the little ' 82 gem I thought I had acquired is showing her flaws.
on the way home the brakes went to the floorboard she stops,
no dqueals, grinds or otherwise. once I got her parked I popped the top on the fluid resevoir and fluidcame right on out. I've never seen anything like that in the cars I previously owned. I am guessing that's not normal for the fluid resevoir. any ideas on what the problem might be? she's going to a brake shop tomorrow. I'm praying it is not the master cylinder.

second problem is that AC controls seems to be broke I have AC all the time, can't turn it off. ans lastly, the darn cabin light is full on. the electrical stuff is minor. I really need a lead on the brakes. I know zippo on brake systems. the car has power everything si I am guessing power brakes are also installed.

any thoughts/ideas comments welcomed

 

:cry :smash: Good luck and hope it's not too severe a problem... I don't know but I'd personally consider you lucky if it was indeed ONLY a master cylinder problem. Might ask the seller when the brakes were worked on last and the rest of the history on that subject. If the master cylinder is shot and the calipers have never been worked on....chances are they need work too.

Again...good luck :cheers: :chevy

 

If the first sign of trouble prompts you to take her to a shop, then I hope you have a money tree. If there is a corvette only shop then take her there, cause vette brakes are totally different from any other vehicle...it's got four pistons in each fixed caliper (most vehicles have just one in a floating caliper)...there are also two bleeder valves on the rear calipers while the fronts (and all other vehicles) have just one. Most shops have problems bleeding a vette brake system, and they will probably run up a huge bill replacing stuff that doesn't need to be fixed.

If your problem is a buildup of pressure in the master cylinder, then you should try cleaning out the m/c with a turkey baster (buy a new one for your sweety and use her old one...but buy the new one first :conehead). Then fill with fresh fluid and bleed the system. The system needs to be bled in this order:

RightRearInner (RRI), RROuter (RRO), LRI, LRO, RightFront, LeftFront.

If you want to do the bleeding yourself then we can help step you through it. If not, then have a vette only shop do the work. If you don't have a vette only shop close enough, then have the shop mechanics post for advice on the forum. Your problem is probably a plugged inlet on the m/c...if the fluid in the m/c reservoirs is dirty (you can't see the bottom of the m/c) then just clean out the fluid and put some fresh stuff in there and bleed. If bleeding doesn't clean out the plugged inlet then you should take the m/c out and soak it in parts cleaner...I recommend Berrymans B-12 Carb and parts cleaner. It comes in pint cans. Take the m/c apart and sit the housing (not the seals or pistons) in a coffee can then fill with B-12...let it sit overnight then the next day shake it up real good then spray it off with water and allow to dry in the sun. The piston and seals can be soaked in fresh brake fluid to clean them up, you may also want to buy a m/c rebuild kit to install fresh seals.

Search through the forum for "brakes" and you will find a wealth of info on what to do.

The AC problem will probably be a vacuum leak in the control unit located under the center console, however it could also be that the previous owner was Bubba, or knew Bubba and invited him to work on the vette and rewire the AC to run all the time.

The cabin light will be the switches located near the door switches...depress them and see if it turns the light off. The switches in the door jamb are for the built-in alarm system...unless they went to integral switches in later models...I've got a 75, so that's what I know mostly about.

 

Thanks Rock.. I Don't run to the shop every time something is wrong. I have never worked on brakes though, and to be honest, they intimidate me a bit. I sure hope you are right, and it's just a matter of cleaning out the M/C

 

Mark, if you bleed the brakes or have a shop do it, have them check the bleeding sequence, because somewhere in the C3 years the sequence changed. my books are "buried" at the minute but it seems my 79 sequence was RRO,RRI,RF,LRO,LRI,LF. it will take some pumping to get new fluid to the rear calipers and the 2 times i have done it a vacuum system didn't work, so i had the wife pumping the brakes. if your system is shot i might recommend trying Muskegon Brakes rebuild kit,$359. this is what i used 3 years ago, you get 4 SS calipers, master cylinder, pads, hoses,steel lines for the rear arms, 2 qts of silicone fluid if you decide to go that way.

 

These guys are right. The first thing I ever did on a car, was brakes. The Vette's brakes are different, but they aren't rocket science. Take a deep breath, read through the Corvettefaq.com, and use this forum. I've regretted everytime I've used a shop, except for when my Corvette guy did my rear bearings. Otherwise, I've practically thrown my money away. As simple as these cars are, a lot of today's mechanics can't work on them, and don't have a clue. That includes most of the Chevy dealers.

And a master cylinder is no big deal. It's a good area to cut your teeth, when it comes to brake work.

 

Master cylinder replacement is much less expensive than brake calipers!

If you need a new master cylinder, suggest you purchase new, not rebuilt, many members have had problems with badly rusted/pitted "rebuilt" master cylinders. A new or rebuilt master cylinder must be 'bench bled', then installed on the car, preferably with the rear end of the vette jacked up high, so that the master cylinder sits level with the ground, to properly complete the bleeding process, at least that's how I remember my manualized instructions when I installed my new master cylinder.

