Welcome to the Domestic car section of the Wilwood Website where you can find a wide assortment of brakes that can fit your 1970 or newer domestic car. The reason this section deals with domestic cars built from 1970 to present is many of the cars built prior to 1970 fall into the Specialty Car Section because they are collectible muscle cars or are in the same family. The cars built previous to 1949 can be found in the Street Rod section. The specialty cars cover a broad range of vehicles that have become classic and legendary over time. This section is dedicated to all of the other cars past to present that don’t fall into that category yet, but some of which, may get that special status as time goes on. In the ‘50s and ‘60s designers and engineers were allowed to be creative in their designs and their mechanical abilities and as a result there were many stylish and fast cars built. This was a time when the different manufacturers were not doing cookie cutter cars that all looked the same. Ford, Chrysler, General Motors and AMC were all building cars that were totally different from each other in an effort to get buyers into their showrooms. Many of the cars were also competing in the power department because the engine sizes were growing yearly in the smaller cars as well as the luxury models. Many of the top-of- the-line cars were powered by 421, 425, 426, 428, 440, 454, and 455ci engines with gobs of torque and power. Even the economy cars that were introduced in the early ‘60s, such as the Falcon, Corvair, Skylark, Cutlass, Tempest, Valiant and others offered economy engines for the people who wanted economical transportation and strong running engines for the people who liked performance. In the early ‘60s, Oldsmobile was the first car company to offer a Turbocharged V8 engine called the Jetfire. The flat six-cylinder engine in the Corvair went from the economical base model to a turbocharged version that could out-accelerate many V8 cars of the time. Pontiac also squeezed a 326ci engine (rated at 326ci but was actually 336ci in 1963) in the Tempest and in 1964 when the cars started to get a little larger Pontiac installed a 389 engine in the Tempest/Le Mans and called it the GTO, and it started the muscle car movement.

The engineer’s quest for performance started changing in the ‘70s when leaded gas was deemed unacceptable. The high compression engines of the ‘60s had to be emasculated with low compression ratios that could run properly with the new low octane gas that was available. The engineers and designers who loved performance had new problems to deal with because the government was pushing for smaller cars that got better gas mileage. There were some bright spots in the ‘70s with cars such as the Firebird Trans Am, the Corvette, and the Camaro Z/28 because throughout the ‘70s the bodies only received small changes and they still offered a strong running engine for the time period. Most of the other cars at the time were going through shrinking pains and it seemed as if many of the car companies were struggling to find a market for low powered economy cars, something few American car buyers really wanted. Although the muscle cars were gone, there were quite a few respectable transportation cars that were released in the ‘70s and Wilwood Engineering has brakes for all of the American cars with only a few exceptions that we are currently working on. Looking at ‘70s cars such as the ‘73-‘77 Monte Carlo, the ‘73-‘76 Coronet, the ‘71-‘74 Maverick and the ‘73-‘77 Buick Regal, just to name a few, Wilwood has brake improvement kits for all of them. Here’s an example; if you own a ‘73-‘77 Monte Carlo you can equip your car with a Forged Dynalite Pro Front Kit that features Forged Dynalite calipers in a red, Platinum-E or polished finish. The kit can be ordered in the buyer’s choice of 11 or 11.75-inch rotors and they can be ordered with standard or drilled and slotted styles. The Monte Carlo can also be equipped with a Forged Dynalite Big Brake Front Hub Kit. The kit features Dynalite calipers in a red, Platinum-E or polished finishes and features 12.19-inch rotors in the buyer’s choice of a standard HD or drilled and slotted SRP style. If you want the Pro Touring look for your Monte Carlo you can order the Dynapro 6 Big Brake Front Hub Kit. This kit features the Dynapro 6 calipers in a red, Platinum-E or a polished finish. The kit comes complete with 12.19-inch rotors in the buyer’s choice of a slotted GT or drilled and slotted SRP style. The SL6 Big Brake Front Hub Kit delivers the ultimate in Monte Carlo stopping power. The kit features SL6 six-piston calipers in a red, black, Platinum-E or polished finish. This kit features 12.88 and 14.00-inch rotors in the buyer’s choice of slotted GT or drilled and slotted SRP styles. If you want four-wheel disc brakes on the Monte Carlo you can order a Forged Dynalite Pro Rear Kit. The kit features Forged Dynalite calipers in a red, Platinum-E or polished finish. This kit features 12.19-inch rotors in the buyer’s choice of standard HD or drilled and slotted SRP styles. The Monte Carlo can also be equipped with a Forged Dynalite Rear P-Brake Kit with an internal drum parking brake and 11.00 or 12.19-inch rotors. The Dynalite caliper can be ordered with a red, Platinum-E or polished finish and the rotors are available in a standard GT or drilled and slotted SRP style. The SL4 Big Brake Rear Parking Brake Kit can be used together with the SL6 front kit for the ultimate in stopping ability. The SL4 caliper can be ordered with red, black or Platinum-E finish. This system features an internal Drum parking brake and it is used with 12.88 or 14.00-inch rotors in a slotted GT or drilled and slotted SRP style. All of the other cars that we mentioned above, as well as many others, have similar brake options available.

