Hello:

I buddy of mine has a 1972 coupe with a 350, and automatic transmission. The car is completely original down to the original brakes.

He took it in to have the brakes checked, and to have parts that were in need of repair or replacement taken care of.

This was a NTB (National Tire and Battery) At first he was told he could expect to pay about $800 depending what they found.

Later that day he called and they said it would take $1800 to repair his Brakes.

He called again and they said it would take $2800 to take care of his Brakes. He said don't do anything I'll pick the car up.

While his pedal did compress a fair amount, he still had plenty of braking power to pass inspection and drive safely.

When he got the car back he had no brakes at all. (The pedal would go to the floor with no braking power at all)

The mechanic said that the original brakes in 1972 needed special parts and special tools to install them. He also mentioned that in that year the brake disk was riveted to the hubs, and they would have to be cut off and replaced when either the disk was turned or replaced.

My friend has a book covering a lot of C3 basic repairs and I could find nothing indicating anything of the sort, further the car would have to be taken to a Specialty Corvette Shop to handle these "Special" Brakes since they were original to the car.

Can someone clue me in to what they are referring to? This sounds like BS to me. I went down to Auto Zone and they could get all the parts in to totally replace the brakes on that car. Pads, Rotors, Calipers, Drums, shoes, Master Cylinder, bearings, etc.

What am I missing??

BTW: The car has Drum brakes in the rear.

Many years ago I use to do Brake Jobs on my late 60's, early 70's Cars, and I don't recall any issues of this type. The NTB guy told me that the Corvette Brakes were special to that car and required a specialist to work on them.

Any clarification someone can offer about any of this would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ty O'Neal

BTW: The Car is a real Nice Matching Numbers car, and is very complete and unrestored. If the brakes were repaired, what would be the best way to help retain the authenticity of the car. He has all the paperwork and service records for the car since new with the Protect-o-Plate.

 

No 72 had drum brakes in the rear. 4 wheel disc brakes became standard in 65 and later cars. Unless someone swapped out the rear trailing arms from a 63 or 64 car and i dont know why they would it should have disc brakes in the rear. I have done countless full replacement of the brake systems on Vettes and if they are getting 2800 for a full repplacement i am charging way to little for this job. The parts are in the neighborhood of 500 to 600 dollars. It does take a little time and with an old car you never know what you can run into but 2800 is just robbing someone. The rotors Re rivited to the hubs but just drill them out and repplace the orotrs, not a big deal. It is doubtful you can turn the rotors as they are usually past their service life at that point.

The brakes are unique to the Vette but are easily gotten. No special tools are needed. The NTB guy does not onow what he is talking about as usual.

 

I would turn them into the "better Business Bureau" for being retarded.

 

Assuming your brakes are similar to my '81's, I have replaced everything on the brake system with standard parts from Autozone (lifetime warranty). The parts were not any more expensive than any other GM vehicle and I installed them myself with no trouble. This was several years ago, I drive the car almost daily and the brakes are still perfect.

I would stay far from that shop, and let your friends and neighbors know to do so also.

God bless, Sensei

 

[QUOTE=tyoneal;1578539836]

BTW: The car has Drum brakes in the rear.

Any clarification someone can offer about any of this would be appreciated.

QUOTE]

As far as I know, The only drum brake setup in the rear of a c3 would be the emergency parking brake.

 

C3 Corvette brakes are a bit different, but not radically so. You can do better price-wise by by going to a shop that knows Corvettes. You're paying that shop for them to learn how to do it...and there's no reason for that.

The owner is BSing difficulty, tools and parts when what he's really saying is "We don't know how to do this so I'm hedging my bets".

 

Look into using o-ring piston seals. The stock design uses a lip seal, which is notorious for letting air get past once you replace the rotors and have the slightest bit of rotor wobble.
From the factory, the rotors are riveted to the wheel hub, and then trued to eliminate any wobble. You can have new rotors installed in this same way, but it will be pricey. Most folks drill out the rivets, and the new rotors are just held on by the wheel. Shims are used under the rotor to eliminate rotor wobble.
The parking brake is a small drum brake inside the rear rotor, this is probably what makes you think it has rear drum brakes, but I can't help but wonder how you could look at it closely enough to see the parking brake and not notice the great big rotor and caliper!!!
If you have done a brake job before, you shouldn't have any problems working on the Corvette.........well, the parking brake can be a little fussy, but when the time comes, there are forum members here who can walk you thru it, no sweat.


Scott

 

Here is what the guy probably wants to do to restore his brakes.

Yes, there are rivets to be drilled out. It is not a big deal. It keeps the car stock and original, you would have to either replace the rivets, or buy new rotors. By doing this, he can also get to the rear emergency brakes drum brakes in the rear,

I would ask, but he also probably may want to replace:

All 4 calipers
The master cylinder
All the brake lines if there is excessive rust
All the brake hoses

To be really fair, to do all that may run a pretty penny I will say, I have a 1969 and while I have no interest in keeping the car stock I have:

Replaced all my calipers with stainless steel calipers
Replace rotors when worn
Replaced the master cylinder
Replace the rubber brake hoses with stainless steel braid
Replace the original brake lines which had a lot of rust and replaced them with stainless lines

Remember the car is 39 years old and if all the parts are original and depending how the car was stored, it may need a lot of work. Do you need all that? I have no idea.

 

Anymore today, you can't take these older cars in to get worked on by a "pro", because all the "pros" are 22 year old kids who just got their ace certification, and while they might know what's what with 90's and up cars, they sure as heck haven't a clue when it comes to anything before the 80's. If you insist on not doing the work yourself, what you have to do is find a non chain shop, as in, a single owner place, where the owner himself is the chief mechanic. Those are the last places you can find where there are people that really know what they are doing. And you pay for that fact. There will be no good deals found there.