A/C, Heater controls are operated by vacuum, so you may have a leak.

Dome light on could be due to faulty switch in door post, or bad light switch.

 

well, the bad is definitely worse. right front caliper is shot, rear left bleed screw has been replaced by a bolt and the M/C is shot. I'm looking very hard at the muskegon set for $359. anyone have a bad expirience with them? BBB reports and all that is fine, but I want opinions from the guys on the front lines.

 

Where in Jacksonville are you? You are more than welcome to get with me and I will give you a hand with it. I am out in Orange Park, so long as you can get it there we can tackle these brakes.

I would suggest you just call Vette Brakes and Products and have them send you a complete O-ring brake set and hoses. We can swap them out in a few hours. With two people we can pump and bleed pretty fast.

Just let me know


chrisnikki@juno.com


Good luck,


Chris

 

on an afterthought, my brother mentioned that the rotors look too thin. not being an expert, how thick should the rotors be?

 

I haven't used Muskegon, but I've seen several posts that give them kudos.
If that car isn't your daily driver, I would definitely recommend doing it yourself. It'll save you a ton. If you search this forum and corvettefaq.com, there's a wealth of info. I was intimidated by brakes... the whole car for that matter. That's half the reason I got a fix-er-upper - so I could learn. Now that I've rebuilt my calipers and bled the brakes, I'm shocked at how simple the system is... and feel a whole lot smarter.
It'll take you a little while and some elbow grease to take the old stuff off, bench bleed the MC, put the new stuff on, bleed the whole system, but you'll love telling people that YOU did it! :)
And I know from experience that there's lots of people here who can walk you through it.

Good luck either way you go. :cheers:

 

I believe the minimum width for your rotors is 1.230". You can bring them to Autozone, and they'll measure them with a micrometer for free.
I just had to do that... mine were gouged to like 1.19 or something. I had to buy 4 new ones at $60 a pop.


[Modified by Marc78, 10:05 AM 5/23/2002]

 

I am in Baymeadows, Chris, and sadly the baby is sitting under a carport. I don't dare try driving her to OP. what are we looking at as far as the replacement? 1-2 days? can it be done here?

 

Marc, 60 a pop? I was under the impression you have to drill out studs or something? not having a machine shop, are the rotors hard to replace?

 

Others have given you good advice here. I will add my $.02. Yes the brakes are different in that they have two pistons per caliper, but they are operated, repaired, and maintained in the same manner. It is not easy work, because it is dirty, messy, and sometimes a knuckle buster, but anybody, with a repair manual can repair these things. Same thing applies to the master cylinder. Take it apart slowly and note the orientation of the various springs and seals and it goes together easily. Start tearing it apart without seeing how it all goes together and it becomes a difficult job.

With that said, it sounds like you have three problems: your master cylinder is in need of a rebuild, your calipers need to be rebuilt, and your rotors are toast. Some of the companies (Vette Brakes and Muskegon) MAY make a complete kit that has new rotors and stainless or even the O ring-type calipers on an exchange basis. If you choose to rebuild your calipers yourself, it is not rocket science as others have stated but if your car has never had stainless-insert calipers, then I would suggest that. I think that the minimum thickness of the calipers is cast into the face and it is either 1.25 or 1.215. I am 2000 miles from my books and computer so I will leave that alone. As long as you are looking at the brakes, what is the condition of the rubber lines at the front. These are too cheap and easy to replace as long as you are doing brake work.

Again, nothing here is so difficult that a little contribution of blood (from a scraped knuckle) and a nice curse word or two won't fix. All of the manuals, GM reprint, Chilton's, etc, give good advice on how to repair brakes. My personal favorite is the GM service manual for your year.
Gary

 

I have read on this forum the vettes have bad brakes, very different, etc etc etc. "I say Bull". The problem with most brakes that are repaired by Bubbas is that they do not do it the proper way. If you have not done a brake job then take it to a good trusted repair shop, they will do the brakes the proper way. If you want to do it follow these steps. If you do not need new rotors be prepaired to spend around $800 to $1200 for a shop to do, just like any other car on the road. Biggest problem when bubbas do a brake job, "they just fix the item that is broken". When doing any brakes, if calibers are leaking replace in pairs ( both fronts or rears) Next remove rotors and get them machined on a rotor lathe, Next install new pads, next lube all moving parts. Next bleed brakes as per GM specs. If you do this the rears should last 5 to 8 years, and the fronts half that time.

 

Just send me an e-mail at my home with your work hours and what not. I work in Regency not far off South Side Blvd, so I would be happy to swing by during the day and see what your problem is exactly.

I have not met a brake problem I could not solve yet. Yes, it can be fixed in less than two days. Hopefully in a few hours and a few hundred dollars of new parts. Discount Auto Parts and Pep Boys as well as Autozone carry those rotors, calipers, lines etc, and or can get them quick. You might as well get it all so you don't have to worry about this again for a long time


chrisnikki@juno.com

or just call me between 7 a.m. to 4:30 pm 723-2414