I'm still getting my bearings here, so please bare with me. I thought about an engine upgrade, but after talking to a few people, I realized that the drivetrain and suspension wont be able to handle the upgrade. They all need replacing and upgrading. The first system I'm going to start with is the brakes. The rear Calipers are locked up, so I need to replace those, right? I'll need new rotors and pads & brake lines. My question is: How good are the stock parts? I don't plan on this being my street machine, just a nice vette to drive around with some kick, ya know? I have the Z for my other addictions, lol. The suspension WILL be upgraded, b/c it rides like a tank right now. But I am going to focus on redoing the entire brake system first then move to suspension. Thanks for the input. Let me know if you have any questions that could help you out.

Josh

 

You have a fun project ahead of you. You also have a few choices. You can either focus on the rear, or do all four corners.

I suggest replacing all four corners.

Parts list:
Autozone - 2 front and 2 rear calipers - $69 each after core, S/S sleeved, lifetime warranty.

2 sets of premium pads.

2 sets of new flex lines.

Have rotors turned or replaced.

Master cylinder rebuild kit.

When you have it all ready to go, flush the lines of their old fluid with compressed air. Do this with both the master and calipers disconnected.

Rebuild the master, bench bleed it, install it, and fill with fluid. Install the rotors, calipers, pads, and flex lines.

Leave the bleeders open with pans under each wheel and let gravity pull fluid down to all four wheels. Once all four start dripping, do a pedal bleed and you're good to go.

 

I've replaced all 4 calipers, rotors, MC, and Brake booster in the last 5 years. What exactly is ruined when you lock your brakes up? Is it Calipers, MC and or both? I think I'll check the front Calipers and make a judgement call, but the rears will definitely be replaced as will all rotors and pads. How about the Brake lines? Are they going to be OK or should I replace those as well?

 

To which I may add, that NAPA sold me two NEW USA MADE rotors for 30 bux each.....front rotors, rears are differant but same price....I asked how they so cheep???

the guy replied....we OWN the manufacturer......

OK.....

 

specifically replace the flex lines....I had one on my truck and recently one on my vette swell up internally and lock the rotors tighter than whale puzzy, and that's waterproof....

 

I have never seen both sides do this at the same time...but I guess it could happen.

 

Buy a new MC, not a rebuilt.
Flush the system very well with lots of cheap brake fluid...
Buy or build a pressure bleeder, a dry system is a bear to bleed...

Replace the flex lines, either with good new rubber or stainless braided, from either me or Summit or someone.

Stock calipers are pretty good if rebuilt properly and rotor runout kept under control. but there are upgrades available, wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

Keith

 

Those hoses will definitely be replaced. as will Rear Calipers, and all rotors and pads.

 

have keith send u repair kits for your rears if the inside isn't grooved or scarred

 

Are you sure its not the parking brake that is locked up? If you have replaced the calipers within 5 years they shouldnt have rusted up. They may leak some but not be rusted stuck. Easy way to tell would be try and pull the caliper off. If it goes right off, youve got a parking brake problem. Could be as simple as a BFH or as expensive as a stainless steel rebuild with new cables, shoes, rotors, ect

 

you can get a whole brake kit from ecklers calipers,hoses,lines and pads for under $300. i put them on my vette and i have a 350 hp motor and she stops fine. also look into the steroids rack and mono rear leaf spring....i just installed $3,000 worth of suspension parts car drives smooth

 

I agree with hosspowerinc. 5 years is an awfully short time in the life of brake calipers. I just replaced my fronts and they were 37 ears old. They still worked but they leaked.

I would look for another cause for the lockup. For both calipers to fail after only 5 years seems highly unlikely. I would look eslewhere like parking brake, hoses, or something else.

 

if it comes right off, then the brake is NOT locking up and cant be his problem. what you meant was if the rotor does NOT come off then it could be that the PB is the culprit. and alot can happen to a caliper in 5 yrs. i dont agree that that is not a long time. especially if it has been re-maned. ive seen new parts fail in as little as a week, sometimes less.

 

I agree with most of these guys. I would use alchohol to flush the brake hard lines and them blow them clear with compressed air. Pull the calipers apart and see if they are SS lined, if so get the O-Ring kits from VBP, replace the flex lines. When you reassemble verify the runout on the rotors is under .001 I think, will have to look that up again.
Fill and bleed with DOT5. Many ways to bleed, power bleeder, gravity, pump and run..

 

he also asked if the brakes could handle his upgrades, and i say hell yea. think about it. we have 4 piston calipers on all 4 wheels. our brakes are killer, even by todays standards. the only thing i would recommend would maybe be drilled and/or slotted rotors to prevent brake fade. if i could i would change rear calipers to a parking brake intergrated caliper and dump the internal PB.

 

If the rotor doesn't turn and the caliper comes right off, then the caliper is not what is locking it up, meaning it's probably the parking brake(assuming bearings are ok). It's a lot easier to pull off one caliper than pull the rotor, which requires removing the caliper anyway.

 

Thanks for all the posts guys. Here is the reason the brakes locked up. 2 years ago I was barely using my car and the brakes were leaking. I would fill up with brake fluid and drive it. I knew exactly how to drive my car in this situation, nobody else did. That's where my problem was. My tranny went out and I dropped it off at the shop. Trusted the guy b/c of the work he's done on my dad's truck and mom's car. After he gets the transmission done, he was putting the car back on the rack after test drive. Whoever was driving slammed on brakes for some reason and voila! brakes were locked up. Of course, he claims they were like that when I drove the car up there....The reason they don't bind right now is b/c he had the car on the rack with them locked and I asked if he could bleed the brakes to unclamp the caliper. He and his mechanic told me it wouldn't help, but I asked if they would entertain me. SUre enough, The wheel starts spinning again. Now if I hit the brakes too hard they lock up on me. I simply put it in reverse and go a little then Drive and go a little. Keeping that sequence until they unlock. They are NOT locked up right now. stops pretty good too, but not like she use to.

Now that you know the story, does anything else pop out at ya, as far as my brakes locking up is concerned? Do you guys think anything else could be wrong. Side NOTE: My gasket on the MC cover is now 2 times the size it was originally. Any ideas on what's going on there? I'm going to flush entire system and check in on that Eckler's deal. I just need some good brakes. I will definitely beef up my suspension though. Mono spring, new struts, new OS trailing arms with everything new inside. New Half Shafts, New differential with 4.11. Then the Front suspension will get redone with probably the steroids kit and new tubular upper and lower control arms, with new springs. I will get some chrome rims for my 02 Z and put the original rims on my shark. I think it will look killer.

Thanks for all the help guys, I'm finally getting my head around all this.

Josh

 

I believe that the flex lines are trash

 

change the flex lines and rebleed

 

So, you guys think the calipers are fine?