Dropped off the '81 at my regular mechanic this morning because the brakes aren't working properly, which is beyond my expertise. Anyway, he said the front calipers are bad (seal broke) and need to be replaced. That's what I was expecting. He told me that he got two different prices for calipers, $202 each and $238 each (not sure what brand, but that sounds really high to me), or he said if I can get the parts cheaper, he will just install them. Anyone know if this sounds outrageous? I'm looking in the Ecklers mag and I see NEW AC-Delco Calipers for $149.99 each with no core charge. They will also buy my cores outright for $25 each. Does anyone know if these Delco's are okay? Anything wrong with 'em? I also saw reman calipers in Ecklers for $109.99 plus $40 core charge. Any problems with the reman Calipers? I assume if you guys think they're good, I'll just go with the new ones and be done with it. Please, let me know ASAP what you think. I have to call him ASAP to let him know what I'm doing.

Thanks to all!!!

 

They're killin you on them. Shop replaced mine charged me $450 for all 4.

 

don't know price of new ones but if you need a fair comparison look for Vansteels website....they are a supporting vendor who sells a very good product at a fair price...they would be who i would buy from if i had the time....

 

Thanks for the reply. $450 for parts only I assume you're talking about, right?

Anyone know about the NEW AC Delcos available through Ecklers?

 

i bought the set of 4 at vette brakes,i paid 300 cdn for the set.

 

Yes, that was parts-only. Labor was abotu $100 but they were doing a few other small things as well.

 

Another question, did the calipers come fully loaded with pads, pins, etc. or just the calipers? Thanks!

 

You are getting RAPED
a rebuild kit cost about 20 buck
for all 4, and so easy to rebuild.
THATS NO JOKE

 

That was just the calipers, my pads were good.

 

do yourself a favor and go (yourself) to Autozone.....while I am not a great fan of AZ you just can`t beat the price OR the warranty (besides NO SHIPPING back and forth, which can get expensive)....just make sure you take the 4 leakers back for the core charge.......
.....redvetracr

 

Why don't you just replace the whole set with ones that have stainless sleeves? I just bought a set from a supporting vendor here for lots less than you were quoted for your repair job. Muskegon Brake sent me a set to fix mine. With the stainless steel sleeved calipers, you can forget about leaks for a long long time.......

 

Rebuild the calipers or replace them.

The new Delco calipers are great and the SS sleeved O ring calipers are even better

The only other thing i have to say is.......

AVOID ECKLERS AT ALL COSTS!

STW!

Platato

 

Check out Vette Brakes & Products. I bought their o-ring brake kit. You get 4 rebuilt calipers with their o-ring technology, new brake pads, new hoses, brake lines, and fluid, for about 400.00. You also get a 10% discount for being a forum member.

 

i also bought from A-Z. lifetime warranty ,and the best price

 

I replaced one of mine in Sept. 2000 for $73.99 at Advance Auto with exchange, haven't had a leak since.

YBnormal...drive a vette

 

Here's a coincidence for you..."on sale today"

http://www.vbandp.com/sale.aspx

I would recommend doing them yourself.

 

Purchased mine from Muskegon Brake back in the early 90's for my 73' Coupe. They are a supporting vendor here on the forum. Just went up to there website. They are getting $68.95 exchanged with new hardware and brake pads on each set of 2 exchanged (Cheap). Their price quoted at $118.95 is without your old ones sent in as cores. Can't beat the price and a lifetime warranty. The Stainless sleeves are what is warranted for a lifetime. I most recently had a leak in one of my rear calipers. It was no problem for me because I have rebuilt these Corvette calipers since the early 70's before they were being resleeved with stainless steel. Back then you would hone the cylinders out as best you could not getting all the corrosion out, put new rubber rings and dust seal over the four pistons and you were good to go for a little while. Now with the Stainless Steel sleeve installed once the rubber seals wear out they are even easier to rebuild. You just need to split the calipers, pop the pistons out, clean everything with brake cleaner. I also use a 3m scouring pad to clean my pistons up somewhat and to clean the SS sleeve giving them some bite after washing down with brakecleen, blow dry with compressed air, wet the cylinders with brake fluid and the o-rings and set everything back together. Now I will be good for probably another 10 years or so if not longer.

Corvette Forum member (MEGLADON) is right they are pretty easy to rebuild on your own but I wouldn't do another rebuild on a set of Corvette calipers unless I knew SS sleeves were already in the caliper I was planning to rebuild with new rubber but all you need to do is pop a piston to find out. If it already has SS sleeves you could be getting away very cheaply just buying the rebuilding kits from your local parts house and doing the job yourself.

 

That's where I bought, AutoZone - $60 each, they charge only $25 or so for the core charge, it may be worth keeping the originals and rebuild them so you have a spare set...

 

Plus the ones from AutoZone are stainless sleeved. That means when and if you get a leak you can rebuild them again using the O-Ring kit from Vette Brakes.

 

Well, thanks to my friends here at the forum, I decided to look more deeply into the pricing. I have a friend that works for Lee Auto Parts and he said he could get me the parts at his cost, or $113 each. I'm going to take all of your advice and go ahead and do it myself. If anyone here has instructions, or some pages from the manual they can post to help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Now, another question though is when I'm done, do I need to take the car to get the rotors cut? I didn't have any pulsating when I was slowing, so I don't think the rotors are any issue, but I just want to see what you guys think. My mechanic said the rotors have plenty of meat on 'em, so I know I don't have to worry about those. Thanks again to all, and any help with instructions from either you guys or the manual would be excellent. Any tips or hard learned lessons are appreciated too!