Front brake upgrade

[IndyJimW]

Hello all;

I tried a inexpensive upgrade to my front brakes and the results were

good. This is an upgrade that can be done during a front brake

replacement. My Avanti uses Chevrolet Monte Carlo brakes.

I replaced the front rotors and brakes with Raybestos Drilled and

Slotted Rotors, (part #'s BR5064L & BR5064R, about $80.00 each) and

Performance Friction Pads (part # 0154.20 about $60.00).

After breaking them in for about 300 miles they stop straight and

true with a high firm pedal. The new brakes stop at least 10 feet

shorter at 40 mph with no fading after several panic stops. Fact is

my 3rd and 4th stop was shorter than the first two.

Recommend this upgrade. But find a safe place to test. My first try

to test the setup blew out my rear brake line. Rear lines were rusted

bad. Glad I caught it during testing and not on the street.

James Wood

12AAV1230H1000108

[IndyJimW]

Here are the parts that I used for my front brakes-

They made a difference over stock but I still wanted something better so I installed a set of SSB 2 piston calipers from Summit Racing.

http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?...t=egnsearch.asp

The SSB calipers replace the stock calipers with no modifications needed, worked great with my drop spindles and stock 15" rims. These will stop the Avanti in a hurry. Now for the rear brakes.

Jim

[SBCA96]

The SSB calipers replace the stock calipers with no modifications needed, worked great with my drop spindles and stock 15" rims. These will stop the Avanti in a hurry. Now for the rear brakes.

Cool stuff, its nice to have options. There are no aluminum calipers available yet? How you like

the drilled and slotted? I have been going back and forth on ordering the 13 inch d&s or just the

slotted. I have read that repeated hard stops can cause stress cracks, but then thats regular

autocross kinda stuff. Another thing that I am not so sure of, there are only slotted rear rotors

available, not drilled & slotted. So I would have drilled and slotted front, and slotted rear. I dont

know if that will bother me over time ... LOL. The Monteavanti came with rear drum right? That

question came up in a phone call tonight.

Tom

[IndyJimW]

Cool stuff, its nice to have options. There are no aluminum calipers available yet?

The SSBC calipers that I installed are aluminum.

How you like the drilled and slotted?

They work great and being a Raybestos part they're not that expensive and are available.

The Monteavanti came with rear drum right? That question came up in a phone call tonight.

Monteavanti! Yea they came with drum brakes, but there are disc conversion kits available from SSBC and Baer for about $750. They keep the stock master cylinder and include a parking brake. The guys on the Monte Carlo SS site have had great luck using them. Urs Tobler from Switzerland installed a set on his '88 but I haven't heard if their working yet.

Jim

[SBCA96]

The SSBC calipers that I installed are aluminum.

Monteavanti!

In the pic at a glance, they didnt look aluminum ... my bad. Sorry about

the "Monteavanti" comment ... I just thought of it ... kinda flows ....

Tom

[IndyJimW]

In the pic at a glance, they didnt look aluminum ... my bad.

Tom

My fault, the ones in the picture were Raybestos rebuilds. I installed the SSBC's later.

I would love to own an original '63 Avanti, when I bought my '87 I decided that I didn't want something that would sit in my garage only to come out in great weather on weekends. I wanted an Avanti for a daily driver, with that in mind the late model Avanti's with their modern chassis seemed a better way to go because I put up to 1,000 miles a month on it. I didn't want another unknown name jelly bean for a car, and the stares and comments let me know that I'm showing people that there was a time when cars had style.

Jim

[SBCA96]

I didn't want another unknown name jelly bean for a car, and the stares and comments let me know that I'm showing people that there was a time when cars had style.

Its certainly better then one just rotting away in your garage, I didnt mean that in

a negative or degrading way, I apologize if you took it that way. For me, its a

reminder as to what chassis it has. I get confused as to when they switched to

the GM chassis. I think that its a great combo really, there are more options for

your platform then mine. The only real "downside" I saw with the Avanti II was

the higher front end - which you solved. The Avanti was designed with a "rake".

I thought it flowed nicely .. "MonteeAvantee" ... wasnt meant to be mean. ALL the

other cars I have are GM, and I totally support the install of an LT1!

Tom

[IndyJimW]

Its certainly better then one just rotting away in your garage, I didnt mean that in a negative or degrading way, I apologize if you took it that way.

Nope, just having fun with the smilies.

For me, its a reminder as to what chassis it has. I get confused as to when they switched to

the GM chassis. I think that its a great combo really, there are more options for your platform then mine.

In '89 they started using the Impala chassis, just imagine...

The only real "downside" I saw with the Avanti II was the higher front end - which you solved. The Avanti was designed with a "rake".

Mine looked like a speedboat going down the street, thats why I dropped the front end first, had to have the "rake".

I thought it flowed nicely .. "MonteeAvantee" ... wasnt meant to be mean. ALL the other cars I have are GM, and I totally support the install of an LT1!

I haven't decided what to replace the 5.0L with yet, I have the complete LT1 donor car in the back lot (totaled but driveline OK) and that would be my first choise. The big problem with any of the engine setups I want to install is EFI. How to modify the fuel tank to work, that's the hold up.

Jim

[SBCA96]

I haven't decided what to replace the 5.0L with yet, I have the complete LT1 donor car in the back lot (totaled but driveline OK) and that would be my first choise. The big problem with any of the engine setups I want to install is EFI. How to modify the fuel tank to work, that's the hold up.

I would say GO FOR IT! Most guys on the 2nd Gen Camaro site just use an inline fuel pump

and the high pressure rated fuel line.

http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40481

Tom

[IndyJimW]

Pic of the SSBC caliper and 16" rim, will get a picture with the wheel off later.

Jim

[SBCA96]

Cool stuff!

Tom