[gbowne1]

Howdy guys,

I am interested in finding out which one of Wilwood's calipers is better, Dynalite or Superlite?

I'm looking for some, will buy used if I can, just need to know which ones are best.

Greg

[35WINDOW]

Well, as my car is relatively light, I went with Dynalites (polished)-

[matt167]

Calipers and brakes are the last thing you need to think about. you need to build a solid chassie right now, figure out what wheelbase you want and how wide, and build a strong tubular chassie, you could build around an existing rear end and front str8 axle and both front and rear leaf suspensions if you wanted a gasser type car in the end, just build the tubes around the front and rear end. they make simple 4wd buggy's this way.

[gbowne1]

Yes, I know it's really the furthest thing in my mind yet. I just wanted to get some questions ironed out before I go making the wrong purchases while I am building.

I am going to chose 2x4 tubing and well, I have chosen a 113" wheelbase. This equates to 9' 5".

Greg

[302 Z28]

I have the polished Dynalites on my 34, front and rear. If I were to do it again I would not use the polished ones, and maybe even go with standard GM calipers. I had one calipers bleed screw break off. Drilling it out and re taping was unsuccessful. A replacement caliper was ordered from Summit. I was the wrong one as were three others ordered. This was after talking to Wilwood about what I needed. If I was on the road and one goes out I am %$#@#$ as there is nowhere to get one in a hurry.

I will be carrying several rebuild kits in the car when it is finally on the road.

Vince

[KULTULZ]

I was the wrong one as were three others ordered. This was after talking to Wilwood about what I needed. If I was on the road and one goes out I am %$#@#$ as there is nowhere to get one in a hurry.

This is a good point regarding components. I try and use origional OEM first, and if no viable alternative will then go the high buck route.

[gbowne1]

Ok, so I should go with GM or the Non-Polished Wilwood. Given my spec's.. (I want at least the 11" rotor's, probably no bigger than 12's if they are available.)

Which of the big calipers from the 70s and 80s work best? I've seen a lot of those in the yards and on ebay.

Greg

[Irelands child]

[QUOTE=302/Z28]I have the polished Dynalites on my 34, front and rear. If I were to do it again I would not use the

Vince,
I have polished on the front, unpolished on the rear - and will probably replace the fronts eventually.

I changed to Russell Speed Bleeders and had a h*#@ of a time removing the originals - incompatible materials - aluminum and steel plus the fact that Wilwood in their infinite wisdom used some sort of Loc -Tite on the bleeders. It took a very little bit of heat - propane torch - not acetylene to loosen the bleeders - but then I had the calipers on the bench, not on the car. What a mess and paint save the speed bleeders are. I will also be carrying a couple of kits as well.

Oh yeah - be real careful as far as rotor size - when I went to the 11.75" on the back, the 15" wheels would no longer clear the caliper - an $880 gotcha to go to 17" Billet Specialties GTX01's to match the fronts - the 15's will go on the trailer I need for travel because the trunk holds the battery and not a lot more

[gbowne1]

Thanks, Ireland. Noted about the rotor size. I tried to find specs on the Raybestos Rotors that my dad used to put on my mom's car. I'm pretty certain they were like 11.5".

I looked at Summit and they have the parts on this page.

http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...060+4294922533

I liked that they have the Hawks.

May have to go with the Summit cross drilled and slotted "Extreme Performance" which are 11.016". The Wilwood kit uses 10.75" rotors.

Greg

[Irelands child]

[QUOTE=gbowne1]Thanks, Ireland. Noted about the rotor size. I tried to find specs on the Raybestos Rotors that my dad used to put on my mom's car. I'm pretty certain they were like 11.5".

When you are looking at brakes, you only have a few non-OEM choices - Wilwood, Baer($$$) and a couple of others. Hawk just makes pads and does for Wilwood as well as others - I'd have to dig up my notes from Wilwood, but one set of my pads were made by Hawk. The others are by someone else.

Go to the Wilwood site - it's a bit confusing, but you really can't mix and match - you need an axle 'kit' for the front and a second for the back to get the right brackets, bolts, rotors and spacers. Wilwood has many different rotors and they will make up a kit or you can buy a "standard". Tho I spend a lot of money with Summit, there are better places to go for brakes - even Speedway is better. There are a couple of soft cover books available that are pretty good - try Amazon.

You can also try ECI in Conn., tho I find them to be difficult to work with (condesending SOB's) but they do have pretty good products using OEM calipers (GM/'vette, etc) rotors, etc.
Get their catalog if you want OEM's

[gbowne1]

Again, Ireland, your advice helped. I was even able to find a set of 15x7's, some GM rotors and calipers (to be used till I can afford Wilwood), and a set of barely used P205/65R15 Yoko like Summit's P/N: TTT-5402.

Ok, so ON to Suspension. Time for a new thread on this? What are good front springs? What am I looking for here.

New parts: A 010 block. Mallory 6A Ign box. Set of 6 rocker switches and misc. colors of 10, 12, 14, and 16 gauge wire and some spade clips.

Latest work: checked the heads for cracks and bought Manley Valves. Sent the head up for machining. I've decided not to trust the rocker arms, valves, and springs as far as condition, even though they look ok.

Greg

[Irelands child]

Suggest you start the new thread - and decide whether you are going IFS or solid axle as well as what rear end to determine springs. You gotta do some basic research first tho and decide at least a general direction.

[gbowne1]

Ok.. on to the new thread.

Thanks for your help Ireland. BTW, Nice avatar Pic.

Gonna go look @ amazon.com right now too.

This week I'm gonna go hunt down a 3.08 10 bolt

:-D

Greg

[Irelands child]

Suggest you stick to 8 or 9 inch Ford for ease of finding parts plus the wealth of available information in addition to ratios about every .10 from ~2.4 to ~6.8 (especially the 9"size).
I'll look for your new thread.

[astroracer]

Greg,
Using over the counter brake parts is the SMART way to go. Having the parts easily available if a breakdown occurs is a good thing and I would hate to see you spend a lot of money on stuff that may break and not be replaceable.
I will also suggest getting some GOOD brakelines while you are at it. The stock lines work okay but this car deserves the best. I think you should look into a set of cross-drilled brake lines, like these, from Kale Auto.

They are not very expensive and will look good whether they work well or not...
Cletus