Front Suspension

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Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Mount front suspension to chassis
Parts: Corvette donor suspension
Prerequisite Tasks:
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 1 hour
Date Started: 7/21/2012
Date Completed: 7/21/2012
A funny thing happened on the way to mounting the suspension, the upper control arm bushings didn't line up with the mount points. There were turned out of phase some 45 degrees. I don't think there is anything wrong, it is just a pain. I will have to lift the suspension higher to get the mount point and control arms to line up so I can drop the bolts into the holes.

These are the upper control arm mount points. These were the fittings that were turned 45 degrees.

It was 101 here today, so I am waiting for cooler weather before I lift these monsters into place. As with the rear suspension, I have the Z06 big brakes and rotors already mounted on the suspension. I'm not sure how much more weight this adds, but it seems substantial.

The goal is to get a tire on the car. Besides the control arms, none of the rest of this came from the donor. We have new tires, new wheels, new rotors and new calipers. This is the big brake kit for Corvettes, so you need larger everything to accommodate these upgrades.

My buddy Glen came over today to help with the front suspension. I lifted suspension so the mount points aligned, and Glen cranked away with two socket wrenches. We made quick work of the problem. Once attached the bushings rotated and came to rest. We were able to get the lower control arm attached in short order as well. If everything had mated up just right, I could have done this myself.

Rear Suspension Mounting to Chassis

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Major System Category: Brakes & Suspension
Task: Attach Corvette rear suspension to mount points on chassis.
Parts:

• Rear suspension
• Small jack
• Jack stands or blocks
• The Hulk (if available)

Prerequisite Tasks: Rear Splash Panels
Additional Costs: N/A
Time Requirement: 90 minutes (less if you have a big buddy)
Date Started: July 10, 2012
Date Completed: July 10, 2012
Last fall I purchased the Z06 big brake upgrade kit from West Coast Corvettes. I was really excited, because these were the first pieces of the car I could actually put together. These brakes are massive and heavy. The suspension is massive and heavy. I put these parts together and created a heavier assembly. I think it is easier to assemble the brakes on a bench than on the car, but that's my opinion.

The LH rear suspension resting on the lift next to the yellow floor jack. This is another case where the lift  makes a task easier for a one man shop. I lowered the chassis to a comfortable working height.

 Up to the point of purchasing the brakes, all I had to show for my project was a crate of used Corvette parts taking up space in the basement. Last October I added the assembled brake kit, then the wheels. This is now why I now have an off site storage locker. This is all to say, the suspension assembly I worked with can be made lighter.

Rear suspension mounted on the left hand side of the chassis and supported by a jack stand. The Z06 brakes  look very nice. A point of interest: the LS7 powered GTM reviewed by Car & Driver was equipped with this brake package.

I started with the left hand assembly. This side required some persuasion as the mount points were a tad tight. A couple of judicious taps from a 10 lbs sledge and they opened enough to slide the control arm ends into the place. I also employed a small floor jack. This I got under the knuckle. This was helpful as I could move the assembly around. You need to get it dead on so it matches up with the geometry on the chassis. The right hand side went easier. The last thing I did was lower the assembly on a jack stand (blocks work too). The alternative is to just let rest on the floor. I didn't want to do this.

Wheels!

One of the things I set up was an Ebay alert for 2 phrases: Factory Five and GTM. I receive an email anytime something new is listed for sale on Ebay. Many of these are listings for some really great cars people have built. The car listings are great for build ideas. There are usually enough pics so you can see if you like or dislike how something looks. Occasionally, something else comes up.

Wheel caps included.

I have already purchased the Big Brake Kit. These huge six piston brakes come with larger rotors and it is clearly explained that you need 18 inch or larger wheels to accommodate this upgrade. Factory Five sells a larger set of wheels in a bright silver finish. These wheels are Forgestar F14 and they are available in 9 different finishes. These wheels cost a little bit more than the Factory Five listing, but they came with free shipping, so there was a net savings of $100.

This is the rear wheel 18 x 12 in high gloss black (Forgestar calls this a Piano Black). This is a very big rim that is surprising lightweight (only 22 lbs). I left the protective plastic wrapping on the wheel. These will not be mounted until sometime next summer.

I conducted an informal poll on Facebook, text messages and people at the karate studio I where I work out. I explained the car was going to be red (Corsa red - Ferrari Racing Red) and the calipers are red. So did they like silver wheels or high gloss black wheels. There was an interesting split here. All the guys said high gloss black. All the women said silver. Although, the love of my life said I should do what I wanted. Once it was explained that I was planning a bright red car and not a cranberry red, the other women said black would be okay.

