crazyd Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Just saw this thread where a guy with a 2000 Impala put C5 Corvette calipers on it. http://www.w-body.com/showthread.php/53204-2G-quot-Big-Brake-quot-Upgrades/page2 I have a spare set of C5 calipers in my garage (doesn't everybody??) and would love to use them on my '92. If I upgraded to Gen2 front spindles, which I've been planning to do for the past year already, would there be a bracket that would work to mount a C5 caliper? Thanks, DD Jon89le 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jman093 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 You're not upgrading to Gen 2 spindles on a first gen unless you manage to get a whole 2nd gen subframe in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyd Posted July 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Crap, I meant 1.5 gen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jman093 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Gen 1 and Gen 1.5 are identical up front. You would need the entire Gen2/3 front suspension: subframe, sway bars, control arms, knuckles/hubs, strut assemblies, etc. Or you would need custom control arms made from scratch that would accept a Gen 1/1.5 subframe and sway bars and the Gen 2/3 knuckle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyd Posted July 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 No problem. Is all that a direct bolt-in? The Gen2 is an aluminum subframe too isn't it? Or was that Gen3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jman093 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Gen 3 is aluminum and what I call "Gen 2.5" cars, 00-05 Impala and Monte Carlo, is also aluminum. Other Gen 2 cars are steel. Gen 2.5/3 subframes are mostly identical. It's probably not a simple bolt-on. The only person I know of to swap one is Miko K. It's somewhere in his 32 page build thread in Member's Rides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l67ss Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Gen 1 and Gen 1.5 are identical up front. You would need the entire Gen2/3 front suspension: subframe, sway bars, control arms, knuckles/hubs, strut assemblies, etc. Or you would need custom control arms made from scratch that would accept a Gen 1/1.5 subframe and sway bars and the Gen 2/3 knuckle. 96-99 1.5 brakes would b an upgrade as theyre bigger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyd Posted July 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Okay so the upgrade I originally had in mind was the 95/96 upgrade that supports the larger rotor on a different strut/knuckle assembly, with the same caliper. Then use that as a baseline for further bracket upgrades to support a better caliper. They're not totally identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jman093 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 (edited) Some later gen 1's had the larger brakes too, so I don't consider them a gen 1.5 thing. I know my old 96 GTP and my brother's 96 SE have larger brakes. Larger or not, the C5 swap is gonna require all Gen 2/3 stuff. Edited July 13, 2014 by jman093 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 late 95+ cars got the 11.25" front rotors while the earlier versions got the 10.5" stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 The NUMBER ONE most important thing to "upgrade" on Gen 1 brakes isn't really an upgrade at all. It's making sure that the power booster is actually working as designed. Many of the "poor braking" complaints tie directly back to partially-failed vacuum power boosters. If the booster is working properly, there really isn't much of a braking problem with the first generation W-bodies. Of course, those vehicles with the primitive ABS that don't use a vacuum power booster would be exceptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l67ss Posted July 19, 2014 Report Share Posted July 19, 2014 The NUMBER ONE most important thing to "upgrade" on Gen 1 brakes isn't really an upgrade at all. It's making sure that the power booster is actually working as designed. Many of the "poor braking" complaints tie directly back to partially-failed vacuum power boosters. If the booster is working properly, there really isn't much of a braking problem with the first generation W-bodies. Of course, those vehicles with the primitive ABS that don't use a vacuum power booster would be exceptions. But even then the booster would b the issue, vaccum or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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