battsup

The engine of my car is working great now and not wasting time we have started on the brakes. We got the front calipers off but can't get the back ones off? I remember watching Horsepower TV and the removed the halfshafts and everything for a disc brake conversion, am i going to have to do that?

Z-man

Well, you didn't say where you got stuck. What year is your car? Most C3s have calipers on the rear that are almost exactly like those on the front. Just take the two bolts out (facing the inside). The caliper will lift off the disk rotor. Unless you are replacing the caliper, you don't need to undo the brake line. Just suspend the caliper with a coat hanger to take the strain off the brake line.

If you are just replacing the pads, you don't even need to remove the caliper. Remove the cotter pin, pull the pin from the pads, push the pistons gently back away from the pads and lift the pads straight out. Install in reverse.

If you want to replace the rotor, you may have to drill out the rivets that hold the rotor on during assembly. Just knock the heads of the rivets off with a drill and use a punch to push the rivet shaft out. After they are out, you can slide the rotor off. If the rotor is stuck, it could be because the parking brake is expanded. Relelase it so the shoes move away from the brake drum. You may have to use a screwdriver or brake tool to move the brake shoes inward. Unless you are replacing the rotor, don't use a hammer - it will ruin the rotor.

Good luck -

battsup

The car is a 79 and I am rebuilding the calipers

battsup

Ok the question is not how do I remove them, it is what tool do i use. I just broke a life time guarantee craftsman openended wrench.

88'Cubka

6pt socket, a 6 inch wobble extention and an impact gun. And a lot of penitrating oil.

battsup

nope that wont work, the bolts are facing toward the outside of the car so the extension and the impact wrench would make a combined length of over 14 inches. O and like i said before the sockets dont have enough room on the bottem to get on the bolt.

88'Cubka

Well, good luck? That's how I got mine off.

battsup

are you serious?
:eek:

88'Cubka

That 14 or so inches gets ya around the half shafts to get to the bolts, the wobble makes it so ya can come in at an angle. The socket itself was never on completly and I partially stripped one of them, but I just replaced them since they were rusty anyway.

One thing I know is the rear end of a Vette. :D

jonny4523

I have had both of mine off without taking anything else apart (such as the half-shafts). First, I hosed the bolts down with alot of penitrating oil. I know I used a socket. But I think I used a universal joint and a breaker bar. I used the old bolts putting them back on, so I know I didnt strip them at all. Try putting the socket on first, then connecting the universal and breaker bar. Good Luck!

jonny4523

By the way 88'Cubka, has anybody ever told you how pretty your rear end is?! :thumbs:

LATNC3

:withstupid:

Should we leave???

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
:jester

CHEESERAL

I got my rear calipers off with an impact wrench and and extension and only one hand, didn't remove anything else.

Good luck

goofygrin

I had a problem with mine because the hard brake line was in the way. Make sure that it is not.

I used a good amount of penetrating oil first, and they came off with just my wrench/socket (depending on what I could get in there because of the brake line).

Stupid question, but you never know, since the bolts are on the inside, you are turning them the right way (I have done this myself :bb :bb )

Good luck, they will eventually come off!

OldSchool

I had to use a thinwall 5/8ths socket on mine.. There was 30 some years of gunk broken loose by all of the penetrsating oil..<clean,clean> I ended up rounding off a couple , but the Craftsman Impact Bolt-Out saved me.. :crazy: :smash: :smash: :hurray:

Frank75

Use lots and Lots of a good quality penetrating oil - not WD40 type stuff.

88'Cubka

:D

jonny4523

For example, PB Blaster, available at autozone. Is that what you are thinking Frank75? It seems to work pretty well for me and alot of people had suggested it to me.

adamdinat

Mine were pretty froze up. I ended up splitting the caliper which allowed the disk to come off exposing the mounting ears for the caliper. This allows you to put the penetrating oil on the threaded end of the bolt. I had to use heat to break mine free. Having an impact wrench was key. I rounded off one bolt using hand tools and had to grind it off. The Impact wrench with a good socket saves the bolt heads. BJs has a cheap air tool set for $80 which worked pretty well.

Brettmc

Reading all these horror stories makes me feel dayum lucky. My rear calipers came off with a Craftsman 5/8 box end wrench. My rear must have been rebuilt (!!) at some point in the past as it looks NOTHING like Cubka's before pic.

Brett :thumbs: