rebuilding brake calipers?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 3,126
Likes: 15
Possible? Yes. Hard? No. The most important thing is that the caliper bores must be free of rust pitting damage. If the bores are pitted than they should be replaced with stainless steel sleaved calipers. Most of us have had to do this. Mine were pitted after car was 5yrs. old. If yours are already SS sleaved all you need to do is replace lip seals or O ring seals, replace dust seals on pistons and small o rings that seal the caliper halves to each other. mds...
Last edited by mds3013; Apr 26, 2010 at 09:02 PM.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 269
Likes: 0
Possible? Yes. Hard? No. The most important thing is that the caliper bores must be free of rust pitting damage. If the bores are pitted than they should be replaced with stainless steel sleaved calipers. Most of us have had to do this. Mine were pitted after car was 5yrs. old. If yours are already SS sleaved all you need to do is replace lip seals or O ring seals, replace dust seals on pistons and small o rings that seal the caliper halves to each other. mds...
However, you may be lucky (like I was) and the bores are not rusted or pitted too badly. I used a brake cylinder hone and my bores cleaned up quite nice. I went with original type lip seals and they work great now. Hardest part for me was installing the seals. I removed two thin feeler gauge strips from my feeler gauge pack and wrapped them around the piston with the lip seal in place. I then installed the piston in the bore and pulled out the feeler gauges. Seemed to work pretty well, I used brake fluid for lubrication during assembly. However you do it, just be careful not to nick or cut the lip seals because that will certainly create a leak.
It's been 2 years now and my brakes stop perfectly and no leaks.
Supporting Vendor
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 576
Likes: 3
From: Muskegon MI
There are some really good write-ups on the forum and articles in the magazines about rebuilding. If you can't find them let me know. Also, if you need rebuild kits let me know. I've got lip seal and o-ring kits on the shelf.
Andrew
800-442-0335
Andrew
800-442-0335
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 7,739
Likes: 630
From: Unreconstructed, South Carolina
It ain't just the bores ... pistons can & do corrode ... beneath where seal lays against piston ... tough to see unless seal is pulled away.
If piston is corroded, it'll leak.
If piston is corroded, it'll leak.
Advanced
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
From: Chesapeake Virginia
