Color Me Stopped

AN AFFORDABLE EBC BRAKES UPGRADE FOR ’80S A- AND G-BODY CARS

- Jeff Smith

Troy Goldie has a problem, but it’s the good kind. He’s stuffed a 383ci small-block in his ’82 El Camino and it makes excellent power. Goldie works at Westech Performance Group so he’s surrounded with high-horsepower engines all day long. His 383 is strong enough that with a little squeeze of nitrous the car runs 10.70s at 135 mph. That’s the good news. The unsettling part is, as Goldie says, “it’s tough to get it slowed down.” This prompted a search for an inexpensive solution a little more sophisticated than dropping an anchor out the tailgate.

Lots of brake companies offer bolt-on kits, but they tend to be pricey and Goldie’s operation is directed by a beer-nuts-and-pretzels budget. So we took a look at what EBC Brakes offers as far as upgrade parts for stock calipers and rotors. With excellent results from a set of EBC YellowStuffpads on an earlier project, the upgrade headed in that direction.

Brake performance can be broken down into several different areas. Enthusiasts think that in order to have better performing brakes you need large diameter rotors and multi-piston calipers. While those kits are great and do perform well, larger rotors demand a larger-diameter wheel, and for budget reasons Goldie wanted to retain his 15-inch front wheel and tire combination.

Plus, drag cars and many street cars typically run a skinny front wheel and tire combination. A large-diameter front rotor and caliper kit makes it much easier to overcome the front tires and lock them up. It’s true that a larger-diameter rotor applies more torque to slow the car down, but the stock 10.5-inch rotor diameter is also capable of achieving lockup, so excessive brake energy isn’t really helpful in this case. A less expensive solution was to upgrade his existing brake system with better rotors and pads, new wheel bearings, brake hoses, and a brake fluid flush.