Big, non-brembo brake options

[MattStrike]

Limitations:
Need to fit under my 17" wheels
Can't spend an arm and a leg
Not opposed to wheel spacers

The Camaro already warped a rotor, so being that I'll want to convert it to the 4th gen brakes I figured I would take this opportunity to make the brakes on the Bonneville even bigger-er (and put the F-body setup back on an F-body).

I'm trying to piece together what parts are being used where on some of the brake setups out there. Because I already have F-body brakes I have been looking at the F-body crowd does. I'm considering several possibilities that could fit under the 17's that could work with my budget.

The first is the Z51 Corvette brakes; 13.4" rotor, dual piston aluminum calipers, needs a bracket adapter that is going for $125. This is not the most cost-effective option due to the adapter. Also there is also a 13.6" rotor that you need to use with a ZZP kit that I can't find info on.

Next option would be to use the Grand Prix GXP 12.7" rotor and caliper/bracket. Problem there is caliper bracket availability and increased cost due to being desireable among the W-body crowd, aside from getting lucky at a junkyard. I was hoping the answer there could be to use the '06+ DTS bracket with the F-body caliper and the GXP rotor.

Thoughts/other ideas? Any chance somebody knows where the 13.6" rotor for the ZZP setup comes from?

[2003 SSEi]

I know the 06+ Impala Brakes are the GXP cousin. 12.7 rotor and dual piston. The main difference is the Impy calipers are not Alum.

[nos4blood70]

Why not get bigger rims and get better brakes? I know there's a budget here, but since the rest of the car is so wild, why stop (hue hue) at the brakes?

What about C5 Z06 brakes? Basically an F-body caliper with cooling fins and smaller pistons for better pedal feel.

[haro1225]

I know they are brembos, and I may have mentioned it before but I know the Evos use a very similar caliper and they come with 17's. Plus the rotors are 5x114.3 so it would just be a matter of finding out if they'll bolt to the knuckle.

[MattStrike]

I know the 06+ Impala Brakes are the GXP cousin. 12.7 rotor and dual piston. The main difference is the Impy calipers are not Alum.

Are the brackets the same, and will F-body calipers bolt on? From what I could find, those are also common to the DTS, the police impala and the Lacross Super.

[95naSTA]

Are you sure you want to be limited to 17" wheels at the track?

[MattStrike]

I could run larger wheels at the track if I want, but the roads around here are not 18"+ friendly. Most 18" wheel sets around here are 3 only as the 4th has a crack in it.

[haro1225]

I could run larger wheels at the track if I want, but the roads around here are not 18"+ friendly. Most 18" wheel sets around here are 3 only as the 4th has a crack in it.

Sometimes I have regrets about having 18's because most of the roads are like the surface of the moon.

[95naSTA]

I was going the other way with it. I didn't upgrade either of my cars past what would fit under 16s. This lets me still get decent sidewall flex out of DRs and maybe eventually slicks. Sidewall flex aids in straight line traction and softens the blow to hard parts.

[00Beast]

I was on the same wavelength as Mike, do you want to have to run 17" DR's at the strip?

[MattStrike]

I don't have drag radials. So I can't say either way that 1/2" of sidewall is going to make that much of a difference.

I've found a few people using the 13.4" rotor with Brembo calipers that fit in a 17" wheel. That could be interesting, but I think starts pushing the budget..

[95naSTA]

IMO 16s are already a compromise. I would think with a twin charged car you would want more potential hooking options at the track.

[MattStrike]

I could always get an oversized tire to make up for it too right?

So after doing some more research this is what my options are starting to look like:
Z51 13.4" rotor: $60 ea
Re-use the F-body calipers and brackets
Adapters to extend F-body calipers and take up offset between Z51 rotor and stock (.25"): maybe $100 total to waterjet them
chance that wheel spacers will be needed.

-or-

12.7" rotor: $60 ea
DTS caliper brackets: $30 ea
Re-use F-body calipers

[buickman104]

I run front 4 piston Brembos off at cts-v and rear PBR GXP 12 inch vented rotor brakes with Stop Tech Para-Amid compound.

My car stops amazingly well. I can even chirp my tires (255/45/18) Pirelli P-Zeros with over 60% tread left. And I mean chirp them when my tires are warm and I brake aggressively on the highway. Money well spent as it already saved me from two wrecks.

[haro1225]

Yeah but the CTS brembos require 18 inch wheels.

[MattStrike]

Don't get me wrong, the setup I have stops very well and can lock up all 4 (not in the right order maybe), but the F-body fronts are not known for their track prowess. The difference between the 13.4" Z51 rotor and the 14" CTS-V is small compared to the 11.8" F-body rotor I have now, and both are track proven.

I'm trying to stay under $250 to upgrade the SSEi and Camaro at the same time. I think this is doable with the Z51 rotors, and is certainly doable with the smaller GXP setup. I just need to find a cheap/free Z51 rotor to mock up the setup now.

[MattStrike]

In my search for rotors, I found an interesting fact.. Z51 rotors in the junkyards are going for $100+ each. When you can get brand new OE parts for $89 through GMPD, or AC Delco's new through RA for $60.

So I ended up just getting a new set of the Z51 rotors to play with, hopefully they get here in time for the weekend.

[MattStrike]

Has anybody taken any front steering knuckle dimensions ('00+ aluminum knuckles)? I'm trying to be lazy and not take my front end apart again.

What I really need is the circle diameter that the bracket bolts are on (relative to the center of the hub). The adapter I need to make is not far enough offset to fit two bolts side-by-side in the holes, let alone the material thickness of the mounting points, so I need some angular offset between them.



Edit: based on some templates and pictures online I've come up with 77.6mm, and I'm thinking I can verify that against the parts camaro spindle.