I need to rebuild the brake system on my '74. Shortly after purchasing her 2 years ago I slapped some pads on the front to buy some time. The rotors didn't have enough meat left on them to turn again so I left them alone. Rears were adequate.

I'd like to hear some of your experiences with various brake components. She's a daily driver. I don't expect to drive hard very often and never expect to find myself on the track.

I'm leaning toward VBP products. Hearing good things about their o-ring calipers. I plan to replace all four. Your experiences?

I expect to replace all four rotors. VBP Sport Rotors or OEM replacements?

How about pads? The pads I have now throw black dust all over the front wheels after just a few miles of driving.

I'm also thinking about steel braided brake hoses. Your thoughts?

:flag

 

Hello, I'm Tony from VBP. I just read your post and yes, we can help with your problem. VBP is the patent holder on O-ring caplipers and they simply are the best. We have reduced our prices in the new 2004 catalog on several parts including OEM style rotors and the Cold-Fire treated Sport Rotors. Brake pads have also been reduced in price. Plenty of braided brake hoses too. 800-237-9991 or tony@vettebrakes.com
I'll cut a special deal.

Tony

 

Do a search on brakes you'll find a LOT if info. In order the get the system to work you'll need to have a good understanding of the common fault with it- most often rotor runout.
Changing the calipers alone will not always solve the problem of air in the system. When I do a brake job on a vette I do the following:
1-remove the calipers and mount an indicator to check the runout through 360*
2- check endplay in the rear bearings
3- inspect the rotor condition. I don't turn them unless they're scored or warped,even then it might be better to replace them. They run around $40-$50 each. Replacing the rotors will not give you zero runout,especially in the rears. The first can be trued on a brake lathe the rear can not.
4- replace the rubber hoses for each caliper and replace the copper washer for the fronts.
5 Calipers can be rebuilt but I only recommend that if they are SS sleeved to begin with. I use the original type of lip seal when I rebuild them. If the runout is under .003" then the lip seals will work.
6 getting the runout down requires shimming between the rotor and spindle/hub. It takes time to get it right. I use a spjndle setup I have on a bench to shim the front rotor/hubs. The rears I do if rebuilding the spindle/bearings. If the rotors are still riveted then you might be able to clean them up and still use them riveted to the spindle/hub.
7- I use DOT3 brake fluid,other use the DOT5. If you bleed the brakes every year DOT is fine,if you don't want to be bothered bleeding every year then go with the DOT5. You must remove all traces of DOT 3 from the system before using DOT5. I use a Motive power bleeder and had good results with it.
These are some quick notes but be sure to review everything before starting the job.
Good luck,
Gary

 

I'm sort've hesitant about O-Ring calipers. I still don't like the idea of not having a dust boot there to prevent crap from getting in. Isn't there the chance of stuff getting inside the cylinder bore with O-Ring calipers? You guys hold the patent to O-Ring calipers? I'm pretty sure Wilwood makes O-Ring calipers... This is an excerpt from http://www.tceperformanceproducts.com which sells brake upgrade kits for many vehicles, but more specifically, the Taurus SHO. "Wilwood Dyna-Pro: After much discussion with Wilwood, TCE and others have convinced Wilwood to address the issue of non booted or sealed piston calipers. While we have never found this to be a legitimate issue, some folks still feel that a non dust booted caliper is simply not applicable for street kits. This is being addressed and more details on this caliper and it construction and sizing will be forthcoming." I dunno, just my .02 FWIW...

 

The VBP O-ring calipers do come with dust boots. Both the O-ring caliper rebuild kit and the O-ring complete caliper car set comes with dust boots. Lip seals kits are the same also.