Update. Haven’t touched the car in 3 years. Just about finished her off this month. Back to the calipers. Brakes lasted a full 200 yards on the neighborhood test run……then lost brakes completely. No e brake either. Had to bump the curb a few times to stop her.

so checked the fluid and it was empty. Got her home and the seals leaked. Front driver. Replaced it with a reman. Guess what- that new one leaked too. Replaced again and so far so good. Good brake response after bleeding.

 

next up fix e brake

 

Since one leaked already, consider rebuilding them yourself. Once the halves are opened, you can determine if the calipers have been sleeved in stainless steel. If so, rebuild all with O-ring pistons. Do it once and forget about it. Regarding the parking brake, do a search on the C-2 and C-3 forums and see what's involved in servicing and or rebuilding them. My motto is don't fool around with brakes and steering. Good luck. Jerry

 

check ur hoses possibly collapsed

 

Appreciate all the help. So far so good with the brakes proper. Will tackle the ebrake next.

 

Did the calipers leak at the O-ring? That's not uncommon. When they re-do the calipers they sandblast the whole thing. But the boss where the O-ring resides needs special attention. A lot of times they're left rough-textured from the sandblasting, and sometimes that area is rough or even pitted from prior rusting. The O-ring area really should be machined smooth for a good, long-lasting o-ring seal. Long-lasting are the key words. Some places used to do that. I don't know if LoneStar (and other rebuilders) still do?

I cut out a 'dot' of fine wet/dry sandpaper and glued it onto a dowel just the right size to fit into the o-ring area. Then with some WD-40 (or even water would work), and the dowel loaded into a drill, machine it smooth. Does a great job.

If the pistions leaked, it 'could' be badly corroded pistons, or just a lot of crud in the piston bores. You can pry the seals up with a screwdriver, disassemble the pistons and clean (and reuse the boots) if you want. Or use the new ones you got with the car. It's not a difficult job. That's almost the first thing to do when a guy buys a C3.

Also, check the run-out on your car's rotors with a dial indicator. As close to .002" run-out the better. Warped rotors and C2/C3's lip seals, can pump air into the brakes like a Jellyfish moves through water! LOL