Let me get back to you in a bit on this. Brakes are a SYSTEM, and have to be engineered to match your car and how you're going to be using them. Everything from pads, to fluid, to front/rear bias, size, etc. It is possible to have too much brake, but probably not with a Vette. (Brakes have long been their downfall). Do you want to race with these? Track days? Sustained, long-term heat, or short, low-heat street use? Do you really know how to brake, or are you just a "foot to the floor until I stop" kind of guy? (The better the driver, the better they can use/preserve the brakes, so you can put in a different system). And I prefer slotted/chevron rotors, not drilled. Got money to spare? Floating rotors are the shit. Expensive to put in, awesome performance, and cheap to maintain. Back in a bit.
So yeah, tell me why you want to upgrade your brakes? Are you noticing any issues, or are you just looking to slap something cool looking onto the car? Most people I know (that don't really know how to drive) get the biggest bang for their buck out of running a different/better set of pads and some high-temp brake fluid. When I upgrade my car, race or otherwise, it's to solve a problem. I figure out exactly what the problem is I'm experiencing, how it's presenting itself, come up with probable causes, then work on iterating through the solution. (More often than not it's not a simple fix, but requires tweaking and testing until it's right).
Oh, and for my money, the top race shop that is the SHIT for Corvettes is: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.lgmotorsports.com/catalog/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.lgmotorsports.com/catalog/index.php</a> That's Lou Gigliotti who's been racing Vettes longer than I've been alive. Lou may be a bit of an egomaniac and asshat, but that guy knows Vette's, and I've heard nothing but great things about his parts/systems. I race against an older Vette that uses his brakes, and they are fantastic, even on our home track which is the hardest track on brakes I've ever raced on. And it's not just the brakes, but also the ducting/cooling stuff that came with them that were just bolt-ons for the car.
I didnt know LG had brakes. I've got LG 1 7/8" longtubes on my car and absolutely love them. While I do think slotted rotors look cool im looking for something that works. I may try some new pads and high temp fluid first I haven't tracked this car yet, but have been into both dirt track and drag racing in the past and im thinking of taking a road course classs so I can get started. And I probably dont know how to brake honestly, in my dirt track days I used a brake bias adjuster a little, but running an IMCA modified the brake is mostly used briefly to set the car into the corner and then you turn it with the gas.
I done gone and fucked up. Now that that's out of the way, on to the story. Nice day the other day, went outside during my shift to roll down the windows. Went back out later to get a cigarette, couldn't find my 2nd key. It was in the ignition, turned forward, I had forgotten to remove it. Battery dead. Somehow, while jumping it, my friend and I both managed to be big enough idiots to connect the cables incorrectly (hmm, melting cable might be a bad thing). We did manage to smarten up long enough to put the cables (different set) on the right way and get my car started. 98 pontiac grand prix se 3.1. 140k. I've noticed now that after turning off the ignition and removing the key, the interior dome lights will come on and stay on until i flip the dome light switch on and then off. When I press the lock button, i hear the 'key in the ignition dumbass' chime 3 times, and the doors do not lock. After the press-and-chime deal, the doors will lock upon pressing the button. Since the vehicle drives and the lights still work, I'm guessing i didn't fuck things up too badly. Googling leads me to believe it's either a fuse or some other insidious (read:costly) happening. I come to those more knowledgeable than I for advice.
Check your manual and find the fuses associated with those things that are fucking up. Usually your interior lights are limited to 2-3 fuses (one dash, one all other). Pull those fuses and see if they're burnt out. The only thing that leads me to believe that it isn't fuse related is that these things are still working instead of just being dead. Check the interior panel first and then the one under the hood.
Upon further manual perusal it would appear that some settings were flashed back to the factory settings. The triple door chime is indicating that five seconds after the last door has been closed, the doors will automatically lock and the dome lights will go out.
Yeah, Pontiac calls that "delayed locking" and you should be able to change that through the "driver information center"
Got myself a full time job doing this car writing gig. No more hustling for now. Stay tuned for awesomeness.
