Doing a C5 brake Conversion, Have a few Questions.

I am planning on upgrading to C5 brakes pretty soon and I am going to make an order from GM for some parts. I want to save as much money as I can while doing this, so I have a couple of questions about parts and whether I should spend the extra money on the GM stuff or just go down to Autozone.

First off is the rotors. The price is pretty similar between Autozone and GM at about $50 each, but I have to pay shipping if I buy w/GM. Are the GM rotors any better than the Autozone ones, or are they basically the same thing?

Next on the list is the pads. GM offers a few different pads and Autozone does as well. On GM's list are the Durastops@$50, Durastop Ceramic@$71, Hawk HP+Pads@$95, or the Z06 Pads@$89. Autozone on the other hand has two decent pads, Performance Friction Pad @$50, or Performance Friction Z-Rated Pad@$107, and lastly, "Albany Pads@$35.

I have the Napa Ceramix pads on the front of my Camaro now, and I haven't been very impressed with them so far. As for the Z rated pads, (that I currently have on the back), I only get them hot enough to work on the street about half the time, so those are probably out too. What pad would you recommend out of the remaining ones for the best all around pad? What pad would you get personally?
Any other advice on parts from you guys would be really helpfull. Thanks in advance.

If it were me, I'd get the Autozone rotors and the PF Street (non-Z) pads. The pads should have a lifetime warranty on them (wear out? get new ones free!).

Dave

Another question of mine is, do all C5 brake parts interchange?

BTW, thanks, I will be going with the Autozone rotors and PF Street Pads.:)

I would go with the AZ rotors as well, but would probably go with the HP+ pads. They are a little better pad for track use.

I purchased my C5 conversion parts from Team Chevrolet and the shipping was free.

Keep an eye on e-bay, I got a complete set, front and rear, Z06 calipers, rotors, pads and lines for 325, had a 1000 miles on them, like new.:)

I have had great luck with AutoZone rotors and plan to use them for track rotors for some time.

The calipers are <$90 new from Dal, and your stock lines are fine. I also prefer the OEM GM pads for street use. They are quiet, stop good and don't dust bad.

All C5 calipers are mechanically the same, but the Z06 calipers are red and the base C5 calipers are silver.

Originally posted by chuck
I have had great luck with AutoZone rotors and plan to use them for track rotors for some time.

The calipers are <$90 new from Dal, and your stock lines are fine. I also prefer the OEM GM pads for street use. They are quiet, stop good and don't dust bad.

All C5 calipers are mechanically the same, but the Z06 calipers are red and the base C5 calipers are silver.

So, stock LT1 lines will hook up to the C5 calipers with no problems? I don't need C5 lines?

1. All C5 brake parts are the same, no difference in years.

2. You MUST get the C5 front brake lines. the LT1 lines are too short and the fitting on the end won't thread into the calipers.

Team Chevrolet is where I got the parts for the complete kit I sold, my cost was $506 shipped for everything. If you already have the adapter brackets from Bob I'd call them. I have their phone # at home but you can email Chris Slack at Chriss@teamchev.com and he can point you in the right direction (he was in parts but has since moved up, but he's who I worked with and he's the guy that got them stocked with C5 parts). I'll try to remember to post their phone # this evening.

Where are these $50 C5 rotors you speak of???? I'm not finding them that cheap anywhere. Autozone has some but they are $112. They have soem that are $55 but look horrible and the vanes arent directional. Are these whats you've found?

I got mine at my local AutoZone for $55 each. They are made by AIMCO, and have 3 days on a road course on them so far with Panthers and not a single tiny stress crack. I am going to have to try harder :D

Part number 55044 right side

Part number 55043 left side

http://www.autozone.com

In the past I have been very hard on rotors. KVR blanks only survived two sessions :eek:

On my '01 I did not have to change the lines, though I would like them to be a little longer so I could replace the pads with one bolt like stock.

Originally posted by RdRacerZ28
Where are these $50 C5 rotors you speak of????

Gale at Team Chevrolet sells the GM C5 front rotors for less than $50/ea, plus shipping. 800 658-4017.

Bob Bishop

Get the Perf Friction Z rated pads. They are lifetime warranty, none of the others are.

BobC

My PF Street (non-Z) pads from AutoZone have a lifetime warranty. They work great cold and hot, but pretty much are HORRIBLE in the rain.

I ordered everything yesterday. I ended going up with the GM rotors and the GM Z06 pads.

I had to get either the GM Z06 ones or the GM Durastop Ceramic, because they are the only ones that you can get the springs and shims that I needed.

According to Jason you can't just buy those springs and shims seperate, you have to get them with some pads.

The GM rotors were only ten extra bucks to ship, so I went with those.

Is there anything with the ABS or proportioning that I am going to have to mess with for these to work good?

NAPA sells a C5 caliper kit with the brakepad shims and slider rubber seals/boots. I think the price was under $20 per side. I can give you a part# if you need but I would have to dig through 3 inches of receipts so let me know.

It is NAPA part number 83212