Caliper remorse
 

I stuck with the standard black calipers on my Stingray while a good friend of mine paid for red calipers on his black Stingray.

Later on I decided I should have gotten red calipers instead, and he coincidentally decided he should have gotten black ones instead.

So I called a local Chevy dealership asking them for an appointment and an estimate to swap each of our calipers, and they said it would be about a 10 hour job, which makes it not so attractive anymore.

Does this estimate sound right?

I saw an aftermarket "caliper cover" in red or black for the C7, which basically goes over the standard calipers and also claims to reduce brake dust. It was for $200 + shipping etc. Now I'm starting to consider that. Does anyone have experience with it? Does it reduce brake dust? Do you need to do anything about brake dust building up inside the aftermarket caliper cover?

Ref: http://www.chevymall.com/C7-Stingray...uctinfo/AN615/

IMO the caliper covers look cheap and make the caliper look worse, not better.

10 hours sounds high, but I haven't worked on my C7's brakes so can't say for sure. Why not do it yourself?

Not sure I would want to cover a caliper because of heat not able to escape. 10 hours 'may' be reasonable since that comprises 8 caliper removals and 8 caliper installs plus all the bleeds and tests and top-ups.

Easy swap for someone who has experience working on brakes. If you got both cars up on a lift next to each other, shouldn't take more than a few hours. Find a local performance shop and get a quote from them.

Stay away from caliper covers; cheap looking and dangerous if you ask me.

10 hours is going to be over $1,000. Way too much. I installed a big brake kit on my 2007 in 6 hours in my garage! If you can get both cars on jackstands, do it your self!


Elmer

If you can tie your car up for a few days have you thought about powder coating yours red ? I'd bet it'll be cheaper than paying the labor rates at the dealer.

I changed all 4 of my rotors on my C6 recently and I'd say it took about 30-45mins per caliper. Changing the rotor involves removing the caliper bracket completely so it would be about the same amount of time for replacement. Add another 15 minutes or so per wheel for removing/re-installing the brake line.. and bleeding the brakes. And in theory you should be able to do the whole thing in about 4 hours or less. Well thats 4 hours or less PER car.

Generally speaking. Newer the car. Easier it is to service the brakes. Older cars are a straight bytch thanks to less efficient designs and rusted on bolts.

Your 4 hour estimate is for one car. Double that for twice the work and you're not far off from the 10 hr estimate. I suspect that's not a job a dealer really wants so they inflated the hours a bit, but it's not that terribly high. C6 brakes were easy to work on, not sure about C7 as I've not worked on any.

I agree, good advice.

If you aren't mechanically inclined find a reputable independent shop and get a quote from them. It may take a whole day but their labor rates are much lower since there aren't as many layers of management to pay for.

You should be able to get it done for around $500.

I recall a thread about painting your calipers, it seemed like a lot less work.
high temp caliper paint is for sale on amazon. I have no idea how it would hold up though.

I can't see why this would take 10 hours... With the cars side-by-side and a floor jack for each one (or jack stands), most cars would only take about an hour to swap 4 calipers, then a little longer to bleed the brake fluid. Is there something super different about C7 calipers?

One hour for everything? :eek:

I've worked on a lot of different vehicles over a lot of years and I have a lot of tools, but 1 hour to swap 4 calipers and have them bled? So, jack up a corner, remove the tire/wheel, disconnect & remove caliper, install and hook up new caliper, bleed, and reinstall tire/wheel in 15 minutes? If you're that fast you should be on TV or something. :lol:

When it comes time for new brakes on the C7 I'll drive it over to your side of the mountains and watch you while I drink a beer or two. :cheers:

Paint is less durable and will eventually chip so you'll have to re-address the issue somewhere down the road. It just doesn't look as good either - it's not bad but up close you can always tell.

Swap them yourselves if you have any mechanical skills. It's a simple job but time consuming. That's why the cost is high at the dealer.

Hey OP, I saw a pic of a chic posing with your car.

Hey bud! I should be heading to your city mid-September I'll let you know for sure closer to.

Thanks for all the info guys and no I'm not mechanically inclined at all. Powdercoating is an option but then you loose the Corvette lettering....might end up just sticking with black then I guess there could be worse things :)

Not true. Check out this forum vendor:

Mike Golding

http://www.thepowdercoater.com
Phone number: 678-957-6202
3787 Nina Court
Loganville, GA 30052


Here's a shot from his website:
http://www.thepowdercoater.com/galle..._orange_c7.jpg

A couple of hours at most.............. Will they let you keep the vasaline after their done.

So, you can remove the wheel, remove the calipers, mount the caliper, bleed the brake and remount the wheel in 15 minutes, torqueing all bolts correctly in the process? Remember, this is for 2 cars.

15 min * 8 = 120 min = 2 hours.