Typo in '63-4 Judging Manual??

[Gordon Peterson #4961]

Hi all -

I received my third edition of the 1963-64 Corvette Technical Information Manual & Judging Guide in the mail this morning (YAY!). I was looking forward to this hoping to clear up a mystery I've had with my car for years. I immediately stumbled upon what must be an error:

P.153 Brake Assemblies -
One sentence reads, "...J56 (heavy duty brakes) have finned brake drums..."
The very next sentence reads, "J56 (sintered metallic brakes) use a drum... same as the standard drum."

Well, we can't have it both ways here. It's my understanding that the sintered metallic brakes option was J65 which means that second sentence has a typo.

So, why on earth would Chevy have two metallic brake options at the same time, one called J56 and the other called J65?? How many production errors and misunderstandings did that cause, I have to wonder?

Now having said all that, I was not able to clear up my mystery. My very late production (August 2nd) '63 has Sintered metallic linings with drums - J65. This is confirmed by the original owner who, when me met, asked if I still had to heat up the brakes before they would work (I do). He did not order them. But there they were.

Pete

[Gordon Peterson #4961]

Forgot to Mention...

For those of you without your 63-4 judging manual handy, J65 sintered metallic brakes was not an option on 1963's. So my mystery continues.

Pete

[Danny Pantuso]

Re: Forgot to Mention...

Hi Gordon , Your right the only way to get the sintered cerametalix lining j56 were only on z06 package 1963, but the j65 metallic you could of got them with only I think, with the L84 engine only,also in 1964 the j65 were available only with the L76 365HP engine, that the only way you could of got them, Also on a other matter about brakes assemblies on page 153 THE STANDARD backing plates are painted semi-gloss black, NOW the optional brake package z06 is what colour, My z06 backing plates are natural not paint & the cover plates are also natural with blue machines dye on them. Danny

[Gordon Peterson #4961]

Re: Forgot to Mention...

My '63 is only a 300 horser, and I'm aware of a couple of sintered metallic cars that aren't fuelies.

With regards to the latest judging manual, it is Light Years better than the old first edition I had to rely on up until now!

Pete

[Duke W.]

Re: Typo in '63-4 Judging Manual??

It's an error! I submitted a letter pointing out this error and several others along with back up documentation at the '02 NCRS Convention, but never heard any more about it.

J-65 was optional on all '63 Corvettes except Z-06 and consisted of sintered metallic linings, different drums, and different return springs. It cost a whopping $37.70. The drums were the same various casting numbers as the base brake package, but were machined with a finer finish.

There was no J-56 option in 1963. This HD brake system was bundled with Z-06 in '63 and not available separately. It was unbundled and available as J-56 in '64.

J-65 continued to be available in '64.

J-65 is a relatively unknown and misunderstood option. Its presence or lack thereof is not detectable during judging because all the evidence is inside the brake drum.

Duke

[John C.]

Re: Typo in '63-4 Judging Manual??

Thanks for that clarification Duke. J65 was indeed available with all engines in 63 and 64, see pages 125 and 223 in Noland Adams' book.

I spoke with an original owner of a J65 equipped '64 and it was refreshing to learn about this option from someone with firsthand experience. Leo Ensz' 64 is featured in the Feb. '04 issue of Vette magazine.

That typo in the JG has been there for some time and needs to be corrected.

[Duke W.]

Re: Typo in '63-4 Judging Manual??

I also ordered my SWC with J-65 and replaced virtually everything while the parts were still available from GM. They worked very well including race track hot lapping, but were a little "stiff legged" in the morning until they were warmed up a bit with two or three normal stops.

When really hot after a dozen track hot laps they became very sensitive - almost like power brakes and just the opposite of normal "brake fade". You could order J-65 with J-50, but I can only imagine that with power assist they must have been undriveable when really hot. At some point they could probably get so hot they might actually begin to fade, but I never found that point at Kent.

The Washburn Chevrolet '63 Z-06 race notes indicate a lot of problems with the HD brakes, and my interpretation of the notes is that they essentially removed the HD system and replaced it with what was essentially a J-65 system. They went C-modified about mid-season due to the inability to keep up with the ever faster Cobras in AP, and the notes don't go beyond the time that they changed classes, so I don't know what other brake development activity occurred, but in CM you could do anything.

Duke

[Rick A.]

Re: Typo in '63-4 Judging Manual??

Duke,

Therein, I believe is where MOST of the confusion comes in when we hear folks have a VERT Z06 or a 1964 Z06! They have the J65 option in 1963 and or the J56/J65 in 1963/4.

[Duke W.]

Re: Typo in '63-4 Judging Manual??

I have to chuckle somewhat over the situation. I believe it was alluded to in a previous post, but I don't think Chevrolet picked the option numbers to trick up those of us with mild dyslexia, which is just about everybody. The "65" and "56" were just the luck of the draw when it came time to assign RPO numbers.

So once again:

J-56 = HD brakes ('64), part of Z-06'63 (not available separately)
J-65 = metallic brakes, available in '63(exc. Z-06) and '64 (exc.J-56)

Duke