kevin1979

So I was out enjoying a sunny 70 degree cruise with the tops off on MY BIRTHDAY and as I came up to a stop-light, my 79 pulled hard to the right and then left again as I left the intersection. As I limped home, I figured out that the front left brake must not have been working at all. About half way home, it started working again and the hard pull to the right went away. Now I don't trust going over 30mph because I don't know if I can keep it in a straight line if I hit the brakes! Any thoughts!?

1tuffref

I'm having an issue right now but my right front brake is binding even after changing the caliper and pads. I'm going to bleed everything tonight. If I was you I would bleed everything and try it again.

wombvette

Are you sure it was the brake and not the posi clutches in the rear end?
If it was the brakes, you need to check the rubber hoses. One or more may be bad on the inside.

comp

yep check the hose's ,,replace as a pair

kevin1979

I guess I'm not 100% sure it's not from something on the back tires, however I could really feel the pull in the steering wheel as if it were the front right tire. Would the posi-clutch be affected by braking?

kevin1979

The previous owner had the rotors and pads replaced but I'm not sure about the hoses. I don't remember them looking brand new. I'll check them out tonight when I get home. Any comments on the difficulty/cost of this project? Send it to a shop or do it myself? I've never done any brake work and usually like to learn how to do things but brakes rank up there with a seatbelt as far as a safety feature. I can bolt a seatbelt to a frame but I'm less confident in this area.

capevettes

It sounds like one of your front brake hoses is collapsing . Pretty common.

jeckel

Sounds like a brake hose to me to. If it is pulling hard through the steering wheel it sounds most likely that it is a brake issue. If you replace the lines in the front you should only have to bleed the front. Here is the GM and a lot of corvette shops methods for bleeding brakes:

Bleed in this sequence:
Rear Left Inner
Rear Left Outer
Rear Right Inner
Rear Right Outer
Front Left
Front Right

*Please remember to attach a rubber tube to the bleeders and submerge the open end in a clean jar. *

1) Now have your helper pump the brake pedal until it gets hard.
2) With his foot OFF the brake pedal open up the bleeder.
3) Have your helper press the brake pedal to the floor and hold it there.
4) Close the bleeder.
5) Have your helper release the brake pedal.
6) Repeat steps 2 through 5 until no air bubles remain in the fluid being bled.

Hope this helps!

pws69

To avoid letting air into the system, Steps 2, 3, 4 should read:

2) Have your helper slowly pump the brake pedal a few times then press and hold it.
3) Open up the bleeder slowly.
4) Close the bleeder just AT the point where the pedal touches the floor.

HOWEVER, the fastest and best way is with a pressure bleeder.

jeckel

Yes normally this is how I did it as well. However:

The steps I posted are right from printed material from GM given to me by two different Corvette Shops. I even questioned them about it and the swore up and down that this is how they do it and us the "best" way for the C3's. I used it and it worked great for me.

pws69

I disagree. The bleeding order is correct, but the procedure is NOT.

FB#1

While you are replacing the hoses, I'd go with the SS ones.

A power bleeder is the way to go.

mstock

Have you looked at you calipers to see if perhaps they have rusted up a little, and what you experienced was just them binding up, and then breaking loose again? I have had this happen on other cars before. Especially ones that sat around a lot not being used.

kevin1979

That's a good point! Thanks! It does have to sit through some long MN winters and the calipers look to be fairly old. I'll check there and do some cleaning!

1tuffref

I'm working on my front brakes right now and it is pretty easy. Being and older car helps believe it or not. Calipers come off by removing the two bolts holding them to the wheel hub. The torque to put them back on is 135 foot pounds or there abouts. The disks should slip right out once you pull their retaining pin. Put some brake lube on the metal backing plate of the pads before you put them back in to keep them from making noise. Take your master cylinder cover off and push the pads apart by hand to get them on to the rotor. You already have enough info on bleeding them but I use a one man bleed bottle because I normally don't have anybody to give me a hand.

As for costs from auto zone.
Calipers, $65 plus core charge each.
Pads, $18 for the set.
Rubber brake hose, $12 each.
Bleed bottle kit, $6.
DOT 3 brake fluid, $2.

Good luck, use jack stands, chock those wheels.

F