uptown193

Johnny, will this setup work on a 1987 C4 also?

kenv

Purdy!

johnnymo63

Everything for the swap is the same, except for the adapter brackets and brake hoses.
(These things need to be purchased to fit your year)

uptown193

Ok thanks

johnnymo63

OOPS! I found my receipt from my rotor purchase and discovered that I had the wrong name for the company that supplied my rotors and pads.

I had BSI Brakes listed, but the correct company is "BRAKE DESIGNS, INC.", (BDI). http://brakedesigns.com/

I made corrections throughout the thread.

Sorry for making such a bad mistake. Great company to deal with.

jeffp1167

so you cant put C5 brakes on a C4 that has it's stock rims?

toptechx6

Nice upgrade John and a great photo tutorial.

BerniesVette

I have all the parts needed to change my C4 brakes to C5; just too lazy to do it right now.
You need ZR1 wheels,at least, to fit the C5 calipers and rotors to the
C4.
Bernie

johnnymo63

They require 17" rims. You can use 1/4" spacers with saw blades, but I'm not sure about the salad shooters. Any C5 or C6 wheels fit with no clearance issues on the 88-96 Vettes, but the earlier models require wheel adapters to get the right offset. (Unless you buy them new with the correct offset for your car).

Aurora40

J55's are 13x1.1". C5's are 13x1.25". They are definitely thicker than J55's.

I think the stock (JL4 or something?) '88-94 stuff is 12x1.0" (or 0.9")? It may sound minor but it's a pretty big difference in rotor material.

jeffp1167

it' would be for a 1990 with the stock 17x9.5 rims

mcm95403

I'd like to do this, but I also want to run saw blades. How bad was the clearance issue? No way to safely remove enough from either the caliper and/or the wheel to keep that combo?

johnnymo63

Not sure, but I believe they do clear those wheels without issues.

I don't see why you couldn't remove about 1/4" off of the back-side of the saw blades. (exactly where it would contact the calipers) Plenty of material would still be there afterwards.

mcm95403

Do you mean behind the "blade" area? Is there any grinding that could be done on the calipers, or would it be a wheel-only mod?

jaa1992

You could probably take a little off the caliper, however it might not pass a safety instpection if your state has one or a track inspection.
IIRC the back of the sawblade wheel there is a little bit that could be ground off.

Want to be 100% sure, find a thin spacer that retains the hub centric mount.
I may have a c5 upgrade set available in October - trying to decide between the C5 set I have on the shelf or a big brake kit.

NitroNutt

David that sure is a clean engine bay.

Otis S.

Awesome thread, very informative. This is on my to do list. Car looks awesome.

johnnymo63

Yes, I meant grind the back of the wheels. If you grind the calipers, they won't look as purdy any more.

jeffp1167

So have you driven the car with upgraded brakes yet? I am interested in the differences in braking between the two systems.

So a 1/4 inch adapter might solve any clearance issues I might have with my rims? Where can you buy these adapters?

Here are the wheels I have on the car.

mcm95403

To fit these, I'd be willing to have a machinist fab up a set of spacers if I needed to.

Let me know on the upgrade set - all I'd need would be the calipers and adapters themselves. I already have access to a set of rotors and pads.