Caliper question
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 566
Likes: 64
From: Sebastian,FL
Caliper question
Have any of you guys rebuilt your calipers? And if so is it difficult? I had one develop a leak over the winter here and bought a replacement at the local parts place as I was sitting looking at the core today and thought since I paid for the core upfront if I rebuilt it I would have relatively little money in a spare. On a side note, other than these saying delco moraine on them they look amazingly similar to the calipers on my 65 t bird, could that be possible?
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 31,170
Likes: 4,248
From: Westminster Maryland
Hi d77,
If your present caliper has had a stainless steel sleeve installed in it already, and the sleeve is in good condition, you could certainly install new pistons (if needed), and seals as you're thinking.
I'm not sure about the similarity to T-bird calipers.
Regards,
Alan
If your present caliper has had a stainless steel sleeve installed in it already, and the sleeve is in good condition, you could certainly install new pistons (if needed), and seals as you're thinking.
I'm not sure about the similarity to T-bird calipers.
Regards,
Alan
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 195
Likes: 37
From: Poway CA
I have done this before, even without the stainless sleeves. It depends on what condition the bore is in. If there are no pits, you might just clean it up with crocus cloth or a brass brush at the end of a drill. Put new rubber seals around the pistons and new rubber dust boots and you should be good to go... for a while. If it has not been re-sleeved with stainless steel, you can get it re-sleeved if you are interested in keeping that brake caliper. If it's original (check casting #'s), you may want to keep it and re-sleeve it. If it's not original, and it's in decent shape, I would recondition it as above, oil it up, plastic bag it, and store it on a shelf for future use, or, use it as a core to not pay so much for a new one.
Kirk
Kirk
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,711
Likes: 43
From: San Antonio TX
The Thunderbird calipers are similar only in basic appearance. They are made by Kelsey-Hayes and while the C3 caliper has the seal on the piston and rides in the bore -a fundamentally bad design, the K-H has the seal on the bore and rides on the chromed piston. The K-H also has an external transfer tube, while the Delco caliper transfers fluid through an internal channel. At least that's if it is the factory setup. There are aftermarket alternatives using various calipers.
The rebuilding advice you have already received is solid and there's nothing more I or anyone else could add.
The rebuilding advice you have already received is solid and there's nothing more I or anyone else could add.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 12,639
Likes: 3,102
From: Shamong, NJ
As others have said, the caliper can be rebuilt, though your chances are much better of success, if it has already been sleeved. As a teenager in the 70's, I worked part time in a gas station. We regularly rebuilt calipers on all kinds of cars. We had a honing tool to use on a drill, that we used to clean up the cylinders, before installing new seals.
As far as saving the old caliper as a spare, the only issue is that it will only fit on the corner of the car you removed it from. All 4 calipers are different. Since you just replaced that caliper, hopefully it will be many years before you need to replace it again. If that is the case, you'd probably want to replace the seals again, before relying on ones that had been in a caliper sitting, on a shelf for many years.
As far as saving the old caliper as a spare, the only issue is that it will only fit on the corner of the car you removed it from. All 4 calipers are different. Since you just replaced that caliper, hopefully it will be many years before you need to replace it again. If that is the case, you'd probably want to replace the seals again, before relying on ones that had been in a caliper sitting, on a shelf for many years.
