GTO Discs Question

[FatfreeGTO]

66 GTO disc brake conversion question

Plans:
cruiser only no track time resto mod I would say
Plan on 18" wheels

I've searched and searched and I'm just getting confused. Here's the deal. Frame is at the powder coater and I need to decide on brakes.

The best deal I can find is a 4 wheel conversion kit from Matts classic bowties nothing fancy really but I don't think I need much bonus is that it does have everything I would need. Single piston 11" rotors and the stainless brake line kit for $1100 roughly.

http://www.mattsclassicbowties.com/contents/en-us/d1353.html

So based on everyones experience for a simple cruiser is this a bad way to go? Will I wish I had upgraded to something better? I'm starting to feel like I should plan a c5/c6 swap maybe but I really don't want to be spending much more than what the kit above costs... I guess if I could get a better setup piecing it together for the same price I would have to consider doing that. The reason I want to convert to disc is because to overhaul the whole drum system complete with lines etc I'm looking at $500-$600 I figure which is half way to the disc conversion above.

Please point me in the right direction, thanks alot everyone!!!

[FatfreeGTO]

Not sure if this matters or not but suspension has all been redone basically with factory stuff upgraded to poly bushings though. Going to be running a lowering spring setup still have to decide on that and probably bilstein shocks.

[wmhjr]

Do yourself a favor. Call one of our sponsors here (like Frank at Prodigy) and check out the Wilwood setup. I was going to go the general route you did, but saw the light and put Wilwood stuff on. You'll thank me later.

[Apogee]

Nothing against the kit you linked to, but I think you'd be a lot happier with a higher end kit in the long run. The rear Cadillac parking brake calipers used in the kit you linked to are less than optimal under the best conditions and a total PITA if things go wrong. Frank at Prodigy has some really good deals on comlete, entry-level, 4-wheel Wilwood kits that would do everything you ever needed them to do on a cruiser and then some. C5/C6 kits have way more rotor than you'd ever use or need, but if you're going to overkill something, brakes would not be a bad choice IMHO. Either kit is going to have an internal type, drum-in-hat parking brake which is far superior to the integral Caddy calipers.

Tobin
KORE3

[FatfreeGTO]

Thanks for the tips guys!

[PT Goat]

I've done the brakes on my GTO too many times and I should have done it right from the start. The kit you linked will be leaps and bounds above the stock drums, but probably not going to look like much behind those big wheels if that matters to you. My advice would be to do it right and do it once. If you need to spread the cost out, you could always do the front kit now and rear when funds allow.

[FatfreeGTO]

I was worried about redoing it in the future and wasting money but ultimately I have a good vision of what I want out of this car and I will stick to that. So for me the basic brake kit was good enough. Plus I just don't have the budget to go throwing a $2000 set of Wilwoods on it unfortunately, I did call Frank and he was very helpful. I will probably step down to a 17" rim though for asthetics with the rotors, plus I like to have a little bit more sidewall showing anyways. I am expecting the frame back from the powder coater by the weekend and all the rest of my parts should be here by early next week for the rolling chassis. Once I get the parts I will start a "Project Update" thread. Thanks for all the help everyone.

[gearbanger]

Yes if budget is an issue then I would say definitely step down to 17s because 18s are about double the price for the wheels and the tires. I have been pricing about every possible kind of brakes for my GTO and I am going with corvette discs from KORE 3 for the fact that they are factory parts for the most part and easily servicable. They are far less expensive than equivalent Baers or Wilwoods and they look really cool too. If I had to choose a less expensive alternative that had some proprietary parts in them, I would probably have gone with the CPP big brake kit.