CARB-Legal LS3 Wagon Swap Project | Part 3 | Wilwood D52 Disc Brakes!
Installing the Wilwood D52 Brake Caliper Kit on a GM B-Body is super easy and looks amazing. But is it worth $500 in parts?
Happy New Year, folks! I’m excited to present Part 3 of our CARB Legal LS3 Wagon Swap project where we install the Wilwood D52 Brake Front Caliper Kit. Wilwood, who partnered with us on this build, was kind enough to send over the kit along with a 14-inch stainless steal brake line. And, in the above video, you can check out the install, which is easy. Well, mostly. And then we did a few braking tests followed by driving impressions.
Previous CARB Legal LS3 Wagon Swap Episodes
Part 1
Parts & Project GoalsPart 2
Michelin Tires, American Racing Wheels, Eaton TrueTrac, & Sway Bars
And click HERE to join in on the official LS1Tech.com BUILD THREAD!
Installation is Easy
Overall, installing the D52 Brake Front Caliper kit is about as easy as it comes. With a socket set, a few hand tools, and a torque wrench, you could probably do the whole job in an hour or two. I also elected to swap out my front rotors and wheel bearings in the process, which is as follows…
- Remove the OEM caliper and hang to the side
- Remove the bearing dust cap, cotter pin, and spindle nut
- Remove the brake rotor and inner/outer wheel bearings
- Degrease EVERYTHING
- Grease the spindle
- Clean off any oils from the face of your new rotor
- Grease and install the inner wheel bearing and bearing cap
- Grease and install the outer bearing and, while holding it in place with the bearing washer, reinstall onto the spindle
- Install the spindle nut, torque to 14 ft.-lbs while spinning the rotor, but then back the nut off
- Re-tighten to “finger tight” and then back off just enough to install a new cotter pin
Now that you have rotors back in place, you can install the Wilwood D52 calipers, brake pads, and stainless steel brake lines. (If you decide to keep your OEM lines, you’ll need an adapter. Mine were old and cracking.) Don’t forget the white lithium grease on your caliper pins. FYI, getting the caliper into position is a little awkward because you have to balance the inner brake pad and the whole caliper while lining up the caliper pins. Then torque the pins to 35 ft.-lbs.
The One Problem
The last part of the install is the stainless steel brake line. Easy, I thought. And it almost was… First, install the 7/16ths banjo bold with two crush washers to the D52 caliper and torque to 15-25 ft.-lbs. As I said above, Wilwood supplied a stainless steel brake line set, but unfortunately, their system and my car disagreed about the proper chassis fitting.
Turns out after six hours of checking parts stores, online research and talking to Wilwood, my Roadmaster has a 10M bubble chassis fitting (rather than a 3/8ths inverse). So Wilwood recommended an affiliated speed shop in my area (Orme Brothers) who made up a new set of custom lines.
Performance
Our 29-year-old Roadmaster originally stopped from 60mph in 162.02 feet (per Dragy). Adding Michelin Pilot Sport all-season tires on American Racing Wheels dropped that figure down to 146.02 feet with the stock brakes.
After installing the D52 kit, we followed Wilwood’s bedding procedure as best we could in a city environment and the recorded a best of 139.2-foot 60-0 run. Seven feet isn’t a dramatic upgrade, but, again, these tests were conducted before the brake pads were 24 hours old, so things may change.
We’ll be re-running all sorts of tests… 0-60, 60-0, handling, and so on… when the LS3 is installed and broken in. We’ll also try to have a pro look over everything to see if there are any additional adjustments we can make to maximize stopping.
Driving Impressions
Even if the initial tests aren’t dramatic, seven feet is still an extra half a car-length worth of safety. And, perhaps this is just proof that tires are a more important safety component. Or maybe it means we should think about even bigger brakes eventually. (Any ideas, Wilwood?)
Regardless, I very much enjoyed the improved pedal feel and the way the Wilwood pads and calipers gripped the new rotor. The pedal is nice and firm. It grabs early, and it’s a very quick bite. Overall the Wagon feels sportier and offers more confidence with repeated braking. Prior to the D52 install, running braking tests would quickly overheat the OEM calipers and this combo seems to hold its pedal feel a little longer.
Regardless, more soon!
Next week’s episode is all about QA1 coilovers and control arms as well as a Hotchkis front-end steering kit. (Wow it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.) And then the ole TBI 5.7 is coming out for good!