Personally, I'd just do that work myself. Brakes are messy, but not overly complicated or hard. And again, if it were me, I'd replace the entire system, if it's all original. New MC, new lines, new hoses, new calipers, and new disks. All of that will cost you about 800 bucks in parts, and another 30 bucks in brake fluid for bleeding to get it all dialed in. You and a buddy could have it done in one day, and still have time to drink a 12 pack.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck, and be careful!

 

show us a pic of the brakes .take your car to a corvette guy .they are not hard to do but you need to know what to do.

 

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Gordonm:

Thanks for the reply.

I believe everything you are saying. When I spoke with the "Mechanic", and looked over the bill, it said 2 Disc replacements, 2 Calipers, and Two Rotors and shoes.

I haven't looked under the car as it is 106* outside and my Back is fused in two places, but it didn't make sense that a 72 would have any drums at all.

I went to Auto Zone as I mentioned and the parts with tax were $630. So you are right on. While I was there at the counter his machine ONLY showed Disc brakes for that year. (Which would make sense)

I think this guy was a putz, and was probably too busy, or to Lazy to do the job right so here just made up a bunch of crap.

The other NTB in town has done brakes in the last few years on my 69 Camaro, my truck etc. and thinks have always been fine.

That said, I always stand by my car the whole time it is being worked on to over see the guy working on it. I ask questions, I check the pads and/or shoes, watch the bearing being installed etc.

If I didn't have the back and shoulder problems, I could just do it myself.

I appreciate all the comments, I did these back in High school on the same year cars, (1965-1975) and didn't have a problem with any of it, BUT I never did a Corvette. My friends and I were all to broke to own one of them.

Thanks again for your help.

Sincerely,

Ty O'Neal

 

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Undertrained or just incompetent certainly needs to be mentioned to the BBB.

I'm afraid if all the "tards we interact with on a daily basis were fired we wouldn't have anywhere to shop.

Thanks for you input.

Ty

 

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Sensei:

I'm with you on this. I'll speak with my friend and see if he would like to do this as a project when it gets cooler. It would be a good learning experience for him and good process for me to go through again.

Thanks,

Ty

 

[QUOTE=69vettester;1578542485]===================================
69 vettester:

Thanks for replying.

You are spot on, it is 4 wheel Disc, with Drum Emergency Brake.

Thanks for posting.

Sincerely,

Ty

 

The two rotors and two calipers and two shoes could be for the rear as was said above the ebrake is a drum brake. But 2800 for just the rears is just insane for a price. That is about 4 times what the job should cost.

 

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Billla:

I'm with you on this. Further, If a whole new assembly was purchased from the hubs back to the uprights, all the original parts could be saved and he would have a reliable set of brakes that would last most his life with a lifetime guarantee.

I usually save all the parts I take off an original car and wrap them in plastic wrap and label them. Then if sometime down the road they need the original parts, they can always easily be available.

Plus he could save a ton of money on brakes.

Thanks,

Ty

 

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Scott:

Thanks for the help.

Would it be a bad idea to just buy a Wilwood kit for his vette, and just upgrade the whole system?

They are usually pretty good from my experience, but I have never done a Corvette.

I have never had the opportunity to be under his car, nor see it with the rear wheels off. I was just going on what the mechanic was saying. Even then, it didn't pass the sniff test.

If worse came to worse, there are a couple of first class corvette shops in Town. (Dallas, Tx)

Thanks again,

Ty

 

I am seriously considering the Wilwood D8-4 aluminum calipers for my 'vette. You can get all new aluminum calipers compleat with braided stainless steel rake hoses for about a grand. That's probably twice what you would pay for really good stock type calipers, but you do get alot for the extra money. And they are a true bolt on using the stock rotors.


Scott

 

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Cottoneg:

Thanks for replying.

This car for it's age is in really sweet shape. It needs bushings and window seals, probably shocks, radiator flush etc., but overall it is a no crash, parked in the Garage most all it's life car. There are a coupe of interior parts that could use some attention, but they are primarily cosmetic. It's a nice 72, Sunflower Yellow(?) with tan interior. It garners lots of looks and nice comments. (That Body Style is my Favorite of the C3's)

I'll get it up in the air and see what everything looks like. I do agree with you about replacing everything at one time. If your in there just get it done right so in the future it shouldn't be a problem. I'll see what he wants to do. He is very reasonable able getting things done correctly, so I have no doubt that getting it done, with whatever goals he has with the car, will be a snap.

He is a good saver, and takes very good care of his cars, so it won't be skimped on. My main goal was to make sure he gets a good job, and doesn't get screwed in the process.

I'll have him read all these post so he can get a good understanding of what the options are.

I appreciate the list, that is similar to what I had done at Auto Zone, just so I would have more information.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Thanks again for your input, it will be very helpful.

Take care,

Ty O'Neal

 

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Kevin:

Thanks for your help.

I agree with you about finding someone who know what they are doing. There is a local shop I have used for years that will do the older cars. In fact for the several large car collectors in the area, he is the go to guy for all their maintenance and service repairs. More and more of his business is becoming the older, "Classic" types of cars.

He may be just the guy for this car. 1972 just doesn't seems old to me so I am always surprised when a certified mechanic can't work on one. THOSE were the cars that every high school kid or shade Tree mechanic could work on.

Oh well times change, so should I.

Thanks for your help and advice.

Take care,

Ty