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Tech
Articles
Brake upgrades for '68-'82
Corvettes |
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Stop That
Shark: Brake Upgrades for '68-'82s (cont.)
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We
attached the included braided brake lines to the brake-line bracket with the
new horseshoe clips. Then, we screwed the stainless-line flare fitting into
the braided brake-line end. |
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This is
one of our front-brake calipers. You can identify the left and right by the
bleeder-valve location. When installed, the bleeder should be pointing up,
not toward the ground. |
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We
positioned the new pads, returned the pins to their locked position, and
secured them with the clips. Make sure to install the brake pads with the
low- pad-warning indicators on the inside and the pad with no indicators on
the outside. |
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Here are
the pads with the warning indicators. Notice that SSBC uses Green Stuff EBC
pads in this brake kit. These are considered some of the best performing
brakes available today. |
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SSBC gave
us a few things to check. We measured the distance from the backside of the
brake rotor to the outside surface of the caliper bracket on both the driver
and passenger sides to make sure the brackets were not bent. |
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SSBC
provided new caliper-mounting bolts for the installation. SSBC's
technical department told us the centering of the caliper could vary up to
0.010 inch with no effect on performance. We used a set of feeler gauges to
set the distance between the brake pads and rotor surfaces on each side.
Torque each caliper-mounting bolt to 50 lb-ft. |
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Connecting
our braided brake lines will complete the front brake installation. To secure
the front brake lines, place a copper washer on both sides of the banjo
fitting and secure with the banjo bolt (torque bolt to 12 lb-ft). Make sure
there is no twist in the brake line. The banjo should fit against the caliper
without twisting the line. You can remove line twist by adjusting the
connection at the line-mounting bracket. Tighten the fitting on the caliper
first. Use a wrench to hold the braided-line fitting in place at the mounting
bracket and tighten the flair fitting on the hard line until tight. |
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Our rear
brake installation almost follows the same procedure as the front. When our
trailing arms arrived from Van Steel, our rotors were already mounted along
with new stainless steel parking-brake hardware. |
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In order
to adjust our parking brake, we had to connect the parking-brake cable. Our
offset trailing arms have relocated parking-brake-cable mounting points. |
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2
Stop That
Shark: Brake Upgrades for '68-'82s (cont.)
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Position
the cable through the nylon guide as shown, with the spring locking it into
position. Push the parking-brake lever forward and slip the cable ball into
the lever position. To set the parking brake correctly, loosen the main cable
under the car until the brake lever is completely released, with minimal
tension on the cables. Then use a screwdriver to turn the parking-brake
expander until the brake pads grab the rotor and the rotor doesn't turn.
After that, back the expander off until very light drag is felt. Pull the
main parking-brake lever and both sides should hold tightly. |
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This is
what the rear-brake calipers look like when they're ready to install. Notice
there are two bleeders on these calipers. Remember to install the pad with
the warning indicators on the inside. |
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To install
the rear stainless hard lines, loosely assemble the banjo fitting, banjo
bolt, and the two copper washers as shown. It's much easier to get everything
into position and you can tweak the hard line until you get a good fit. |
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There is
one set of braided lines for the rear that must be installed before the hard
lines can be installed in the rear. The braided lines can be tightened into the
rear distribution blocks, then secured to the
trailing arms with the provided horseshoe clips. Once they're in place, the
hard lines can be secured into position. |
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Here are
the hard lines installed. Again, there is a copper washer that should be
installed on the head side of the banjo bolt and another that goes between
the banjo block and caliper. |
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A new
master cylinder is the last major piece of our brake system to be installed.
We found one at Auto Zone that looked just like the one that came on the C3.
It has a lifetime guarantee, and is only $14.99 after the core trade-in. |
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Our new
master cylinder came with all the materials for bench-bleeding. We installed
the two hose fittings and attached the supplied hose. Using a piece of duct
tape and the provided hose clamps, we secured each bleed hose in its
reservoir. |
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We used
Earl's Hypertemp 421 racing brake fluid for our
system. |
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Bench-bleeding
is a simple process. We filled the two reservoirs, then
used a Phillips screwdriver to push the piston in and out until no more air
bleeds were visible during the pumping process. |
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After the
bench-bleeding, remove the hoses, cap the fittings with the rubber caps,
attach the master-cylinder cap, then bolt it to the
brake booster. Torque the nuts to 30 lb-ft. |
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The final
step is to bleed the entire system. Use the technique you deem safest, but
make certain the brake lines are properly bled. Safety is the key here--if
they are not right, they can be dead wrong. |
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