Results
First things first, it was time to put the GTO's fresh brake system through Wilwood's pad bedding procedure. This involved making a series of hard stops until the brakes began to show some fade, thereby "burnishing" the pads for maximum performance. After doing this, though, we noticed that the rear pads would actually smoke (even after several normal stops), indicating a problem with front-to-rear brake bias. It is not uncommon to experience this after any brake system swap, and so a proportioning valve would have to be installed to provide more front bias than the factory master cylinder setup was currently allowing.
However, due to looming deadlines, track unavailability, and other circumstances beyond our control, notewe were unable to remedy this problem before the car had to be returned to its rightful owner in Wisconsin. Though it was clear that rear bias was excessive, it wasn't enough to deem the car unsafe to drive. Fortunately, once title-holder Bruce Corcoran had the car in his hands, he had a local shop install a proportioning valve, and we were ready to rock.
| STOPPING DISTANCES (FROM 60 MPH) |
| Baseline (stock brakes): | 136.0 feet |
| Wilwood: | 134.5 feet |
Note: values are an average of the best two runs achieved during each session.
A 1.5-foot improvement in stopping distance may not initially impress you, but before jumping to any harsh conclusions, let us enlighten you with some background information. The baseline stops were performed in warmer New Jersey weather and on the prepped strip surface of raceway Park, so certainly this factored into a stickier tarmac than that which we experienced on the frosty roads of America's dairyland. Another notewe worthy item is that during baseline testing, stopping consistency dropped off after several hard stops, indicative of substantial brake fade, whereas with our new Wilwood brakes, we did not experience any fade at all. Though admittedly the baseline testing was done from 100-to-0 (which we were not about to duplicate on public roads; the 60-to-0 distance was included in its calculation), certainly one could expect to see a little fade after the seven or so 60-mph stops we performed in Wisconsin. This was not the case, as although Bruce's stopping distance varied somewhat from run to run (presumably due to road conditions affecting the exact behavior of the car's ABS system), we didn't see it drop off at all during the later runs, helping prove he worth of the Wilwood system.
That said, Bruce can now more confidently pilot his car to any open track day he might choose, as his ride sports increased stopping power along with reduced worry of dangerous brake fade and parts breakage, all thanks to Wilwood's dynaPro rear and Superlite 6 front brake systems. Here's to having some high-speed fun while staying safe!
By GM standards, the factory rear brakes are not unattractive, and they help provide decent braking for vehicles with stock power under the hood (unless heated up substantially, that is). But again, with this head/cammed/nitroused Goat, additional stopping performance was in order, and the Wilwood system's larger-diameter rotors and multiple-piston calipers would be an improvement indeed! | 
The factory steel brake line was disconnected using a 10mm line wrench (shown). A flathead screwdriver was then used to pry out the retaining clip holding the end of the stock rubber brake line to the dust shield. The rubber portion of the line (which leads from here to the caliper) would not be reused. | 
By loosening and removing two large 19mm bolts on the backside of the assembly, the stock single-piston caliper and its mounting bracket came off as one piece. We hung on to the bolts for reuse. |