1984 Chevy Camaro Z28 Big Brake Kits - Short Stoppin' Z

Here's a tip on the driver-side rear frameline. The hardlines on either side of the T-fitting will need to be bent slightly to line up with the new hose. It's much easier to mount the two hardlines to the T-fitting and then reattach the fitting to the rear axlehousing. There's less risk of tweaking the hardline that way.

All that's left then is to attach the other end of the new stainless hose to the frame fitting, tighten it into place, and reattach the upper end to the frame mount with one of the new H-clips included in the Classic Tube kit.

Removing the caliper on the passenger side is a headache, but the hose swap is a simple R&R affair. Don't forget to tighten the hose end to hose junctures (arrows) to ensure the factory seat-to-seat seal is leak-free.

The right rear disc was actually rusted to the axle flange. Once we excised it, we took a wire wheel to the flange, then coated the whole thing with antiseize before installing a set of OEM-replacement Centric rear rotors as a matter of maintenance. Also note that we cleaned up the caliper surfaces that the pad slides along and gave it a coat of antiseize as well (arrow).

Once we had thoroughly bled the brake system, we took the car out and bedded in the pads and rotors. First, the vehicle must be driven 10-20 miles of "normal" braking to wear away the corrosion-resistant silver cadmium plating from the contact area. Hawk then recommends performing 6 to 10 stops from 30-35 mph, followed by another 2 to 3 stops from 40-45 mph, which applies a layer of pad material onto the rotor surface. This transfer film creates adhesive friction, meaning the pad and rotor adhere to each other during stopping. This layer also acts as a buffer between the pad and rotor. Response, wear, and consistency are all improved-and we can testify to that.

Although we can't match the looks of a big set of four-piston calipers with our factory squeezers, we decided to dress up our upgraded stockers anyway with a Brake Caliper PaintSystem Set. The kit comes with a cleaning spray, self-leveling paint (basic black for us), a reactor, a stir stick, and an application brush. We also picked up wire brushes to aid our caliper prep, and Eastwood recommended we wear a respirator for the job. The calipers don't have to be off the car to do this, so we cleaned them thoroughly, masked them off, mixed the paint as indicated, and went to work. There's enough here to put three coats on four calipers. Two coats worked for us, and as you can see in our lead photo, our improved stopping power now comes with improved looks.