73 red vette

How can I tell if my brake calipers are SS sleeved by looking at the piston area without taking the piston out of the caliper. I can see a very thin band of silver around the perimeter of the piston sleeve when I remove the dust cover. I think the pistons are aluminum. this is on my 73 and it looks the same as the ones off of my 78 that I know are SS sleeved.
Is SS magnetic or not, I'm brain dead on that.? does anyone have a pic of a SS one and a non SS one to compare?
Thanks guys

bobs77vet

i think it would be hard to tell with out seeing them......but the bottom line is if the metal has any shine to it....its probalby SS.....other wise it will be showing signs of rust.

GTR1999

you have to pull the pistons. If sleeved there will be a difference in the appearence over cast and there will be a parting line at the bottom of the bore where the sleeve is pressed in. The stock pistons are aluminum.
I have seen sleeved calipers that were not SS, they might have been steel, I know 2 things about them- 1 they were not SS or brass and 2- they were junk.
If you are unsure about them replace them. They are low cost and big on safety.

cs_sas

Stainless is not magnetic. if possible put a magnet on the sleeve without touching any steal areas and it should not stick to the sleve. Silver or shiny does not help on recognizing the metal. hope it helps

Claude

73 red vette

CS,
I read that SS is both magnetic and non, depending on the makeup of the metal. I have calipers on a 78 that I know for sure are SS and put a magnet on them and it sticks to the sleeve and the ones from the 73 which I am not sure about look like they are sleeved and the magnet sticks to them also
so I can't tell for sure. They both show the 1/16th inch rim on the inside of the caliper that I think is the sleeve so I'm confused.
Thanks for the reply though.
Rich

GTR1999

Shoot a picture maybe it can be determined. It is true some SS is magnetic. The finish should be obvious but who knows what you have, the sleeved calipers have been out for the past 30 from a lot of places, most of them gone now.

mrvette

Gary is of course correct, and I can't imagine any shark/mid year NOT having SS brakes on it by now.....even my'72 garage queen old show car had them when I bought it with 130k on it....in '95 or so....no way in hell you get 25 years outta a set of NON STAINLESS calipers....

the magnet will stick to the iron/steel caliper, right through the stainless, it's not thick enough to block that attraction....

cs_sas

I have to agree with mrvette on the assuption that the magnet is going through the sleeve and sticking to the calipers. Sleeves should me made with eather 303 or 304 SS. This type is definately non magnatic. The only mag SS I have ever seen or used in my Machine shop is 316 SS. This type of SS is a marine grade and it has high nickel contant. Of course this is my opinion and I could be wrong I have not used all types of SS to be sure, only The most common ones 303 and 304 and 316.

Claude

UKPaul

Yep, 303 is definitely not magnetic (and some grades are & some grades even corrode), but as Gene said, a magnet will still be attracted to the metal of the calliper so it's irrelevant. Don't people like VB&P stamp some numbers/letters into callipers that they have sleeved? Could be worth checking for?