noted the calipers on all 4 wheels were stainless lined.....and all I ever did was convert over to O ring pistons, not lip seal....and run DOT5 fluid, with no krazy valve in front, and I put on Hydroboost maybe 10 years ago, car stops on a dime, 9 cents change....

Torqued Off

I am very calm...thanks.

sjr1971

Back in the Day.they Cost arrrox. $400 to replace a full set of disc brakes [with cores] ............. BUT ..............they weren't painted pretty colors !!!!!!!!!