Thoughts On My Planned C4 Brake Conversion

[egoods]

So the first big modification to my car is going to be brakes. I decided on the JL9 (12" Rotor) brake upgrade for a few reasons. First and foremost I'm confident it will fit with my 16" Torque Thrust 2 wheels, and while I'd love to get bigger wheels/tires it's not in the budget right now. Which brings me to my second point, the cost vs performance of doing this seemed to be a no-brainer, using salvage yard parts where I can I can keep the cost of this unbelievably low. Finally part availability, while I think the Wilwood brake systems are really awesome, I like the piece of mind that if I need just about any part for this the store down the street will probably have it in stock.

So here's my plan. I've already sourced C4 calipers and brackets, and following a guide I saw elsewhere I'm going to use a 95 F-body master cylinder and booster. For the time being I'm only going to convert the front and leave the drums in the rear, to keep from having issues with that I'm installing an adjustable proportioning valve and 30psi check valve. As far as bracket adapters, I've yet to find someone selling these (I'm waiting on Kore3 to get back to me), but worst case I have a friend that can fabricate this for me if I give him the specs. I'll be able to mill the front hubs thanks to my access to machine shops (one of the perks of working in the machine tool industry!), and the brake lines I will also either be getting from Kore3 or fabricating myself. I wanted to get thoughts from you guys and gals on my plan so far. Anything you see that won't work or I'm misguided on? I plan on converting the rear in the future but it's not in the cards at the moment. Thanks! I'll post pictures of the work and how it goes in October/November when I start on this project.

[Tomswheels]

Have you driven a C4 Corvette? I know the ones I owned never felt like they had the best brakes. I actually prefer the C3 brakes. Also you may want to double check fitment, 12" discs with 16" wheels can be tight...

[novaderrik]

i had the 12" C4 brakes on the front of my 71 Nova, with the stock drums in the rear... i was running a 77 Chevelle manual master cylinder (15/16" bore) with a Wilwood adjustable prop valve plumbed in after the stock 4 wheel drum distribution block. i made caliper mounting brackets using the template on the Pozziracing.com (http://www.pozziracing.com) site and used the Russel replacement braided brake hoses to hook up to the stock drum brake lines using the stock frame brackets.. it all went together like it was built that way.

when i first got it together, i was running stock 70's 15X7 steel wheels that cleared with about 1/8" of room, which later got upgraded to 16X8 GTA wheels. those were the only 15" rims that cleared- plain steel 15X6 wheels barely hit the fins on the calipers. i had a hell of a time finding a spare tire to keep in the trunk, and wound up with the stock mini spare out of my 84 Regal T Type riding around in the trunk for a while since it was the only thing i could find that cleared out of about a dozen mini spares that i grabbed out of whichever vehicle i found in the junkyard that had a spare tire in the trunk with the proper bolt pattern.

i never had any complaints about the braking- once i got the prop valve adjusted in, the car just squatted down and stopped with no drama when i mashed the pedal... even tho it was a manual brake setup, no one- including my mild mannered 53 year old mom- had no problem with the pedal effort or travel..

but honestly, i'd look at the LS1 F body brakes... the parts are cheaper since it uses the same rotor as early '00's Impalas and the rotors are 1/4" thicker... i've got this setup on the front of my 86 Camaro and it works really well, and it cleared the 15X7 Monte SS wheels that were on the car with about .060 ground off the fins on the calipers, but clear my 16X8 GTA wheels with a lot of room to spare..

[egoods]

but honestly, i'd look at the LS1 F body brakes... the parts are cheaper since it uses the same rotor as early '00's Impalas and the rotors are 1/4" thicker... i've got this setup on the front of my 86 Camaro and it works really well, and it cleared the 15X7 Monte SS wheels that were on the car with about .060 ground off the fins on the calipers, but clear my 16X8 GTA wheels with a lot of room to spare..

Well, after talking to some folks on here and doing even more research I think I may either go with an LS1 brake swap or figure out a way to fit the C5 brakes (possibly using wheel spacers or something along those lines). I'm looking into getting bigger wheels but the money just isn't there right now.