'87 GN Z06 brake upgrade ever done by anyone ? Aftermarket Wilwood set up

[Robert1mcssgn]

Whats up fellow GN owners, hope u can shed some light, any info would b much appreciated. I just purchased my first '87 GN and just happen to have a Wilwood brake system that came off a 2008 Chevy Corvette Z06, its very complete and very nice... i know its a bit bigger and beefier than the stock Z06 set up so I was wondering if its possible. If anybody has already got it done I'm just wondering what it took to get it done or have the knowledge to help out a fellow GN owner... btw, my Wilwood brake sys has 14" rotors front & back and 6 piston calipers for the front and 4 piston calipers in the back... Only reason why I got them is cause In about 2 yrs ( from today ) when i pay off my truck i plan on buying a wrecked Z06 and fix it my self and install this brake system and use the stock Z06 system for my GN, I dont want to have this nice set up just sitting in my garage for 2 yrs untill that time comes. But if i can easily install it now then swap it out later in the future i would do it asap... I work on my own cars and have a good knowdledge of working on them but have my weeksides... I have a lot to learn on these GN's... Thanks to any and all who reply to this post... Im an 1 hr north from LA, Robert D...

 

[novaderrik]

it's a common swap- i think Kore3 sells the brackets..
then you just gotta modify your spindle and make your stock rotors into hubs..

 

[Robert1mcssgn]

Cool, ill search around... I had no idea nor clue... Thanx

 

[Paul69camaro]

Robert,

I did the front swap a few months back. Here is the thread with a few pictures: http://turbobuick.com/forums/threads/c6-z06-brakes-and-ats-spindles-installed.374942/
It is straight forward and easy if you have the right parts. I hope you have wheels to clear the brakes because they are massive. In my opinion, and this is just me speaking, the best bet is to buy a set of ATS spindles, the correct steering arms for the G-body and a set of upper control arms from Mark at SC&C. Your kit will bolt right on to these spindles without any adapters since they are designed to work with c5/c6 brakes. Plus you'll gain much better handling since the suspension geometry is greatly improved. You'll also need a set of hoses that you can get from Kore 3 to adapt from the stock GN brake lines to your calipers. As far as the rear, I haven't found a good solution since the Z06 brakes are fixed calipers that apparently don't work well with c clip retained axles. Do a search on Pad Knock and you'll see what I'm referring to. Hope this helps, if you have more questions just let me know.

Paul

 

[novaderrik]

Robert,

I did the front swap a few months back. Here is the thread with a few pictures: http://turbobuick.com/forums/threads/c6-z06-brakes-and-ats-spindles-installed.374942/
It is straight forward and easy if you have the right parts. I hope you have wheels to clear the brakes because they are massive. In my opinion, and this is just me speaking, the best bet is to buy a set of ATS spindles, the correct steering arms for the G-body and a set of upper control arms from Mark at SC&C. Your kit will bolt right on to these spindles without any adapters since they are designed to work with c5/c6 brakes. Plus you'll gain much better handling since the suspension geometry is greatly improved. You'll also need a set of hoses that you can get from Kore 3 to adapt from the stock GN brake lines to your calipers. As far as the rear, I haven't found a good solution since the Z06 brakes are fixed calipers that apparently don't work well with c clip retained axles. Do a search on Pad Knock and you'll see what I'm referring to. Hope this helps, if you have more questions just let me know.

Paul

what's the waiting time on the AFX spindles these days? there are people out there that have been waiting for over a year..

 

[Paul69camaro]

I'm not sure what the current wait time is, I know through the years, especially during the transition from ATS to Speedtech there were some long lead times. I read that at the end of April they were caught back up but don't know for sure. Check with Speedtech or Mark at SC&C and they can tell you for sure. Also if your in a huge hurry you could always buy the F body version and use the f-body upper ball joints. That is the only difference between the spindles.... You can probably find a used pair at a decent deal on pro-touring.com or lateral-g.net.

Paul

 

[Robert1mcssgn]

Nice, thanks all fire the responses. I am doing my homework on all options n filter to find a solution on what route to take to install this set up. Also, just recently I have thought about selling this set up & getting a stock Z06 set up cause this upgraded kit is nice but I think it might be over kill got my GN... What do u guys think ? Thanks again

 

[turbojosh]

Robert,

I did the front swap a few months back. Here is the thread with a few pictures: http://turbobuick.com/forums/threads/c6-z06-brakes-and-ats-spindles-installed.374942/
It is straight forward and easy if you have the right parts. I hope you have wheels to clear the brakes because they are massive. In my opinion, and this is just me speaking, the best bet is to buy a set of ATS spindles, the correct steering arms for the G-body and a set of upper control arms from Mark at SC&C. Your kit will bolt right on to these spindles without any adapters since they are designed to work with c5/c6 brakes. Plus you'll gain much better handling since the suspension geometry is greatly improved. You'll also need a set of hoses that you can get from Kore 3 to adapt from the stock GN brake lines to your calipers. As far as the rear, I haven't found a good solution since the Z06 brakes are fixed calipers that apparently don't work well with c clip retained axles. Do a search on Pad Knock and you'll see what I'm referring to. Hope this helps, if you have more questions just let me know.

Paul

Subscribed! Paul your rims and combo is gorgeous! You did one hell of a job my friend. I just saved all the thread info you shared. Thanks

Josh

 

[Paul69camaro]

Nice, thanks all fire the responses. I am doing my homework on all options n filter to find a solution on what route to take to install this set up. Also, just recently I have thought about selling this set up & getting a stock Z06 set up cause this upgraded kit is nice but I think it might be over kill got my GN... What do u guys think ? Thanks again

Robert,
It really depends on what your going to do with the car. If your planning to drive it mostly on the street with occasional track days, then the stock Z06 with some good pads would be great, if it's going to see constant track duty, then your kit may be a better option in the long run. I'd say that if your able to get good money for them it wouldn't be a bad option since you can't really use the rears anyways. Sell that set, and then you could probably buy everything to do the front conversion and have some a little money left to help offset the cost of 13" rear Baer brakes. You'd end up with a great brake setup and have a really nice suspension as well!

Paul

P.S. Josh, thanks for the compliments

 

[turbojosh]

Robert,
It really depends on what your going to do with the car. If your planning to drive it mostly on the street with occasional track days, then the stock Z06 with some good pads would be great, if it's going to see constant track duty, then your kit may be a better option in the long run. I'd say that if your able to get good money for them it wouldn't be a bad option since you can't really use the rears anyways. Sell that set, and then you could probably buy everything to do the front conversion and have some a little money left to help offset the cost of 13" rear Baer brakes. You'd end up with a great brake setup and have a really nice suspension as well!

Paul

P.S. Josh, thanks for the compliments

Anytime Paul, you did a nice job. Time comes I will use Strange componets. They have a nice street application that's beefed up. I am looking at other rims to see what else this manufacture you used makes. I wish I could find the Old OZ Monte Carlo's, They used them on the Callaway Camaro's in the mid 90's. Maybe someone cane keep an eye out for me. There discontinued.