disc brake combo?

[69496]

I have rear disc brakes I was going to put on my chevelle from a mid 70's trans am. They apear to be about 11.5 to 12" discs. I was planning on getting the C5/C6 Z51 brakes for the front. Will the corvette front brakes work well with the rear brakes I have or should I upgrade the rear brakes to corvette style brakes as well?

[Apogee]

They should work...sort of...but the balance is less than ideal. Consider that the rear piston diameter of the 2nd gen calipers is 2.5" [63.5mm], where the diameter for the rear C5/C6 calipers is 1.77" [ 45mm] or actually 2mm smaller in the case of the Z51. Without running dual master cylinders, it can be difficult to get such a setup balanced to where the fronts lock before the rears. While nothing is impossible, some things aren't worth the effort IMHO.

The front C5/C6/Z51 calipers actually have an effective single piston diameter smaller than that of the rear calipers at ~57mm [2.25"] (twin 40.5mm pistons). Considering the fronts do 70%+ of the work, that's not the best place to start. Certainly some of the difference in piston area can be made up with the rotor diameters, pad compounds, etc, but it's a lot easier to start with calipers that are at least close to having the proper front to rear bias initially.

The math doesn't look good, but maybe somebody who's run a similar combination will chime in with their own experiences. We typically recommend against what you're asking for the reasons stated above.

Tobin
KORE3

[69496]

Thank you Tobin. By the way I will be buying my brakes from you. I hear nothing but good things about you and you did give me a quote a while back, I just have run out of money. Hopefully I will be back on track soon.