I'd like to have my calipers powder coated and would prefer not to wait in line for the exchange program. So, I'd like to remove mine, send them in for powder coating and install them myself when I get them back.

Anyone have experience doing this? Any potential pitfalls? How did you bleed them after installation?

 

i got mine from west coast corvettes. they send you the new ones and then you pull the old ones off and send them back. it is very easy to do. if you can change oil/brakes then you can do it. bleeding requires two people or a bleeder vac. start with wheel futherst from master cyl..our car rear pass and pump the brake up. open the bleeder screw let air out tighten screw repeat. you will need to get a hose to hook on the screw and runit to a bottle of some sort. when no more air is in the hose and it is solid brake fluid your done. move to next wheel. need to check master cyl often as if it runs dry you get to start over. so that about it go from rear pass to rear driver then front pass, front driver

 

I found the service manuals to be quite helpful with this. It's not terribly hard to do, but it is a bit intimidating since you're dealing with an important safety feature. You will need new washers for the banjo bolts and the shop manual suggests replacing the caliper bracket bolts, too (though most folks don't). You will need a torque wrench since the caliper bolts have to be tightened to 115 (I think - best to check specs as I'm working from memory). I had a hard time getting a good brake pedal with the bleeding procedure - I did it by myself with a pressure bleeder, but strongly recommend this as a two person job. If you do a search you'll come up with a number of helpful threads. Good luck.

 

You need 125 for the caliper mounting bolts and 22 for the bridge bolts.

Also, you can just install Speedbleeders, to eliminate the second person.

 

I was looking for Speedbleeders the other day, and the catalog did not show C6 applications. Were did you get them?

 

buy the russell ones for the c5 they are the same !

 

Thanks!

 

bleeding info here:
http://www.zeckhausen.com/bleeding_brakes.htm
Along with a lot of other tech info on brakes.


I use a motive power bleeder when I install them, but regular old 2 man bleeding works just fine.

 

Great. Thanks for all the responses. I've bled many a brake on 60's & 70's era muscle cars. Just wanted to be sure I wasn't up against something different with the C6.

 

Those things are great. I can bleed my brakes without having to talk my girlfriend into coming out to the garage and working the pedal for me.

 

How do you know when you have all the air out if you are in the car pushing the pedal? Just flush enough through and go on chance?

 

That's what I was wondering. Still sounds like a 2-person job but easier with tbe speedbleeders.

 

Simple job, I say go for it.

 

The Calipers for C5, C5Z, C6 base and C6 Z51 are the same PBR units. So you can use C5 speedbleeders.

To fully bleed the system without visual, you:

1) figure out total system capacity (requires a bit of guesstimation to include tube volume) - haven't done it yet on C6 so not sure what the figure is, but it should be similar to C5, which was about 2 Quarts.

2) start with the caliper furthest away from the MC (RR), do 25 pumps there, and work your way to the closest (LF) which only requires about 5-10 to clear.

3) be sure to refill fluid after each 10 pumps. The aboslute worst thing you can do is let fluid go too low and suck air into the system.

Once you have gone through the requisite number of bottles corresponding to the system capacity, you are done. If you really want to get fancy, you can start by removing old fuid from the reservoir with a turkey baster, then doing a MC flush via the nearest caliper, then proceeding as in #1 above.

Fluid: If the car goes long periods without fluid changes, pick a low hygroscopic fluid like Sytech. If you will bleed more often, do track, and want the most solid pedal, go for Motul 600 or similar that can handle high temps.

Lines: for a reason I don't understand, stainless lines do not seem to make that much of a difference on the C5/C6 braking systems, at least in everyday use. The OEM rubber lines are always preferrable to use because they can handle bending (as in every time you move the caliper and steer the car) better than the SS lines. Also, be aware that SS non-DOT approved lines are illegal on the street and you could be held liable in the event of brake failure resulting in injury.

 

I just pump a few times, then check the clear hose I put on the bleeder. If there's no bubbles in the hose, it's good to go.

 

I definitely will. I'm going on a small vacation near the end of August - so I won't need the Vette for a few days. Hopefully I can make arrangements to send the calipers in before I go on vacation and hopefully they'll be ready for re-installation when I return !

Thanks again for all the responses. I'll definitely go with the speedbleeders.

 

One other question...

When you remove all the calipers, what do you do to keep fluid from leaking from the hanging brake lines? Plug it with bolt ?

 

No more bubbles in the bleeder jar.

 

and how do you see the bleeder jar when you are in the car pumping the brakes? I still don't see how speedbleeders and conventional bleeding can be a one man job.