Firebird Man Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 I posted this on the Vette forum but maybe someone here can help. I have some old brakes off a 67-68 Firebird, a somewhat rare 4 piston option. From what I understand it's the same Caliper as the Vette, the 11" rotor I'm not so sure of. It has to have the taper to clear the caliper and bolts to the hub, they were originally run in 14" rims but I have them in 15's now. I'd been running single piston brakes and literally ran out of brakes at CMP this past weekend, so I pulled these old parts to do a mock up. Can any of you Vette guys help me out, the only replacement rotor I've found is a solid one piece, I'd prefer a slotted 2 piece but a slotted one would be ok. Thanks, Gordon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Slotting the rotor alone will not solve the problem, its tiny advantages are offset by its disadvanateges. Ask any expert that isn't trying to sell you a slotted rotor Were you getting pad fade or fluid fade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrc24x Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Give Coleman Racing a try. They should have what you need. http://www.colemanracing.com/store/shopdisplayproducts.asp?page=51 If that doesn't work give Guldstrand a call. He's the guru on older Corvette's. http://www.guldstrand.com/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=46 Nice car BTW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firebird Man Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 Thanks, I'll check them both out. Ken, the brake pads were wearing extremely uneven and were down to about 15-20% by Sunday afternoon at which point I think the piston was pushing in crooked or the entire caliper or bracket was flexing. I had almost no brakes at all in the moc race. Boiled the fluid a few times over the weekend I believe. Bleeding them didn't seem to help much, might have cooked the seals, I know I cooked the wheel bearings. I started with a bolt on M/P disc brake kit to get the car going and it did fine while I was learning and moving up, I'm just over running the parts I used now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 low pad material can cause heat/fade issues definitely, and it sounds like its time for a higher temp fluid to boot are you on vented rotors at least? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firebird Man Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 I have pretty good ducting to vented rotors. They're drilled and slotted that came with the kit, but highly glazed now. Running ceramic pads. I ran organics for almost a year but had very weak brakes, went to ceramic pads and braking increased a lot, but pad and rotor wear also went up due to using them much harder. I only got 2 events out of the Ceramics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 what brand & compound of pads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firebird Man Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 Ceramics from NAPA is all I know, sure worked good while they lasted. Hawk or Carbotech didn't have anything to offer at the time, plus they're pretty pricey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Parts store stuff - no wonder you're getting fade Carbotech used to apply their compound to whatever backing plate you sent them. Don't know if they still do or not. Might be worth calling a few companies. Brake fade and the resulting crash is more pricey than getting proper brakes under that dinasaur might go faster too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTL Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Agreed about the NAPA parts store pads. That's a big part of your problem right there. You need true racing pads. Porterfield will also put their pad material on any tracing/pad backing plate you give them. They offer great brake pads and they give you a 20% NASA discount on ALL Porterfield brake pads. I'd definitely give them a call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IGZOSTD Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Porterfield, let'em know you run NASA and you get a little discount, they can put the Raybestos 43- 41 compound on the backing-plate. they are a lot friendlier to the rotor than a Hawk. Everyone seams to like the Carbotec pads, I haven't tried them. Wilwood or Coleman can set you up with hats and floating rotors if that is vintage legal ( seems like it as I read them ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 Porterfield, let'em know you run NASA and you get a little discount, they can put the Raybestos 43- 41 compound on the backing-plate. they are a lot friendlier to the rotor than a Hawk. Everyone seams to like the Carbotec pads, I haven't tried them. Wilwood or Coleman can set you up with hats and floating rotors if that is vintage legal ( seems like it as I read them ) being a CA guy I can see Porterfield being your weapon of choice (they're local) being a SE guy, I can see Carbotech being your weapon of choice (they're also local) the big thing that got me to switch from Porterfield was they had no middle ground between the R4S and R4 I miss $65/axle pads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IGZOSTD Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Carbotech's are very popular here in the Left Bank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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