Ok, so I got my vette on Saturday. Shipped from Washington to Texas. The car has been sitting for 5 years, and unsurprisingly, the front calipers leak like a son of a you know what. So now I need new calipers or a rebuild. I highly doubt these calipers are SS sleeved, so I was just going to go buy the rebuild kit for $16. The cheapest rebuilt calipers I could find were $66 each. But now I'm reading about these O-Ring calipers, and I'm intrigued. I'd like to upgrade the brakes on my baby, but I need to know if there are actually any real improvements in the O-Ring piston design. Anybody feel any difference in braking, pedal feel, or stopping distance? Any feedback is appreciated.

 

I don't know that you will feel the difference in stopping distance, but you will feel the difference in the pedal. It will make your pedal firm and the brakes will be there from the top, at least mine are. I am well pleased with them. If you know you are gonna replace the calipers anyway, go ahead and take one of them apart and see if they are sleeved. If they are you have it made. You might be pleasantly surprised.

 

Yea, I guess it wouldn't hurt to pull apart the caliper and check it anyways. Will do!

 

No difference, the only place they pay for themselves is in having "brakes" when you step on the pedal. The rear rotors are the worse, if they are out of spec for run out, they will actually "suck" air into the system by the wobbling of the pistons (and pads) on the rotor. Usually happens after a long road trip. Drive about 250 miles on the freeway then pull off to get gas and NO BRAKES, or very soft brakes.
They don't cure 100% of the air in brakes, but they go a long way toward curing them.
The only sure cure is to get your rotors into spec for run out, and then put in O-ring pistons and seals. Rotors can be shimmed by placing thin pieces of shim stock between the hub and the rotor. Remove the rotor, then clean the inside of the rotor to remove any rust or dirt, clean the surface of the hub, then torque the rotor on the hub, check for run out with a dial indicator, mark the high spots with a sharpie. Then pull the rotor (Make sure you put it back on in the same place you had it when marking the high spot.) Place a piece of shim stock across from the high spot roughly have the thickness of the high spot run out. I use stainless steel shim stock that comes in many different thicknesses. Cut the shim so it forms an upside down "U", put the open end of the "U" over a lug stud. A little super glue will hold it in place, then bolt the rotor back on and torque the lugs to specs and check run out again, mark high spot and remove and add more shim stock where needed.
This is a good Saturday, in the garage, cold weather project. Then with your new O-ringed calipers you shouldn't have any problem with air in the brakes or leaking calipers.
Good Luck!

 

Where can I buy this shim stock from? Sounds like a good idea I haven't heard of. (I'm a mechanic too! lol...)

 

You can use a cheap feeler guage. Lots of shim material, and they are labelled.