'69 Camaro 4-wheel disc options ?

[JEFFTATE]

Ok. , The time has come for me to put 4-wheel discs on my '69 Camaro.
Many of you have seen my car.
It's not the State of the Art Poster Child for Bling .
My car is a Low-tech / Low Budget. It gets driven a lot. It's pretty much a modified stock suspension and first-gen motor car.
But , I want 4 wheel discs and I've got three months till Year One Experience to get them done.

So, I've always kinda' leaned toward the kits from Touring Classics that use the C5/C4 brake components. They work good , look good , the price is good , the components can be repaired easily , and they have a simple yet functional parking brake. And they fit behind a 17" Torque Thrust II wheel.

But , I am open to other options like Wilwood or Baer.
I think they have come out with some more price competitive kits recently.
I just wonder if they fit behind the wheels without using spacers that would throw my front wheel spacing off. I don't want a tire scrubbing problem. ( I've seen the Wilwoods on the front of some cars with TTII's and they had some really thick spacer behind the wheel to get clearance off of the 4-piston caliper.)

And I want a simple , functional parking brake.
Aren't there wierd things with the parking brakes on the Wilwoods and Baers ?



And , do the Baer and Wilwood brakes really work better ?
The car is just a street car and sees an occasional track or autocross.
Are they worth the extra money ?
Do they really cost more ?

It would just be kinda cool to have those 4 piston calipers ( Bling)

Anyway , I know this subject has been beat to death , but I just thought I'd ask.Maybe get some current opinions / options.

[ponchopwr70]

I have wilwoods with TT2's with no problem and they were cheaper than baer if you go through Frank at gp superstore. The wilwoods are very nice and light, they are worth the money.

[JEFFTATE]

Cool !
Yeah , I was gonna' check with Frank.
Good idea.
Thanks Man !

[scherp69]

Here's a thread that Frank posted on another forum. I just ordered this kit yesterday for my 68 Acadian(Nova). I upgraded to the 6 piston,polished master,drilled rotors and red calipers. It was a good deal.

http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php4?t=13456

[JEFFTATE]

By the way.
Are drilled and slotted rotors always a good idea ?
I know that the slots and drilled holes help get rid of heat and gas.
But don't the drilled holes sometimes weaken the rotors and help to cause cracks if the rotors get too hot ?

Do they make rotors that are slotted but not drilled ?

[scherp69]

I know that Stainless Steel Brake Company gives you an option to use slotted rotors, or they just started using cross drilled ones also. I just sold my SSBC brakes and they were gas slotted rotors. I don't know about Wilwood or Bear. I just ordered the complete Wilwood kit, but I like the look of the drilled ones.

[JEFFTATE]

Thanks Scherp !

[hotrodf1]

IIRC, the holes do increase the tendency for the rotor to crack, slots not so much. Race cars get by with it because many of them are Cryogenically treated mega dollar rotors. The cryo treatment makes a big difference in the tendency of the drilled rotors cracking from what I remember reading about. Someone correct me if I have posted erroneously. And the cracking may be more in the instances where the brakes are really used hard like on AutoX.

[PARKERRS]

Jeff,
I've got the Baer kit on my car and love them, the parkeing brake is a very simple system since the rears use the single piston caliper from the 4th gen. f-body. You just use cables the same as you did originally. Now for the money I would go a different route if I had it to do again. I've had a chance to see the other systems being installed on customer cars at the shop that did my paint (Thunder Valley Customs in White, Ga.). The Touring Classics are basically Identical to the Baer kit I used only the rotors aren't zinc washed and the logo on the caliper is different of course, also I think the Touring classics are cheaper. Both use C4 front calipers and 4th gen f-body rears. The rears are staggered on mine (one in front and one in back) to clear the staggered shocks. The cables hook to the caliper, run the same as the factory drum cables and connect to the forward cable. Another option to look at would be a kit from Tobin at Kore3, you can buy as little or as much as you need and source the calipers etc. from GM since you work at a dealer that may be your cheapest route and still have the performance you want. They are worth the effort 100%, also one of the best bang for the buck brake options is hydraboost,well worth the price hands down and Paul is great to work with.
Tommy

[JEFFTATE]

Thanks Tommy !

[Apogee]

...The Touring Classics are basically Identical to the Baer kit I used only the rotors aren't zinc washed and the logo on the caliper is different of course, also I think the Touring classics are cheaper. Both use C4 front calipers and 4th gen f-body rears...

Tommy, just to make a correction on Noel's behalf, the Touring Classic kit uses C5/C6 front calipers with the 13" HD C4 rotor, so it's sort of a cross between a Baer Track (C4) and GT (C5) kit. This provides more wheel to caliper clearance than a pure C5/C6 kit can offer and allows wheels like the TTII to bolt up without spacers. Rears are very similar as you said.

Rotors are consumables, so how many miles this car is likely to see per year is a good factor to consider when choosing them. If it sees less than 2500 miles per year of street use, you can run almost anything and they could last you a decade. If you track it on occasion and like to push it hard more often than not, plan on new rotors much more frequently, especially if you run more agressive pads. If you like the look of drilled & slotted, go for it knowing that they typically won't last as long as equivalent quality plain/slotted rotors and will shorten your pad life in the process...think cheese grater.

Tobin
KORE3

[PARKERRS]

Thanks Tobin, the touring classics kit I saw was about a year ago and from a quick glance it looked like the C4 calipers, my bad. Are the drilled and slotted rotors really considered a consumable? My Baer kit said not to turn the rotors I know but I was wondering about the C6/Z06 rotors since they are a factory item, are they also a non serviceable rotor?
Tommy

[Spiffav8]

Jeff,

I just ordered the C5 front and rear calipers along with a set of BAER Eradispeed cross drilled and slotted rotors (13"). Add in all the stuff to make it work and it was about $1600.00. I know of a 69 running the same set up and it works awesome. It's very straight forward and easy to install.

You might want to give Tyler at ATS a call. He's done more than a few of these and knows the ins and outs of all the set ups.

Have fun!

[JEFFTATE]

Well , ....
Some other financial issues came up.( Doctor bills , kidney stone )
So , I'm not gonna' be doing the brakes before Year One Experience.

Anyway , the current 17" wheels/tires and original GM brake linings are still in good shape . They work great unless you really hammer them hard repeatedly on a road course.
So I may as well wear them out before I replace them. ?

I really want to mini-tub the car , install an aftermarket subframe, and get different / bigger wheels anyway. Maybe 18" or 19" ?
So I would end up getting bigger brakes to go behing the 18" wheels.
Probably a 6-piston 14" up front and 4-piston 13" in back.

So my brake upgrade is on hold for now.
Other issues have arisen.

But when I get ready to do it , I'm calling Frank and Lisa at GP Superstore.
I'm going with the Wilwoods.

[beadblaster]

A easy way to duplicate a jl8 brake setup is to buy a set of corvette housing ends from moser. Cut the stock end of and weld the vette end on. You can now bolt on the corvette brake assembly from a c2 vette (1965-1982?)

[wwolfe]

check out "The Right Stuff"...they have nice kits that are resonable for 1st gen Camaros