Mr.Gearhead

I disassembled my calipers last night. Not sure if they are rebuildable??? They are SS sleeved but appear to be scored around the bottom. Again, I just want a set of calipers that I do not have to mess with all the time. Take a look at my pics and let me know what you think.... THanks for the help you guys.. and gals... btw.. the calipers have only been used for 900 miles. My rotors are out... so I know that doesn't help.
http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/ben...te_night.shtml :confused:

ImBatman

From the picture the sleeves don't look to bad. Is there a really deep noticable ridge felt when you rub your finger across it? Also remember that the piston does not travel all the way to the bottom of the bore so if it is at the bottom don't worry about it. Give VB&P a call and order a set of there O-ring piston kits. It will run you about $100. Clean the casings thoroughly and blowing all passages out. re assembly the calipers with the new piston kit. You can leave the springs out and this will aid in solving the air pumping problem that these brakes are known for. I did the same proccess with my calipers and am very happy with the results.

Matt Gruber

find any dirt?
on the piston seal?
under the seal?
stuck to the piston grove?

Mr.Gearhead

BlackRAT: there are noticable grooves towards the bottom as seen by the dark rings. The rest of the sleeves feel super smooth. The casting are super clean in the inside... as you can see .... the fluid is like new... With this kit... do I reuse my pistons?

Matt:
I did find "material" on the pistons... it can only be described as silicon sandy texture??? Not real gritty, but it was clumpy and I could swipe it off the piston on a rag and make a little pile???? What the hell is it? Dirt? Again, fell kinda gritty, but did not find scoring in the bore... well except a ring about a 1/4 up from the bottom. The ring doesn't go all the way around either??? What do you think????
:confused:

edit.... ALSO, behind the piston was free from debris.. just clean fluid....


[Modified by Mr.Gearhead, 12:00 PM 7/29/2003]

MN-Brent

Edit: You might have the effect of piston wobble in your calipers that has galled the sleeve and piston. If so, its probably time to get new parts.
**************************************** ********************
If you have any doubts on the condition of your calipers, just go ahead and buy some new ones from say AutoZone or Checker/Kragen/Schucks.

Checker/Kragen/Schucks has a website that links to Parts America and you can get better pricing this way by bringing the internet price to the store and the store will match it.

Take the brand new calipers which will have perfect SS sleeves and remove the OEM pistons. Go and buy the O-ring piston conversion kit from VBP ($120)which will include new pistons and the o-rings seals and new dust boots. Install these new components into the calipers and do not install the original springs behind the pistons. The good part about this is the bleeders will be loose so you wont have to worry about any frozen bleeders.

I would also suggest you buy SS flex brake hoses from say ZIP and use them instead of your OEM rubber hoses. $60 You will get a much more solid pedal with these as they do not expand with hydraulic pressure like the rubber hoses will.

Make sure you rotors are not warped and if your are in doubt, go have them turned or get new ones. If you want you can also get a magnetic dial indicator to check for run-out of the rotor once it is installed. I beleive there are shim kits you can buy or you can use an aluminum pop can material and cut it up to use as a shim to reduce the amount of runout to under .005 and you should be OK.

Install new pads with your new set-up. Just regular organics would be OK and wont eat your rotors.

If your master cylinder is in doubt, go ahead and replace it. I suggest also to replace the power brake booster. You can get these from autozone or checkers to for around $100-$120 or link to Parts America and get it for about $85. This will give you very reliable power braking and there is no issue with the quality of these boosters. They are rebuilt by Cardone.

I did all of this to my brakes and now Ive got super hard brake pedal and have put over 3000 miles on them and they still feel like the day I bled them. I can lock up the brakes pretty easily if I need to. The brakes are pretty straight forward if you just apply what we have all learned about rotor runout and o-ring seals.

Also I tried to use the gravity method of bleeding and was able to run new fluid through all brake lines but couldnt get a hard pedal so I went to the pump and hold method after this and did this 5X to each bleeder and went around the car 2X and finally was able to get a solid pedal. Starting with the farthest to closet to the MC and the rears are inner then outer bleeders.

Gotta go...

Brent....


[Modified by MN-Brent, 10:19 AM 7/29/2003]

Matt Gruber

First the bad news:
c3's are old cars and they will require more maintenance than new cars.
The good news is that the dirt causes the seals to leak, anda simple cleaning will restore them to as good as if you got new ones.
Last time i did the rears my cost was $1.99 for fluid, so the good news is no real money is needed.(since your calipers are only 2 years old with 900 miles) :cheers:

Mr.Gearhead

Will upgrades to Wilwood or SSBC stop this from happening? I know the run out is an issue... I will have that fixed. Doesn't anyone make a floating caliper set up for our cars??? New "stock" cals are cheap enough to replace and then maybe get o-ring pistons. But I gotta believe that someone smarter than me has a fix for this issue. How about 84-96 calipers?? Are they floating???? Money isn't tight for this project... but I don't want to spend it will it is NOT needed. Thanks for all the replies... keep'em coming....

Matt Gruber

if it bothers you enough, replace all the lines and hoses with new ones. also clean or replace all junction blocks, the warning switch/valve and maybe buy a brand new MC(not rebuilt).
:cheers:

Matt Gruber

also be sure to seal the dust boots with silicone to keep brake dust out

dath

I've never heard of this before. Where do you seal the dust boots? Do you seal around where you tap them in, or just where the rubber rests on the piston in the groove?

MN-Brent

Dath
I think it is both areas you mentioned. This is a notice that is in the GM shop manual for service techs to seal out dirt from the pistons. I didnt do this but it seems like a possible good idea.

Brent....

dath

Very cool, I'd never considered it, but I do have new calipers that I've been removing the springs from. Wonder if I could use it to patch the holes in the boots after I'm done. :roolleyes: Maybe not, I'll just use a seal or two from my old calipers after cleaning them... Sucks I have poked two holes so far and I'm not even finished removing the springs from my second caliper. I need to be more careful! I think I'll add some silicone in those areas while I'm at it. I honestly cannot see how it could hurt. :chevy

Mr.Gearhead

OK.. OK... I broke down and bought new stuff.... Paul at VB&P was really cool and helped me a lot...

The calipers.... http://www.vettebrakes.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=12181

The rotors..... http://www.vettebrakes.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=11703

The calipers were a great deal @ $92 per wheel for H/D o rings... BUT GET THIS... the rotors have the hub included for a mere $70. Is it me.. or is $70 inexpensive for a whole rotor/hub assembly!!???
And before any doubters.... I asked Paul @ VP&P like 10 times if the hubs were attached to the rotor and he said..."I went and looked at them myself.... its all there!" SWEET I SAID.... JUST SWEET.
:hurray: :hurray:


[Modified by Mr.Gearhead, 10:46 PM 7/29/2003]