Cjunkie

Socialism is a horrible way to go. You should come down!

VikingTrad3r

thats where i am. calgary alberta. spokane is nice. its going socialist up here.

drcook

my buddy lives in DRAYTON VALLEY

VikingTrad3r

as a younger guy i used to go there for a mountain bike races on the alberta circut. i bought a pressure truck from there recently and just bought parts from a pump supply place called csm pump.


on the calipers, i recently had an experience where my FL caliper piston was stuck out on a very high mileage 86 i bought. wife sliwly pushed it out with pedal and the seal was toasted. after using a scotchbrite pad to clean the corrosion off i pushed it all back in (impatiently didnt wait for new seal, i reused the damaged one!) and nited that i needed toorder rebuild kits. well, brakes worked great after that and i forgot about it. untill a week ago when i backed out the driveway and my pedal went further than it should. within two more brake applications so much air had come back past the rotten seal at the caliper that pedal was useless. nursed it back around the block to my driveway using the e-brake! usually im **** about stuff like that. in this case i had been in withdrawl from driving the vette for months. it could have killed me and others including kids on my block. it was dumb and i know it. awaiting new seal kits now.

drcook

the last time I tried to rebuild corvette calipers was in 1981/82 time frame. once those old C2 calipers got a bit pitted, it was worthless trying to rebuild them. the 65 I had used a one reservoir master cylinder. I can still remember the pop sound that the caliper made when it blew out and I had to whip it into a parking lot and got round till it stopped.

I was pretty far from home. luckily I had a set of vice grips with me. i unscrewed the line and crimped it shut so it would hold pressure

aklim

Have you tried cleaning off the slide pins yet?

aklim

So do you reuse your condoms too?

Cjunkie

Never used one since High School personally.

vettehardt

I haven't worked on my 91's brakes yet, but have worked on other cars from the same era (89 firebird, 91 S-15). I'm pretty sure there should be two copper crush washers on either side of the banjo. Usually these are supplied with new hoses. These act like the rubber washer but can handle the pressures made in the system. These should be replaced anytime the banjo bolt is loosened. They are available at the parts store. The bolt used for the banjo is special also and has a narrower neck and holes to allow fluid to pass through.

I have a feeling if you tried to use rubber like you suggest, it would blow out when pressure is applied.

drcook

they have less than 2000 miles on them. I am going to disassemble and check everything again. but you asked me the same as I ask my son or other folks when I worked, ie: "Did you double check" which once again is good advice :-)

only for when I take the calipers off and hang up the hose, so it won't drip, not attached with copper washers,

ie: to go through the banjo fitting and seal it up while not attached to the caliper.

aklim

If I had a dollar for every time I thought I did something but didn't.....

Purple92

Just my $0.02, but if I were you, I'd buy two rebuild kits from Rock Auto or a similar type internet vendor - each rebuild kit should contain two square "O"-Rings and two dust boots - the kits can be had for less than $5.00/each (some may even have spare copper crush washers).

Take a good look at the brake hoses - some people believe in replacing after say 10 years - but if I were you - look at them, and realize that a failure may result in a crash - so think if you want to trust them or if they are cheap enough to just replace for the sake of safety... If you get new brake hoses - they should come with a set of copper crush washers - if you don't - you'll have to pick up a couple from the auto parts store.

Once you have the rebuild kits (and the hoses if appropriate) in your hands - pull the calipers, remove the pistons (I use compressed air - and NEVER EVER EVER leave your fingers where the pistons will be coming out - the force required to move them out with compressed air will easily break our fingers if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time). I normally put a block of wood in front of the pistons before hitting the compressed air to give them a soft surface to slam into....

Once the pistons are out - the dust seals just pull right off. Now - look at the caliper bore - if it's in decent shape - pull the square "O"-Ring (I find a dental pick type tool the best way - but DON'T nick the aluminum - even slightly - and then carefully clean the "O"-Ring groove with Q-Tips. This is the seal that holds the hydraulic pressure - so this is a time to take care and do the job right. Clean the piston up with Scotch-brite or 800 grit watersand paper, and if everything looks good - re-install with the new Square "O"-Ring from the kit. Then the cleaned up pistons go in (use new brake fluid liberally as a lube here). The piston will go in without the use of clamps - but it does take a good bit of force - do it by hand - and I'd suggest a block of wood against the piston fact to help distribute the load a bit. Once both pistons are back in - install the new dust seals - it's an awkward job - but turning them inside out, and slowly getting them to seat in the groove in the caliper will eventually work. At this point pat yourself on the back - Your caliper is now rebuilt.

If when you disassemble the caliper - you find it's ugly - head to the store and get a rebuilt caliper - and give them your old one as the core...

Just a friendly bit of advice - without ever meeting you or talking to you - I'm betting that your standards for what constitutes a rebuildable caliper are probably a bit higher than the place that rebuilds calipers for a living - so that's why I typically open mine up before I make any decisions.....


GOOD LUCK !!!