I have owned an assortment of C3's since 77. For the 1st time, I have a leaking caliper piston on my 74 > ~ in the right rear brake - inside rear piston...

Are these things rebuildable by an "average mechanic" or should I just swap it for a $tainless $teel rebuilt unit? I have seen the rebuild kits, but don't want to waste my time just to save a few bucks.

I have thought about new ones for the front and try to rebuild the rears.

Thanks for any experience..........

 

I rebuilt the calipers on my 79. Im not a mechanic by any means.. Mid America sells the brake seals in their magazine for about $12.. Try it yourself first and then if all else fails have someone else do it, or replace them.. hope i helped.

 

my front right was leaking and i felt it less headache to go with the vb&p stainless sleeved rebuilts

 

Chances are they have SS sleeves. You can get repair kits from the vendors or any parts store. Not all that difficult to do. If you pull them off and they don't have SS sleeves, then replace them.

 

Hey Bravo,

Weird we're having the same problem. Not trying to hijack your thread, but I thought it would be a good place to ask.

My front right caliper was wet this afternoon when I looked, I took it into the guy who does alot of the work for me thats beyond my skill level.

The car already has stainless steel calipers from about 12-14 years ago, so does that mean I don't need them replaced and can have them repaired? Always, or is it conditional?

I'm looking at $425 for two new calipers and a brake job up front, complete w/ rotors machined and such, and trying to decide if I can get off cheaper. Safety issues concern me a lot though.

I want to make sure Im not getting talked into new calipers when repairing my old SS ones is a better option.

 

You have a few choices and this is very controversial subject with a lot of opinions, this is just mine.

New AC Delco with oring seals.
Rebuilt with lip seals.
Rebuilt with oring seals.
Rebuild your calipers if they have been sleeved.

Choice comes down to how many times do you want to do this job?
My preference is the AC Delco calipers after many years with these cars and watching parts evolve I think they are the best part available. Lip seals will eventually leak again on a car that is driven occasionally. Oring seals will last longer but there are debates on orings with a floating caliper design not being a good match. If GM can license and put their name on that design it must be okay especially if you don't race the car as the original design was intended.
Rebuilt caliper reliability depends on the core quality and the rebuilders quality control within the shop. There are too many variables with sleeve fitting and core quality that require a certain level of accuracy and inspection. Lonestar oring style would be my choice for rebuilts because they have very high quality standards but you can't buy direct, you'll need to go through a distributor.

 

IMHO if you drive your car like me - Friday to work and during the weekend with occasional cruises - go the Advance/AutoZone route (flame suit at the ready)...calipers are about $65 each.

Safety is #1 and I always ensure the "whoa" is good to go before working on the "go" but replacing calipers is a pretty straightforward job. Bolt on bolt off, bleed lines. Most frustrating part is bleeding the lines after an install - just when I'm about to give up the last bubble comes out!

A bonus to the Advance/Autozone route is if you have a leaker over time they are lifetime warranted as well. I can pull one off and swap them out in an afternoon. In other words no mailing the part back in and hoping the core is good/refunded and they honor my warranty, etc. All in all minimal down time. You can even pick-up pads, brake hoses, front wheel bearings while your there.

Also, I like to do my own work - one of the reasons I'm in the hobby. Real satisfaction in the end results. Just remember to go slow and when going on a test drive go sloooowww. Hit the boards here often with questions. That's what we are here for!

Now if you track your car that’s a different story…

One last thing, should you go the Advance/Autozone route take your brake line and bleeder screw with you. I'll admit, I've had to take one back because the threads were stripped. Easy fix is to test in the store before purchase. Some will say that is a sign of lower quality but I’ve read here of the big venders having the same problem.

 

WXW116...I saw your other thread.....Just be glad it wasn't the vacuum booster......If you aren't willing to try it yourself..... ......The 425.oo is reasonable providing they replace both calipers...machine the disks...use a decent brake pad.

I think the other replies agree....

 

It boils down to this. what do you have more of, time or money?

If you have more money than you do time, get a rebuilt caliper. if you have even more money, have someone else put it on for you. then, give your wife $50 bucks to get her nails done while you play a round of golf and wait for the Vette to get fixed.

or, if you like to fix things or are short on funds, rebuild the caliper you have.
it helps if you have an impact to get them apart. take your time and be careful removing the bleeders... might be stuck in there.
buy a $10 brake hone to smooth it out.
rebuild kit is another whopping $12.
next, have fun bleeding the system... While you are fighting with that, send the wife out to get her nails done with all the money you saved. it will help her forget about you spending all your time with that "freaking Corvette!!!"

Aloha

 

I love working on these old cars. Thanks for all the posts....I think I will try the rebuild on 2 of them and see how it goes. We just drive these locally to rod runs and an occasional weekend in the N. Ga. mountains.

 

Let us know how it goes and sorry again for the partial hijack.

 

I would take the caliper that is leaking off the car, split it in a large Vise and see if it already has SS Sleeves in the caliper from the previous owner replacing the original calipers. If it already is SS Sleeved I would just buy the kit of new rubber seals and rebuilt it. If it isn't I would purchase Rebuilt SS Sleeved calipers to replace it with. The calipers are not worth rebuilding if they are not ss sleeved because no matter how much you hone the cast cylinders you will never clean out all of the corrosion in the cast walls. That is why someone came up with the idea of sleeving these calipers years ago with Stainless Steel because SS doesn't corrode. I know because I rebuilt them previous to the SS Sleeved calipers coming out on the market in the early 70's.

A word of advice. The C-2 and C-3's are a pain to bleed manually at times. I would consider investing $60 in a Motive Power Brake Bleeder. It would be one of the best investments you ever made on your Corvette. Trust me. Been there and done that for the last 36 years. Got my Motive bleeder 2 years ago and don't know how I ever did without it especially owning 2 Vette's now.

 

Rik's Corvette Parts in Morganton, NC has the rebuilt AC Delco calipers w/SS sleeves for $69.95, after you get your $50 refund for your old core. That's the cheapest I've found.

No, I don't work for Rik.

 

i am not a mechanic by any means, got my corvette about 4 weeks ago. rebuilt the front calipers with ease, and with help from guys on here. just get a seal repair kit like stated above, for 12 bucks or go to local place to get it for a few bucks more right away like I did. take everything apart clean it all.

Funny thing was my calipers looked like one half of each had the nice shiny new SS sleeves, and one half of each had the crappy pourous china sleeves. I am low on cash and rebuilt anyway. work fine for now, i'll spend money later. If the aluminum pistons are beat up you might be in for another 20 to 30 bucks.

before i got my vette all i ever did was a radiator install in my old van, if i did it you can