funina91ss

You make a good point I never looked at it that way. I know with the 2 peice rotor you can just get the rotor and not the hub I think that saves a little money there. So if you were racing on bigger tracks going threw brakes like crazy it might be a better deal/stronger rotor too, to go with a "C5" Kit. But if you can get the baer kit cheaper,(mostly LT1 guys, they don't have to find brakets or spindles) and if you wear out the rotors I think you could use cheaper rotors with the baer kit too?

The other factor for some guys might be weight. I can weigh the rotors, and brakets if any of you guys want to know what the diffrence is?

EDS Z28

I just wanted to note that my Bob Bishop brackets are made of steel, not aluminum. I prefer steel for the bracket material. I am pretty sure the Baer kits all use steel too.

Other than the bracket, all the other parts required for the C5 brake conversion are available from gm.

I did have to use 1/8" wheel spacers for my centerline wheels to clear the calipers.

The only downside to the conversion is you can't install 15" or 16" drag race rims anymore, like Welds.

stereomandan

I have pictures of my Bob Bishop brackets and C5 conversion on my webpage.

The early Bob Bishop brackets were steel. The recent design is anodized aluminum. My Bob Bishop brackets are aluminum and are awesome, Aluminum is better for weight, and these are just as strong as the steel brackets. Bob did all the stess testing on them.

I agree that the C5 rotors are much cheaper. My GM C5 rotors were $18 each, yeah that's right, $18 each from www.gmpartsdirect.com With shipping they are about $50 total.

The Bob Bishop brackets work with LT1 and LS1 spindles. No need for new spindles. The only problem is finding a set of Bob Bishop brackets.

Dan

EastLa

If I'm not mistaken, the Baer kit (13.15") uses the same rotor as the ZR1. So I know you can get those rotors through other places. I think they are a few dollars more than the C5 rotors though. It's simple math, the bigger the rotor, the more stopping power.

I had the G2 kit on my WS6. If I find another F-body, I'll be going with bigger rotors for sure. Nothing against the C5 kits, they stop you a lot better than stock. However, it's like a cam, you get the mild LT4 Hot cam, and all of the sudden you want bigger.

I personally don't see any issue with going with any of the 3 kits (Baer, G2, or Bob's kit). Bob has been great at telling everyone the engineering aspects of his kit, and he's obviously put a lot of work and research in to it. His kit is good, and from what I hear the brackets are top knotch. I know that it's been debated many times, however all of the kits are better than stock. And if you put more money into brakes, you'll get a better kit.

I know for a fact that Baer is currently using C5 calipers on most of their 2 piston kits. The PBR C5 calipers are just engineered great and off the shelf. This cuts costs for them. Just like when they used the PBR C4 ZR1 calipers and ZR1 rotors back a few years ago. Baer won't steer you wrong on brakes, however you will normally have to pay a bit more for them.

Since the topic is value, it depends on what you want to do with your money. If you want to have the cheapest setup that you can, get a set of Bob's brackets or G2 brackets and buy a pair of rotors. Use the stock calipers, they have bigger pistons than the C5. You won't notice a difference in strength unless you actually run some track sessions, and even then, if you aren't a moderate to seasoned driver, you may still not feel any difference in the brakes. On the street, the stock LS1 calipers will feel much stronger braking, just because you have to put more pedal into the C5 calipers.

Now if you want to run road courses regularly, get a good kit that won't bust your budget. If you can afford it, get a 4 piston kit and bypass all the talk and BS that goes with the C5 vs. Baer upgrade.

BTW when I sold my car, I pull my C5 kit. The calipers are gone, but the rotors and G2 brackets remain. They are currently on ebay. If you'd like to see the G2 brackets, they are completely bolt on.

stereomandan

Just a few notes. The Baer rotors are barely bigger than the C5. The C5 is 325mmx32mm, and the Baer rotor is 334x32mm. The other problem with too much leverage with larger rotors is that your brake balance gets too biased towards the front. That's why the slightly smaller pistons on the C5 kit is better than the slightly larger LS1 pistons. Even though the rotor is bigger than the stock LT1 rotor, the small piston diameter in the C5 kit helps keep the brakes balanced. Plus the smaller piston makes it so that you don't have to press the pedal as far for the pads to contact the rotor.

The pad area is also slightly larger with the C5 caliper vs the LS1 caliper.

The G2 brackets only work with the LS1 spindle.

Dan

EastLa

The f-body LS1 cars are rear biased in the first place, and I've always run C5 pads on my car ever since the first change.

As for the G2 brackets, you are correct, I didn't specify that.

Crazyboy

Stereomandan,

You mentioned you used the $18 durastop rotors on your C5 conversion.
How many miles have you piut on them so far? Are they holding up well?
I'm trying to see if they are as good as the stock ones.
Do you have pics or comparsions of the casting between the durastop and the stock C5 rotor? (things like metal used, vanes, rotor inner thickness, etc)

stereomandan

I don't have comparisons and I only have about 300 miles on them. They look like quality rotors though. They have the curved vanes, and nice thick sidewalls. About the only major difference I notice is that the center of the stock C5 rotor is painted black and the ones that I got are not painted at all. I will be painting the centers black though to keep ugly rust from showing up. Guys use these rotors for heavy use track days and report that the hold up just as well as the stock C5 rotor. I've heated up the brakes good when braking in the pads and rotors and everything has held up great.

You can see pictures of them on my webpage, but you can't see much.

Dan