Something really weird never seen this before. My friend has an 01 Malibu, and the check engine light came on and at the same time the temp gauge just stayed on cold, and the rad fans were always staying on. So i figured either the thermostat was either stuck open or the coolant temp sensor was fubar'd, but that wouldn't explain why the rad fans were staying on. So i took it down to a my favorite client to see if i can get borrow his OBD II scanner and take a look at what was going on. Only code that was throw'n was it was too cold. Went through it and everything looked good, the temperature was at the right temp(on the OBD tool, the gauge in the car was still saying it was cold). So i rest the code, and soon as i did that, the fans stopped, and the temperature gauge in the car went to were it was supposed to be. Never seen a computer glich like that in a car before.
Weird. I wonder if it would have corrected itself if you had just disconnected the negative battery cable for an hour or so to reset the computer. I've also never heard of a computer glitch like that.
I posted this question in the automotive thread on the RMMB and got really helpful answers. I thought I'd always be able to go back and check whenever the problem arose again, but RMMB is no longer around, so I can't. My headlights blow really frequently. I've owned my '97 Saab for about 20 months, and this is the third time they've (both headlights) blown. I change my lights myself. I know about hot spots causing short bulb life. I always wear gloves so my finger never touch the bulb. Even with gloves, I still don't touch the bulb. Last two times I bought a pair of lights (I always buy 2 at a time) they cost $50 for the pair, then $25 the next time. When I asked on the RMMB, they said I was way over paying and told me to make sure to get such-and-such type of bulb because maybe I was getting a bulb that was too bright for my car to handle. I don't remember what "such-and-such" bulb was. Can anyone help me out with this? Also, the rear turn-signal light just blew too. Any similar advice on shopping for the right (hopefully cheap) yellow turn-signal bulb? I've never had to purchase one before. Thanks for the help!
Hey guys. Thought I'd drag out an old problem that resurfaced yesterday.... 1996 F150, 2WD, inline 6 five speed. Hauled a trailer for three days last October and suddenly the gas mileage sucked and it would just stall out on me. Winter came, tune-up and oil change and had the computer reset and two different mechanics crawl all over it; nada. Weather is now warm again, and although I think the fuel mileage has improved considerably (still not as good as it was), yesterday it started stalling on me. What It Does Stalls when braking. Oddly, it tends to stall at the exact same corner each time (did this in the fall, too - totally different corner). I only bring it up because to me it's stalling after about the same amount of driving time. Start the engine after it sits all day, drive for about 5 minutes, brake firmly and come to a stop. The engine will start to cough as though it's starved for gas, and if I catch it in enough time to rev it I can sometimes avoid it. Engine quits; power still works. Restart the truck, sometimes it takes two or three tries, and often I have to give it gas once it fires to get it going. Then, miraculously, it drives fine for the rest of the evening. Any and all ideas are much appreciated.
Sorry. Two separate diagnostics run; both revealed nothing. One place kept it overnight and tried running it at different times during the day. I'll have to dig out the paperwork, but by 'tune up' I simply meant that basic maintenance was performed and (to my knowledge) a thorough inspection occurred.
Sounds like the same problem i had in my old 90 Taurus with an auto. When it got cold it would die all the time, and in the spring time when it started getting warm again it would start getting better. It was my idle air control valve. Some times you can just take it off the throttle body and get a spray cleaner and clean it up and it will work again. What happens is when you take your foot off the gas the throttle plate(butter fly valve, what ever you want to call it) closes, and your IAC is all gummed up and cant bypass the air around the throttle plate so your engine starves for air.
Mine's doing the opposite of that, though - fine in the cold, stalling in the heat. When it was in the shop a few months back I had them pay particular attention to the mass airflow sensor, which was fine. I'm almost beginning to think there's a chunk of debris physically in the tank, and if it gets braked just so it blocks the intake, cutting of the fuel supply. It's the only thing that I can think of.