Real Fiero Tech

Been out of the fiero scene for many years now and am looking to get my 88 back on the road. Rather than dealing with aging fiero brake parts i would like to run more modern brake components, iv been looking at the corvette caliper/rotor options but have not been able to find C5/C6 mounting brakets for 88 fronts. I have been through the thread discussing front C5 calipers all the way around and believe this may be an option with the addition of a stand alone parking brake.
Did the brackets designed by ericjon262 work on the front as well?

I never tried them on the front, my understanding is that there are fitment issues with the rotor to the LCA. Fieroguru has some brake kits, but most use stock 88 calipers.

Looks like I may just freshen up the original brake hardware to get things moving around. It looks like there are a few big things in the works as far as bearing assemblies ect that may lead me down a different path in regard to suspension and brakes in the future.

Tapps327 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 05, 2021 12:59 pm Looks like I may just freshen up the original brake hardware to get things moving around. It looks like there are a few big things in the works as far as bearing assemblies ect that may lead me down a different path in regard to suspension and brakes in the future.

I can dig that, the 88 spec brakes are lightyears ahead of the 84-87 parts. Honestly, I'm not sure I would go with the C5 calipers again. They're huge, and really heavy, I'd bet I could find a smaller, lighter caliper, that outperforms the C5 parts on a Fiero.

BTW, Welcome to the forum, post up a build thread! There's a introductions thread(linked below) if you feel so inclined.

https://www.realfierotech.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21746

Don't FieroGuru's kits use C*4* rotors? You should be able to use C4 calipers, although those are a bit on the big/heavy side as well. Calipers are fairly flexible, so there are lots available to adapt.

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 12:30 pm Don't FieroGuru's kits use C*4* rotors?

No.

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 12:30 pm You should be able to use C4 calipers, although those are a bit on the big/heavy side as well.

Not really. Attached is a picture I took ten years ago comparing an '88 front Fiero caliper with an '88 non HD double piston Vette caliper. Even though the Vette caliper is much larger, its completely aluminum save for the pistons. I weighed both at that time and think the Vette caliper was only like a pound or two heavier than the Fiero caliper and the pad surface area is almost double the Fiero's. In my opinion, the stock single piston '88 Fiero calipers and any rotor 12" or larger are scary good at stopping a Fiero - if you don't use garbage pads.

I bet the C4 calipers would fit the 13" lambda rotors Guru found with the right bracket and wheel clearance.

https://imgur.com/dy3huz6

Emc209i wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 8:13 pm

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 12:30 pm Don't FieroGuru's kits use C*4* rotors?

No.

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 12:30 pm You should be able to use C4 calipers, although those are a bit on the big/heavy side as well.

Not really. Attached is a picture I took ten years ago comparing an '88 front Fiero caliper with an '88 non HD double piston Vette caliper. Even though the Vette caliper is much larger, its completely aluminum save for the pistons. I weighed both at that time and think the Vette caliper was only like a pound or two heavier than the Fiero caliper and the pad surface area is almost double the Fiero's. In my opinion, the stock single piston '88 Fiero calipers and any rotor 12" or larger are scary good at stopping a Fiero - if you don't use garbage pads.

I bet the C4 calipers would fit the 13" lambda rotors Guru found with the right bracket and wheel clearance.

https://imgur.com/dy3huz6

I think my biggest issue with dual piston calipers like this on a fiero, is the bulk not the weight. on my car, the C5 calipers are a really tight fit, and I can't imagine those calipers are a whole lot better.

I'm with ya. It really depends on how large the wheels you are using are. Here's a picture of Yellowstone's car with 13" viper rotors and the twin piston vette calipers. He had some room left over, but he had a huge wheel space to work with.

https://ibb.co/k6w4KDJ

Emc209i wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 8:13 pm

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 12:30 pm Don't FieroGuru's kits use C*4* rotors?

No.

This is what I was thinking of, then: https://westcoastfiero.com/products/12- ... o-calipers

Large diameter rotors that are thin enough to use with the stock '88 calipers are on the rare side, but the applications exist. C5 rotors are not among them.

Yes. The C4 rotors are shaped kind of like a bowl and bow in towards the control arms putting them in contact with the lower control arms. The Viper rotors would interfere with the shock mounts on the earlier cars. They also had a bolt pattern that when drilled with the 5x100 pattern looked very unsafe. The lambda rotors Fieroguru is selling have very little offset and don't really hit all the things the Vette and Viper rotors used to. The bolt pattern drilling looks better. And they're thin.

The C4 heavy duty, C5, C6, C7, and C8 rotors are thick. Very thick. Too thick for the Fiero, which doesn't have the wheel base to get up to 150+ mph safety.

The Fiero 88 front calipers are still easy to find. The rears with the built in handbrake are now no longer in existence. We need to find a new rear caliper alternative for the 88 cars.

https://ibb.co/NSxZCjS

Emc209i wrote: ↑Tue Sep 14, 2021 12:21 pm https://ibb.co/NSxZCjS

when I built my car, I thought the C5 parts were the way to go, the more I look at them, and work on them, I've decided that when the time comes, I won't be using C5 parts anymore.

From my experience, only one of the rear 88 calipers if made of hen's teeth, I forget which though.

They both are now. It was 2010 when I was told there were two left in Texas. They are gone now. I stripped one recently and had to do machine work on it because there isn't one left in the United States, for either side.

In regards to the OP, the C5 and C6 parts are too heavy and not necessary for such a light car with options for big rotors.

I was just watching this, do the conversion from mm to inches for the front rotors:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l47hKqnA-lc