I had my C3 trailing arms rebuilt now I find the brake calliper won't fit the braket is bent. Can I bend it back or will it brake?

 

You mean the cast iron carrier bracket is out of shape? Like this one? https://www.zip-corvette.com/65-82-r...t-bracket.html

I've had bent brake line mounting tabs, they can be bent easily, they're steel. Bending cast iron... IDK

Did you take it up with the rebuilder?

 

Not getting a reply from guy who rebuilt the trailing arm , I am going to try to straighten it see what happens its about 2.5mm out so hoping for the best

 

My rebuilder (Bair's) replaced my brackets as part of the rebuild, as one of mine was bent, the other cracked.

Perhaps take this up with the rebuilder, or your shipping insurance?

 

If he gets around to calling me back after 3 days of me calling I just want to get my brakes on I try straightening it out tonight see what happens

 

I don't think it's going to bend. And once YOU break it, the builder is off the hook. Maybe show up at his shop with the bent piece. He probably wouldn't;t want any other customers to see you and the QUALITY of his work.

 

The rebuilder wasn't aware or cared about his work. Sorry to be so blunt but I have been coaching a guy who thought it was smart to buy a common rebuilt diff and pretty much it has the same lousy work to it, yet some places sell them every day.

Checking for the brackets for being bent or having stripped holes is part of checking arms. If the arms have never been apart the brackets are not bent, they don't warp, they are damaged by people who should not be working on them. The brackets get bent by using the stupid axle press tool sold for years. It is not the way to take the axle out and shows the experience level of the rebuilder.

You can try and bend it back but I doubt you will get it right. You need a new bracket and the only way to do that is to take it apart again, wrecking the bearings in the process since they should be a press fit setup. Sound like your rebuilder is ghosting you, hope it wasn't any place in TX.

Before you take it apart or ship it back, you should check it close to see if there are other areas that are bad- check the arm offset, check the arm for rot, look at the end overlaps for separation, is the play in the axle if you grab a wheel stud can you feel it move in/out? Does it move free, snug, or bind? Are the rotors part of the build and are they dialed in under 003"?

If you find any of those things, you might want to cut line as it might not be worth shipping them back for more of the same.

 

That's a good one.

 

Dude, Gary. You've been super generous in sharing free advice, but I'm a little offended by this. I'm the guy. I didn't think it was "smart" to buy a ZIP diff, I needed one to get my car out of the shop. Why would you mention this?
I get it, your diffs are the best built ones out there - but some of us wind up in situations where quality alone can't be the only factor in the decision making process. That has to be an acceptable trade-off sometimes, and it's completely at the discretion of the vehicle owner. It's the classic Cost/Time/Quality triangle.
Again, I appreciate your advice greatly - I've learned a lot through our conversations and I look forward to having you build a diff for me when your queue opens up.

Also, in ZIP's defense here, while there are a number of things that raise an eyebrow about the diff they sent me, they're working with me to resolve the issues. Calling it all lousy work is kind of a cheap shot.

 

deleted

 

Ok, it is apparent I need to make some points here.

First, to the original poster. I did not intend on causing a problem within your thread. What I said in regard to your situation I stand behind. I have seen that type of work for years. I have repaired the bad work of so many places I find it very frustrating since those who do bad work throw a shadow on those of us who are honest and offer the best work possible. I am sorry you have a problem and hope you get it resolved. I was going to say if I can offer some advice to please reach out to me but maybe I am going to start to rethink that position nowadays.

Second, since Indigo brought it out that have offended him, which was not my intention, I openly apologize for that. I would like to explain my statement because I think it was misinterpreted from my meaning.

What I said "I have been coaching a guy who thought it was smart to buy a common rebuilt diff and pretty much it has the same lousy work to it"
You needed a diff, you found one online from a vendor and you bought it. You thought it was the smart thing to do and you're right it makes perfect sense. The problem today is what is advertised and what is received isn't always the same thing. A common rebuilt differential in this case should be just that, one you buy, you install, and you drive. You are not buying a custom race built item, just a common, stock diff. So yes, you thought it was the smart thing to do. That is all I meant.

INdigo
I would like to point out the following things.
1- I did not mention the vendor or your name. I made note of what I see routinely these days that is all. Fact is there is a lot of what I call lousy work out there today.

2- You reached out to me months ago. I offered you advice, it didn't work out for you and that was the last I heard from you until bought the diff you have now and started questioning the quality of the build. That too was a smart thing to do, no offense meant in me saying that either.

3- Based on the pictures you sent me, what I saw was poorly built and clearly questionable for use as is. I call that lousy workmanship. A cheap shot, no I don't think so. Again, I didn't mention any names, that would have been a cheap shot.

4- I took my time to reach out to you several times, explaining the way these should be built, how this one was not in that category and why I thought it would fail in short order. I not only called and emailed you , I checked on some of the parts presented so you would know what questions to ask. All that was done for nothing more than to help you. I did not receive or ask for any compensation or anything else. Do you think another rebuilder would spend the time to go over things for nothing and would they even speak with you once you bought from someone else? There was a guy here who was and is a conman. He took many people for thousands of dollars and I suspect he continues that practice today. When I came up in this hobby many years ago, there was no internet, those that knew how to do things correctly were a lot more common, and those that knew the custom work wouldn't share with anyone. I had to learn and apply what I learned to corvettes and that took a lot of time. A lot longer than if I had someone to call for advice on say how to dial in axles or a posi case. Since I am a car owner first my approach has always been to help if possible and without trying to sell anyone on anything.

So, I take it as offensive by your statement- but that's ok. Life is too short to dwell on minor things in life or to get involved with internet drama.
I really am sorry if you misunderstood my comment.

I think at this point I will let you resolve your issues now and in the future without any more of my input and wish you the best with it. I won't be calling or emailing anymore.

To the OP, again my apologies for taking up space on your thread. Good luck to you as well.

Thank you

 

How did it go? I thought about this some more, and would be concerned about brake caliper geometry being correct once all is said and done. Maybe "close enough" will work but the "right" solution has got to be replacing the bracket. Easier said than done, I know.