This is our Yorkie-in-charge checking out the Forgestar wheel.

The rear wheels are truly astounding. One of the things I discovered about the GTM is that I can go with different rear tire sizes for the larger wheels:

• 335/30 - 18
• 295/35 - 18
• 275/40 - 18

This is attractive, because it opens up the tire selection. Except once I saw the rear wheel, I knew I could only go with 335/30 -18 size tires. If I had decided to go with the donor car brakes, rotors and wheels, then I would be looking at the standard Corvette C5 of 245/45 - 17 (front) and 275/40 -18 (rear) configuration. Factory Five recommends Toyo tires. I prefer something other than a street legal racing slick, so I am probably going to put Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires on the car.

Big Brake Upgrade - October 2011

The big brake upgrade requires that you go with 18 inch wheels or larger. This means you are making commitment to a larger wheel size (and the incumbent costs). According to Factory Five Tech Support, this is the same brake package they installed on their LS7 powered test mule that did 0 to 60 in 3.0 seconds.

Z06 C5/C6 Big Brake Upgrade Kit

The stock C5 Corvette front/rear set up is 17 and 18 inches respectively. This is not large enough to accommodate this package. This package requires 18 inch wheels (minimum). Some vendors will warn you about this on their websites. West Cost Corvette had the best price. As I have purchased other major systems for the my Corvette from them, I felt comfortable making this purchase. The Big Brake Upgrade includes the following:

• (2) 6 piston front calipers
• (2) 4 piston rear calipers
• (2) drilled and slotted 14 inch front rotors
• (2) drilled and slotted 13.4 inch rear rotors
• (1) set HAWK Z06 front and rear HPS brake pads
• (4) DOT steel braided brake lines   
• (4) pints Motul Racing Brake Fluid

In the overall budget, I allocated a separate line item for this package.

Left side front/rear suspension

This is an enhancement to the overall build, and I can complete it prior to ordering the GTM chassis. The suspension is no longer connected to the rest of the car, so you need to brace it.

These 22mm bolts turned very stiffly. They were the biggest problem I encountered.

The first thing you need to do is loosen the 22mm bolts that attach the caliper pistons to the knuckle. Warning: These bolts haven't been turned since the donor car left the factory, and the rear suspension ones seemed to have been tightened down by Godzilla. I was using an old torque wrench as a breaker bar. It went past 150 foot pounds (end of the scale), and I only got tired. 

I clamped down the suspension, sprayed the bolts with penetrating oil, tapped them lightly with a hammer, and used a 20 inch breaker bar. You may have to repeat this a couple of times. Give the oil some time to work (at least 15 minutes). There were some comments from the management that the oil stinks. You can't keep everyone happy.

Crush washer.

Second, you will find crush washers on the front rotors. Use a small screw driver and needle nose pliers to get the free. You don't really need them. There are none on the rear rotors.

The new rotor is on top. You can see it is a larger diameter and it is drilled. 

Third, slide the caliper off and pull the rotor off. For the most part these just slide right off, but a couple of them required some persuasion. While the rotor is off, I took some Rem Oil and steel wool to clean up the surface rust on the hub.

Thread the 22mm bolts back on.

 Fourth, slide the new rotor and caliper on the hub. Insert the 22mm bolts back into the caliper. I plan to wait until the suspension is mounted on the chassis before torquing to spec (125 ft-lbs).

There is a pad for each piston. Six pads for each front caliper and 4 pads for each rear caliper.
The penny is there to give you an idea on large these are.

Fifth, insert pads right through the top of the caliper. The pads are head in place by bolts that slide into the half moon notch on the side of the pads. The bolts are stainless steel that screw in using an Allen wrench.

Top down view on caliper. There is a pad installed on the right side, and the left side is still open. You can see the stainless steel bolt and piston on the left hand side.

It takes about 5 minutes to put these pads in. Probably a little longer, once the suspension is mounted on the chassis. This is easier than playing around with two wrenches and swinging the caliper up to replace the  pads.

Remove the plug and install the braided steel brake lines.

Sixth, we need to attach the braided brakes lines. This is very easy. This connect to the reservoir on the back of the caliper using a banjo bolt.

Banjo bolt and end of the braided brake line.

This was pretty easy to do. Once I figured out how everything fit together, the second brake/rotor went very fast.

Finished product.