Caliper upgrade?

[Richio1]

I have 4 wheel discs on my 69 camaro. They are dual piston and the previous owner had them chromed so I dont know what brand they are. The rotors are slotted and drilled and are 12".

I am wondering if it is just posible to upgrade the calipers and not have to buy a whole new kit. If so any input on which brands offer direct replacements would be great.

Thanks!

[paul67]

Can you post some pics of them, someone might khow by the pic's.

[ProdigyCustoms]

We have these Wilwood Calipers. D52 direct replacement aluminum, 2 piston caliper that uses factory pads.

[67 455 Bird ragtop]

We have these Wilwood Calipers. D52 direct replacement aluminum, 2 piston caliper that uses factory pads.

Sorry to hi-jack this thread but have a question for Frank -

I know the single piston calipers also use the D52 pads. Will these two-piston calipers work as a direct replacement for the single piston calipers or are the GM III the only ones that do?

[ProdigyCustoms]

The D52 caliper is a direct bolt-on 2 piston replacement for the factory original single calipers on many 1968-96 GM Passenger Vehicles and Trucks. Forged billet aluminum bodies, stainless steel pistons, and competition style high-temperature seals put and end to the rust, bore pitting, and seal failures that plague the OE caliper design. D52 calipers provide low-maintenance performance and a huge weight savings with high temperature reliability for the street and track.

[67 455 Bird ragtop]

The D52 caliper is a direct bolt-on 2 piston replacement for the factory original single calipers on many 1968-96 GM Passenger Vehicles and Trucks. Forged billet aluminum bodies, stainless steel pistons, and competition style high-temperature seals put and end to the rust, bore pitting, and seal failures that plague the OE caliper design. D52 calipers provide low-maintenance performance and a huge weight savings with high temperature reliability for the street and track.

Thanks Frank. I'll be in touch.

[rebelgtp]

I was wondering about using these D52 calipers to replace the factory ones on my '80 Cutlass. Is there a set that will fit the stock disk or will I need to upgrade to a 12" disk setup?

[AtomicFirebird]

I want the D52 calipers for my 68 Firebird. What do I need to do?

[ProdigyCustoms]

Call me tomorrow and I will get you a set coming.

[ProdigyCustoms]

I was wondering about using these D52 calipers to replace the factory ones on my '80 Cutlass. Is there a set that will fit the stock disk or will I need to upgrade to a 12" disk setup?

They fit wherever a stock caliper fits.

[67 455 Bird ragtop]

I had a brief chat with Frank about these since I hadn't visited the Wilwood site in a while. These are pretty new calipers on the market. They replace the single piston calipers just like the GM III's did. There is a nice write up in the May issue of Car Craft on these calipers. I plan on getting a pair of these for my 67 'Bird and ditching the heavy cast single piston calipers.

[critter]

Frank, I'm pretty sure that I understand this caliper will take any D52 pad, correct? So if I want to run Hawk HPS pads I can? For those of us running the 1LE setup this is a nice, relatively inexpensive step up. And please tell me that red isn't the only color they come in.

[ProdigyCustoms]

You are correct Critter

[rebelgtp]

Sweet I will be ordering a set in about a month or so.

[Skip Fix]

I know some guys using the 1LE and the factory caliper upgrade to the larger police Impala/Caprice pad(D61 I think). Wonder if that will fit these calipers also.

[BonzoHansen]

If it fits a d52 caliper I'd think it would fit. The problem guys seem to running into with the D61 stuff is the pads are too thick. I use Hawk pads for 94-96 Impalas, which are D61s but the friction material is not as thick, so they fit OE D52 setups fine.

[Richio1]

Thanks for all the great info guys.

Frank can you PM me with a price and BTW do they come in black too?

[ProdigyCustoms]

They are red only

[a67]

I too am interested in knowing whether the D61 pads fit the Wilwood D52 calipers. Right now The '67 has '69 mid size (GTO) Pontiac spindles, brackets, rotors, and D52 calipers with D61 pads.

Which the D52 calipers weigh a ton. Been thinking of going with PBR dual piston with 12" rotors (ala '86-'96 Vette). But like the idea of the replacment aluminum D52 calipers.

Note to get the D61 pads to fit the stock D52 calipers I milled a smidge (1/32"?) off the face of the pads. There was also a rivet head protruding from the backing plate of 2 pads (one on each side) that needs some filing. That was to get the pad to sit flush with the caliper.

Although heavy, these brakes work!

In calculating the piston area difference between the stock D52's and the 2" bore Wilwoods. The Wilwood would have about 7% less braking pressure with the same line pressure. Which is not enough to worry about.

I used 2-15/16" bore for the D52. Some places list 2-7/8", so I'm not exactly sure of the bore size.

Although with the dual bores the Wilwoods would have a better sweet spot. IOW, they would have a better feel to the braking. As long as flex isn't an issue.

Just to add, one item I don't like about the Wilwoods is that there aren't any dust boots. I'm not sure about how this affects long term longevity for street use. Dirt and water may be an issue.

Bob.

[TnBlkC230WZ]

Frank,

I notice Willwood has two pistion sizes for these. what would you recommend if Installing a a Nova with Cadillac D122 rear brakes?

Also How do these compare SSBS two piston calipers performance wise? I'm going to do something in the near future.

Dave