C4 to Z06 Brake Caliper

[Toplsvette]

Hello All,
I have a 1988 with 13" front rotors. I bought a set of Z06 calipers and wondered if anybody else has done this conversion. My uncle builds race cars for a living, and it rebuilding my corvette. He said he can make the mount hardware, but i would rather buy it from someone that offers a conversion kit. Any comments would be helpful.....Thanx

 

[Ken]

Welcome To The Corvette Action Center Toplsvette!

I don't know of anyone offering a conversion kit specifically directed to the Z06 conversion, but I'm sure you'll find (or your uncle will make) something.

 

[Vettelt193]

Vette brakes and products makes a C4 to C5 conversion

 

[Toplsvette]

Thanx for the info... vettebrakes.com has everything i need ...

 

[Coupe89]

I've done the conversion. I like it alot.
I bought the brakets from Electro Dynamics
You also need C5 Rotors, C5 pads, C5 Brackets and 17" A-mold rims. While your at it put a set of stainless steel brake lines on.

 

[Vettelt193]

sweeeeeeet

 

[Toplsvette]

Thats looks awsome !!! I have a set of polished 2001 5 spoke wheels to put on it.. My 88 has 13" rotors from the factory and i got a new set of slotted rotors for the conversion...I was told they will work with the conversion...Is this true?? or will i have to buy rotors for a c5 ??

 

[-=Jeff=-]

I am pretty sure you need C5 rotors..

 

[P-ColaVette]

Welcome to the CAC...

Welcome to a great place, Toplessvette ! When you get your car together, we should get together and cruise !



Steve.

 

[Toplsvette]

Thanx Steve..i'm sure we will get together somewhere and show off our stuff..

Eddie

 

[swoosh]

Dam those are some hot looking brakes. I wanted to do the same thing and put C5 brakes on my 96! I'm so jealous !!!!!!
I have a question. What do you mean by A-mold wheels?

 

[Coupe89]

A-molds = 5 spoke rims/ZR-1 rims 94-95

 

[lilredvette]

Have a friend that uses factory bracket to install C5 calipers on C4's. His parts are cheaper and easier to install. E-mail me if you are interested in more info.

 

[Springer's LT4]

Everyone that I know who has gone this route has used C5 rotors, I'm not aware of any kits that don't either. The C5 rotors are a 1/4 inch thicker then the 13 inch C4 rotors.

I'm very much on the edge of doing these... I have the calipers/C5 rotors lined up for next to nothing... total job will end up costing me around 400 when I add the brackets in... but my car needs brakes soon, so I just might throw pads on the J55 brakes until I get the rest of the parts to do the conversion.

 

[Toplsvette]

Hello,
My uncle is trying to make a modified bracket to using the C-5 Calipers on a C-4 using the 13"C-4 Rotors. This will allow you to use the original C4 17" wheel without having to buy expensive A-Mold wheels. I will know this week if it works..

 

[Toplsvette]

I have just installed the FRONT Z06 Calipers on my 88 Corvette with the 13" heavy duty C4 rotor. I know that all the 17" factory wheels will fit and are trying to get the 16" wheel to fit. I will post some pictures tomorrow.

 

[lilredvette]

Yes, all the kits I have seen use C-5 Rotors, but companies l;ike Electro-dynamics use adaptor brackets that move your caliper higher around the rotor. We came up with a way to utilize a factory bracket. You can see pics of the install of the C-5 calipers and cryo-treated rotors at andersonperformance.net. These were put on my friends collectors edition.

 

[Toplsvette]

Here is a picture of a 88 (C4) with a Z06 Caliper and C4 13" Rotror. You have to use the C5 brake brake mount hardware.
We just made a bracket that will you to use your original 13" rotors and stock wheels. There is no way you can use the original caliper mount hardware.

 

[Springer's LT4]

How do you take up the 1/4 inch difference in rotor thinckness between the C4 and the C5 rotor? Thats a lot of space to have the pistons take up.

I would tend to think one of the advanges of the C5 upgrade is adding the C5 rotor... thicker, deals with heat better... and they aren't very expensive.

 

[Toplsvette]

You can take up the 1/4"slack by putting a spacer inside the piston. We do this all the time on our circle track cars. The bracket we made is a universal bracket for a C4 13" or a C5 rotor. We made a bracket that will fit both because if you use the C5 rotor you MUST use a A-Mold wheel. If you go with a C4 13" rotor you can still use the stock wheel. This will give you alot more braking without spending a pretty penny on wheels and tires. I bought the 5 spoke wheels myself, but if you want to save some money this is the way to go. All you need is the C5 caliper,C5 caliper mount bracket and mount hardware.