BRAKES

After searching and doing some research on brakes I decided to go with the C6 big brake set. These are what come stock on the Z06 and they are production car proven. I did consider Brembo, Wilwood and Baer but honestly didn't see the need to spend the extra bucks. The Corvette brakes for the Z06 are just as good at stopping the car and there is no guess work involved. The entire package includes 6 piston front, 4 piston rear calipers, 14" rotors and Goodridge brake lines. The only issue I have with the brakes is that the stock GM rotor drilled holes sweep in opposite directions from left to right. This is either a complete oversight or GM decided that production costs mattered more than the difference in performance. They will work, but they are not optimum. I may decide to change them at some point.

The pictures on the bottom begin with brake line routing. Bending the lines and achieving the correct path (within clamping distance of frame members) is not the easiest thing to do. Starting with a 60 - 80" line makes it very difficult to manipulate within the working areas. In many cases you will need to measure and make bends further down the line to complete the bends around and along frame members long before you actually get to the ends. Also, the last bends at the front wheels are challenging but small radii are possible using a tubing bender. Various tools, pieces of wood, screw drivers and whatever else you can use to assist will be needed. Your fingers alone won't hold up and the tubing gets stiff when you have bends in close proximity to one-another.

To neaten things up I used a piece of the door seal (The FFR seals separate between the bulb and the part that attaches onto the sheet metal edge pretty easy. All that time I spent cutting the radiator box upper seals (the ones under the hood) and they end up falling apart after resting my arm on them for a few hours off and on. I noticed this while doing the doors but the one on under the hood separated along a two foot section. So...I used the donor Corvette door seals instead). The piece you see is what I cut off the FFR seal.

This is the doubler, L-angle, shims and lower radiator closeout panel riveted as an assembly. The lower radiator closeout is the primed area in the middle of the picture just aft of the radiator and under the frame. The bottom of the panel attaches to the undercarriage or belly panel which is part of the modified radiator box. This seals and closes off the left and right corners which are normally open on a stock GTM. For whatever reason, FFR's design was a little flimsy and incomplete on the aft radiator box corners.

This was an interesting challenge. I had to cut the duct at the right point so that when at the correct height at the flange, the remaining tapered body would lie flat against the side of the wheel well sheet metal without need for a seal. I wanted a clean look with all retention done from inside using clip style nuts. The bandsaw I currently use doesn't accomodate a cut like this without risk to the piece or the person cutting it. A good bandsaw would have worked with proper setup but this was much easier. The two challenges are getting the cut lines correct and then making the cut without error. I remembered I had a double line self leveling lazer which worked perfect for projecting the line for the cut. After I traced the lines, I made the cut with a 3" cutting wheel.

After looking over the radiator box and airflow, not to mention access and all the other considerations (Angle, interference, airflow temperature, velocity etc), I had to figure out the solution and then build to it vs hacking things up. By the time I made the cut, I already chose a four inch Spetre polished tube as the best way to get the air flowing at an angle. I also had to figure out how the flanges and duct would attach before knowing all of this would fit and not interfere with the steering at different heighs of the suspension. I used a jack and moved the steering full left and right while holding the 3" ducting in the approximate position to understand how the duct would move and flex. Surprizingly, the duct flexed like an accordian when angled properly. Anyway, I began making the cutout a little at a time.