I had a leaking front brake caliper on my 72 and bought a complete set of GM licensed SS sleeved o'ring calipers with hoses and pads for the front axle on my car. The box arrived damaged and after unpacking the items I noticed there were several sections of missing paint on the calipers. I know no one will see the calipers when the wheels are on, but is this common on GM licensed products from CSSB? Hopefully they will be leak free and last a long time. Did anyone else experience this with their calipers?

 

They're made out of cast iron. If they fell out of an airplane they'd be fine. Touch up the paint they'll be fine.

 

I've only ever had CSSB send one or two sets to me, I've usually had them drop ship sets, but I've never had a problem with anything they've shipped. Normally the calipers are boxed individually and then shipped in a larger box, making it pretty difficult for them to get beat up in shipping. The calipers weigh about 13 pound each, so with hoses and pads you probably had a box that weighed about 30 pounds. Knowing how shippers can tear up a 5 pound box, it's probably a miracle that anything heavy ever arrives undamaged.

I think you'll be fine, but if you still have doubts call CSSB and describe the damage and email them some pictures to see what they think.

In spite of what I said above, this isn't 100 percent accurate. I've encountered a few calipers over the years that leaked at the hole for the brake hose from being dropped. If calipers are dropped in just the right way so that they land on the spot where the hose attaches, the casting is thin enough there that it will crush slightly. This can result in the hole being out of round and causing a leak. Now this has been with rebuilt calipers that have been handled quite a bit while being removed from a car, turned in as a core, shipped to the rebuilder and are finally rebuilt, so they have more chances to get damaged than brand new ones like the OP has.

Admittedly it's rare, and having a business I also saw more calipers in one year than most Corvette owners will in a lifetime of ownership, but it does happen.

 

Thank you for the replies. CSSB responded to me promptly and said they will ship out 2 new calipers. It's comforting to know that this vendor stands behind their products and puts great emphasis on customer service.

 

A few months ago, I had a leaking R front brake caliper on my early 68 and a pedal to the floor. I bought a full set of GM licensed O ring calipers with rubber hoses and pads for the for front and rear from CSSB. I also replaced the master cylinder with a Delco Master cylinder from them. The boxes were of course heavy, but were packed with heavy duty cardboard and lots of shredded paper. I was impressed with how well it was all packaged.

 

My front calipers from CSSB perform admirably; they didn't look that pleasing to they eye but hey, a little paint and bam!