Did I get scammed on used parts? (Probably)

You have blessed us all with a saying to deploy on our significant others when we overspend on toys. “But once cry once, sweetie! It’s just math!” 😂

I did the same upgrade last year to my 06 Z06, but bought the kit new from Essex. As you mentioned at the end, the caliper bracket looks to be a custom job, the bracket that came with the new kit is much smaller and anodized black. The second thing I noticed is brake rotor (iron disc) and hats are different than the standard J hook design that comes with new AP racing kits. I'm not sure if that was the standard on older kits. It may be beneficial to reach out to Essex parts and see if they can help narrow things down. I really enjoy the content because I've spent the past two years turning my Z06 into a track weapon. Keep up the good work and I hope you get this solved!

It's funny, I just remembered that I just received a book from Amazon 2 days ago called "Overthinking!" And I'm pretty sure that the first 2 or 3 of the C6Z06's had a weight of 3,132 pounds. It will be in the Corvette Black Book...

Good luck with getting your brakes worked out. I went with Wilwood F/R kit for my c6z06. Boltup was perfect and pad changes quick.

APRacing is top tier, I’m a budget enthusiast on my Z06 and so far I’m just using KNS slotted upgrade on my 2006 car.

4:02 That squinty eyed head shake said it all.

Hey Josh, I had wanted to comment about the Hawk brake pads. In general, I've used Hawks on a lot of my cars and I love them. That said I hate them on my Z06. They are still on the car but I'm about ready to toss 'em in the trash, and that's on a street car. I can't imagine them on a track. I feel like the stock pads were better. Love the content so far, keep it up!

Hate to hear the issues you are having! I am wanting a C6 Z06 after I am done building my WS6, and I have been enjoying what you are doing with yours ! Keep up the good work dude!

Hey Josh. I feel your pain! I’ve been in similar situations in the past. It’s especially frustrating after spending so much time on the install and anticipating this awesome change to only get let down and perhaps feeling like you went backwards with the car’s build. Personally, I think the seller misrepresented what they sold you which isn’t cool. I think this video is great because it shows the more challenging sides of tracking a car. I love every minute I’m on the track, but I know I spend 3 times as long prepping and maintaining the car which can sometimes lead to frustrates just like this example. Hang in there! I’m sure you can figure out how to safety make it all work. I predict you’ll scrub 1-2seconds off your PB…and the times will stay consistent lap after lap. Good luck!

Keep slugging away at it, man. I can't wait to see the video when you finally conquer the vibration and get a clean lap in!! Don't hit the ceiling too hard haha

Hope you work things out! I myself just worked on my C6Zs brakes and just did pads and fluid since BBKs are hella expensive. Also got the Carbotechs XP12 for the front and XP10s for the rear, and I hope you like them because I really like them. Gave me confidence around the track as the padlets I had were shot. May we both reach our goal of beating GT3s!

I’m a very happy owner of a C6 Convertible, but sure , throwing stupid Money at it even a Toilet you can make it go! ( That is not meant to be derogative to Corvettes!) That said ( having owned a 930 years back when I was young), a Corvette is still a Corvette, I , personally would pony up and buy the GT3, much better quality Car overall. For pure performance , if you’re a ‘Vette Fan , go C6 ZR1.Seems more economical in the long run. Sounds like you wanna do some driving, have fun!

That wasn't the update I was looking for...

Sorry you’re having troubles! You’ll win the battle eventually. 👍 I can’t imagine how frustrated you must be. Hang in there!

I'd say the only thing to do would be buy rotors from Essex. They are super knowledgeable about Corvettes so they might be able to diagnose your vibration issue.

4:7 lucky guy.

You can remove pads from teh factory caliper by un-doing those three hex or allen bolts on the face of the caliper and the pads slide out from the side. However this only works if you use 3 padlets vs 1 pad.

Hi Josh, I have been enjoying your channel and I am a similar boat as you. Just bought a c6 z06 for lapping days. In my case I have to wait a few months before the snow clears. I didn’t even get it on the track last year as it snowed the day I got it and track closed for the season that same weekend. Anyhow, I just installed a used Wilwood bbk on my car and you may want to check out their instructions for the Aero6 calipers. They come with spacers/shims to move the caliper outboard. I bought my kit from a c5 guy (made for both) but I found I needed to buy extra shims because I was too close on the inside. In my case everything cleared, but the caliper was not cantered on the rotor when tightened down. I had my engineer brother do some thermo calcs and I was not happy with only 0.8mm clearance. With additional shim I now have 1.8MM on one side and a bit over 2 mm on the other side. I would shoot for a min of 1-1.5 mm clearance to everything. Rotors grow with heat more than you may think. Because your rotor is rubbing on the suspension, you may also need to shim the hats (I also didn’t know that was a thing and I did not have this problem). So to be clear, you may have two areas to shim. One on the hats (that I didn’t do) and then if you move that out, now you need to check your rotor is centered on the caliper (look at the Wilwood instructions, you will see what I mean). You can get shims from Wilwood pretty cheap. It’s best to use their shims (or something sold as a shim, not just a plain washer) as they are very accurate (I.e. all the same) and you won’t introduce any runout. Note: if you add shims behind the hat, please watch out for the length of your studs to ensure you have adequate threads for your wheel nuts. I wouldn’t think you’d need more than a couple mm though, so should be ok. P.s. I also saw that set on CF. Too much for me though!

you are going to need brake ducts to the center of rings to beat the gt3 and probably a bbk will help. race cars usually have way more rear bias than street cars so I doubt the c6 has more than it needs but could be idk. that can be also in conjunction with aero setup, so if you use a big wing then the bias then I expect you need at least the stock bias

I'm with you on the big brakes. Something special about them. One of the most function over form mods in a way, but also oh so much form. I love shitboxes with real nice brakes. Not that your car is a shitbox at all, but I'm saying it elevates a tuner car for me. One of my favorite performance parts. Not exactly sure why. Bummer about the fitment issues. Seems that bracket was custom made to save money and possibly some other spacer was supposed to be used. Weird.