Topic: Thinking of Redoing My Brakes
in Forum: C3 Engines, Driveline and Handling
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My major job this summer may be to redo the brakes. I started to do some research and there are lots of options and I have a few questions?
- Should I rebuild my calipers?
- or should I get new ones?
- lip, or no lip
- stainless steel sleves?
- stainless steel pistons?
- Rotors?
- Factory; (I am not trying to keep car 100% original)
- Slotted?
- Slotted and drilled?
- Tire Rack seems to have good prices.
- Do I do parking brake at the same time?
- What kind of brake fluid to use?
I know there are many questions, but am looking to do this myself and am wondering where there are some good deals.
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Lifetime MemberHOWELL, NJ - USA
Joined: 5/18/2004
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Vette(s): 1979, Targa Blue (72 Color), Pace Car rear spoiler, L88 hood, Dark blue factory interior, 525HP 406, HD 700R4, 370 gears,Steeroids, composite rear spring, TT IIs wrapped in T/A Radials.
You can get great quality rebuilds with SS sleeves and O-Ringed pistons for a lot less than new ones and they'll perform just as well. Try Larry at Corvette Specialties.
As for rotors, I put 4 Delco replacement rotors on mine and she'll stop in a dime. I don't have any experience with slotted and drilled rotors for C3s, but beware of the cheapies coming out of China. Word is that they're too weak with all the material removed on top of poor quality metal and will warp fairly quickly. Unless you're planning on any road course driving, stock replacements should be fine.
As for the parking brakes, ya might as well. You'll be there anyway once the rear rotors are pulled. I'd go with stainless hardware.
I used a quality DOT 3 brake fluid in my car and worked out great. Be sure to replace all 4 of your rubber lines and make sure the rear hard lines are in good shape.
Good luck and take your time!! 
Paul
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What Paul said. And I did get the caliper set from Corvette Specialties. The car is still up on jack stands while I complete a few other tasks but the brakes were number one priority this year.
Jim Olson 
"The Toys"...!!! Save the Wave! 
My brakes SUCK! I hear stainless steel brakes are what I need...u, why?
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I agree with both Paul and Jim. 
I would strongly caution against using stainless steel pistons in the calipers. Stainless pistons will transfer waaaay too much heat from the brake pads to the fluid, causing the fluid to boil, which leads to mushy(or no) brakes. The original style, aluminuminum pistons do a good job of insulating, or reducing the amount of heat transferred to the fluid thru them.
In response to mysticstripper's question....
Stainless steel sleeves in the calipers will pretty much eliminate any corrosion issues with the calipers. Corrosion has been the bane of Corvette disc brakes since 1965, until 1984. Moisture attacks the cast iron of the calipers from the inside, and causes the seals on the pistons to not seal, which leads to fluid loss, and major brake headaches. If the caliper bores are not scored/corroded, they can be honed and re-used with no problem, but....finding calipers that have no corrosion is getting to be more like a fairy tail....just wishful thinking.
The same applies to using stainless steel parking brake hardware. The stuff just doesn't rust/corrode, making it the material of choice for something you'll prolly only want to do once in your lifetime!
I would strongly caution against using stainless steel pistons in the calipers. Stainless pistons will transfer waaaay too much heat from the brake pads to the fluid, causing the fluid to boil, which leads to mushy(or no) brakes. The original style, aluminuminum pistons do a good job of insulating, or reducing the amount of heat transferred to the fluid thru them.In response to mysticstripper's question....
Stainless steel sleeves in the calipers will pretty much eliminate any corrosion issues with the calipers. Corrosion has been the bane of Corvette disc brakes since 1965, until 1984. Moisture attacks the cast iron of the calipers from the inside, and causes the seals on the pistons to not seal, which leads to fluid loss, and major brake headaches. If the caliper bores are not scored/corroded, they can be honed and re-used with no problem, but....finding calipers that have no corrosion is getting to be more like a fairy tail....just wishful thinking.
The same applies to using stainless steel parking brake hardware. The stuff just doesn't rust/corrode, making it the material of choice for something you'll prolly only want to do once in your lifetime!
Joel Adams
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I agree. When I got my 81 in November of 2007, the brakes were shot. I invested the 1300 to do the stainless steel sleeve route. New lines, calipers, shoes ( not shoes I ment pads) and Disk's. Stops on a dime!! dskopp 2009-06-25 20:50:10
JUST TACLKLED THIS JOB MYSELF. WILL BE PUTTING IT BACK TOGETHER THIS WEEK END. DEFINATELY GET YOUR CALIPERS SLEEVED. I PURCHASED SLOTTED AND DRILLED ROTORS( HOWEVER , I WANTED PERFORMANCE PARTS AS I BUILT THE CAR TO GO.) O RING TYPE PISTONS WITH A TEFLON COATING.AND NEW STAINLESS BRAKE LINES.I ALSO DECIDED SINCE EVERYTHING WAS OPENED THAT I WOULD DO THE BEARINGS TOOI HIGHLY RECOMMENED CHECKING THEM AND AT LEAST RE-PACKING THEM WITH FRESH GREASE. GOOD LUCK!
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Well Jack, If you have more time than money, you can save big buck$ by rebuilding your own calipers. It's difficult to make all decisions to purchase everything before you begin because your calipers have to be sleeved (stainless steel) to use the o-ring pistons (preferred). Separate the caliper halves and wipe away the crud to be sure (sleeves are obvious). These cars are old enough that chances are the calipers have been rebuilt before. But there is nothing wrong with the lip seal type either. They still stop the car great. I don't know enough about the new style rotors to comment, but everyone raves about them. If your emergency brake doesn't work well, now is definitely the time to replace. There is a post in our archives with some good info on the subject. I've never used anything but DOT 3 fluid because that's what I keep around and I don't want to mix by accident. Careful with those fixed brake lines, it's easy to round off a nut or twist a metal line if it hasn't been touched in 30 yrs. Good luck on the project. Time and money well spent 
. Caliper paint is about $40 
, well worth it.
. Caliper paint is about $40 , well worth it.Jimmy B.
Just can't wait to get on the road again. 
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These calipers were designed for lip seal pistons. Here is a great article on whether you should get lip seal or o-ring seal.
http://www.duntovmotors.com/CaliperSchool.htm
Enjoy.
http://www.duntovmotors.com/CaliperSchool.htm
Enjoy.
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