In an effort to build new cars that are fun to drive, the engineers at the Big 3 started working with electronics and computers to improve performance. The result was power and fuel mileage started improving in the ‘80s and both were even better in the ‘90s. Computers were able to control the fuel injection, ignition timing and other engine aspects, and as a result new engine designs were introduced to take advantage of the electronics, and examples from GM, Ford and Chrysler produce plenty of horsepower on the gas that is currently available. Today we have 400+ horsepower cars that run strong and can get 26mpg on the highway. Many of those cars run so strong that the factory brakes need improvement so Wilwood Engineering offers brake kits for most of the late model Domestic cars from 1970 to 2010.

Going back to the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, American buyers were being force-fed little economical cars that didn’t appeal to them. The American buyers wanted bigger and safer vehicles so trucks started to become popular. The American car companies were seeing what was happening so they started making luxury trucks and sport utility vehicles with every option you could find in a luxury vehicle. The truck/SUV market became fantastic for the car companies and before long truck sales outpaced car sales. Many families in America had at least one truck or SUV in their driveway or sometimes both. The only thing that slowed down the truck sales was the gas price increases. When gas and diesel started approaching $5 a gallon, many Americans started to change back to more economical vehicles. When the gas prices went back to $3 a gallon the truck sales recovered so people who need trucks are still buying them. Wilwood Engineering was aware of the increase in truck sales in the early ‘80s, so we built brake kits for all of the popular GM trucks and SUVs and that includes the Chevy, GMC, Hummer and Cadillac models. As an example, if you own a 1999 to 2006 Chevy Silverado pickup truck you can order a W6AR Big Brake Front Kit that features a large six-piston W6AR caliper that is available in a red, black, or Platinum-E finish. The kit features large 14.25-inch rotors in the buyer’s choice of a slotted GT or drilled and slotted SRP style. This brake will have to be used with an 18-inch diameter wheel. The truck can also be outfitted with a really large TC6R Big Brake Front Kit that features a TC6R Radial Mount Caliper in a red, black or Platinum-E finish. This brake features large 16.00-inch rotors in the buyer’s choice of slotted GT or drilled and slotted SRP styles. The rear of the Pickup can be upgraded with a SL4 Big Brake Rear Kit OE Parking Brake. This kit features Billet Narrow Superlite 4 calipers in a red, black or Platinum-E finish. The kit comes with 12.75-inch rotors in the buyer’s choice of slotted GT or drilled and slotted SRP styles. The rear of the truck can also be equipped with the larger W4A Big Brake Rear Kit that features W4AR calipers in a red, black or Platinum-E finish. This kit comes with 14.25-inch rotors in the buyer’s choice of slotted or drilled and slotted styles. Similar kit selections are available for all of the General Motor’s pickup trucks and SUV models. If you want to find out if Wilwood has a brake kit to fit your particular application, contact the tech experts at Wilwood by calling (805) 388-1188.

if you didn’t find what you were looking for or if you have questions please contact Wilwood’s tech line for assistance at (805) 388-1188 or email Sales/Tech Support.