Real Fiero Tech

I'm replacing my front calipers with NOS loaded units from calipersonline. I know that pad material has improved considerably in the last twenty years, so should I replace the pads right away, or do you think I could run the OEM pads that come with them?
This is on an 88GT that's a daily driver, and pretty much stock.

I've received my calipers from calipersonline. I had assumed for some reason that they would be NOS product from GM, but they are not. They are aftermarket calipers, manufactured by Cambro Products, and have an assembly date of May 2005. So I expect the pads they come with are acceptable. The Pads have DM128FE 7316, DM128FE 7328 9/2, DM128FE 7380, and DM128FE 7320 printed on them. The cursory google search reveals a single source mentioning DM128FE as a semi-metallic friction material used by GM.

If you were spending money on the front brakes anyway, why not do an upgrade, like the LeBaron rotors and S-10 4WD calipers?

Atilla the Fun wrote:If you were spending money on the front brakes anyway, why not do an upgrade, like the LeBaron rotors and S-10 4WD calipers?

cactus bastard wrote:
This is on an 88GT that's a daily driver, and pretty much stock.

Plus he would'nt want to add 10 tons of brake parts on his car.

jelly2m81 wrote: Plus he would'nt want to add 10 tons of brake parts on his car.

I'd be pretty unhappy adding 10 pounds of brake parts to my car unless I really needed to. The stock 88 brakes seem perfectly adequate to me. If I had to go larger, I would take the opportunity to go to 2 piece rotors and aluminum calipers.

The '88 calipers are already pretty light. They have an aluminum piston housing with a steel bridge.

The C4 Corvette upgrade uses 12" rotors and relocation brackets with stock calipers. The plans are out there, so you could have the brackets cut out of aluminum. Two piece rotors to fit Corvettes are probably as common as any two piece rotors.

The Dark Side of Will wrote:The '88 calipers are already pretty light.

That may be true, but they're not very exciting. I'm a sucker for the small bits of high tech on my otherwise out-dated cars.