1965 Chevrolet Corvette Brake Upgrade - Gimme A Brake!

In the mid-'60s, many cars weren't even offered with front-only disc brakes as an option, so it caused a sensation when Chevrolet made four-wheel discs standard on the '65 Corvette Sting Ray (there was a strange drum brake substitution-for a credit of $64.50-option that 316 buyers of '65 Vettes opted to order). There's a late 1964 issue of Motor Trend that has a six or so page, in-depth technical article about the new brakes for the Sting Ray, and you don't begin to realize the enormous engineering advance these four-wheel discs represented until you read material from the era.

The deficiencies, particularly in competition or even "vigorous" use on public roads, of the earlier drum brakes were well known. Zora and Company had come up with various "band-aid" fixes over the years, beginning with the competition-oriented RPO 684 in 1957 through the so-called big-brake packages, the '63-only Z06 Special Performance Equipment group, and, finally, 1964's J56 and J65 sintered metallic brake packages. The new brake system, right out of the box, worked better than anything that had come before.

But, what had been a stunning fait accompli in 1965 was badly dated by the time the Mid-Year/Shark chassis was retired in 1982. The once state-of-the-art system, with its huge four-piston, cast-iron calipers was prone to leaky piston seals and the calipers were exceedingly heavy, especially compared to the calipers that appeared in early 1983 on the all-new '84 C4s. Compared to C4s-and in ensuing years C5s, newer F-Bodies, and others-the '65-82 factory brakes don't offer a particularly reassuring or confidence-inspiring feel (spongy is a common description for the pedal feel of these cars) when you need 'em the most.

A mini-industry has sprung up around fitting stainless steel sleeves in the leaky old calipers to stem the majority of the spillage. Stainless sleeves are a vast improvement over unsleeved '65-82 calipers. For anyone who owns a '65-82 Corvette that's either original or restored to stock, and who wants to keep factory appearance, stainless sleeving is heaven-sent. For the non-purists, it's a whole lot better than nothing, but sleeved calipers still leave something to be desired (we're dealing with almost 40 year-old technology) if you're looking for better than stock performance-which most certainly includes being able to stop in the shortest possible distance and under complete control.

What has really surprised Team VETTE is that, until recently, no one (we're talking about manufacturers, not individuals) has come up with a new brake system for these Corvettes. The '65-67 Sting Rays are among the most popular, sought after, and expensive of all Corvettes-and with over 74,000 built they're relatively abundant. You want Corvettes that were and are plentiful? Take a look at the Sharks. There were well over a half-million Corvettes built and sold between 1968 and 1982. There were in excess of 616,000 Corvettes built with the four-wheel disc brake system we're talking about. When it comes to modern brake systems, these Corvettes have pretty much been ignored, and all the while there have been front- and four-wheel disc conversion kits for Solid-Axles, front conversion kits for '63-64 Sting Rays, and a plethora of big brake kits, from reasonable to totally absurdly priced (who really needs a $7,500 system with 15-inch rotors and six-piston calipers for a daily driver?) for C4s and C5s.