I don't think C5 Corvette rotors will work with 1988 calipers... they are too thick. Yes, the '88 calipers come apart into a steel bridge and aluminum hydraulic unit, but the profile of the bridge and the location of the bolts is such that spacers between these two components do NOT allow the use of thicker rotors.draven wrote: Going to spend some time adapting the C5 brakes to the 88 calipers. The first thing to overcome is the adaptation of the drum ebrake setup onto the 88 rear knuckles.. One of the goals I'm after is to attach the ebrake drum to the knuckle without utilizing the hub bolts thereby moving the hub away from the knuckle as I plan on installing achieva bearings on the rear. The achieva bearings already require a 1/4" spacer on the axle and any ebrake drum bracket that utilizes the hub/bearing bolts will move it further from the axle spline and reduce the engagement to the splines that much more.
The solution I'm contemplating is building a 3/16" to 1/4" bracket that clears the hub / bearing bolts and utilizes the dust shield bolts for attachment. I think its safe to say that the stock bolts and holes for the dust shield would be insufficient for the sheer force encountered by an ebrake engagement at speed. Nor do I think simply changing to a grade 8 / 10.9 bolt would be enough either. There's not much room widen the holes due their proximity to the edge of the casting but it may be possible to drill larger holes just inset of the dust shield tap holes but utilizing the area where the holes exist. However how do I drill and tap a new hole into the casting without the bit walking into the original hole. Screw a bolt in and grind off the head and use that as just base material to drill into for the new holes?
Also, any ideas what sheer calculations would I need to deduce the size of the bolts needed?
C4 Corvette rotors are commonly used with '88 calipers.
Regarding parking brakes... if you fab a backing plate that bolts on top of the mounting ears on the hub cartridge, you'll still have easy hub replacement. All P-brake components should bolt to the backing plate. If you fab this backing plate to stack on top of the hub bolts, then when you remove the bolts, both hub and backing plate come off the knuckle. If you shape the center hole in the backing plate correctly, you will be able to rotate the hub 120 degrees and remove if from behind the backing plate.