I’m rebuilding the front suspension and getting close to doing the front brakes (original 68 disc brake car). I have already replaced all the steel and rubber brake lines throughout.
For an unskilled home mechanic, is it best to just buy rebuilt front calipers or should I rebuild them with the $6 kit from the auto parts store? I searched on this forum and couldn’t find a “how-to” on rebuilding the caliper. It seems like it’s just a matter of removing the piston and replacing the seals and then probably replacing the bleeder screw? What’s the best way to clean and paint them?
If the answer is to buy rebuilt, are there any brands/stores (brands that I see locally are Brakebest, Nugeon, Altrom, Adaptive One) to stay away from? WCCC has rebuilt calipers, and I trust them and prefer to buy from them, but they are priced 50% higher than the local stores and the shipping will add up quick on heavy stuff like this.
You can rebuild them yourself if the inside of the caliper body is not pitted. To find out the caliper must be disassembled and de - greased. Then soak it in Evaporust overnight. Rinse with water and then shoot WD-40 on it to prevent rusting.
At that point you can inspect the insides and determine if it can be rebuilt at home or if it needs to be a core on an exchange.
I thought I would update this post with my rebuild results. I haven’t found any walk-throughs of this process on the forum (maybe it’s considered too basic for most competent mechanics) so I thought I would walk through how it went for me.
First, I removed the caliper bracket and caliper from the spindle (it’s much easier to get leverage on the two heavy bolts while the spindle is still on the car).
Then I removed the guide plate and the brake pads so the caliper and the caliper bracket were separated.
Next I placed a small wood block in the caliper, opposite the piston, and used compressed air into the hose inlet to press out the piston (make sure the bleeder screw is shut). I just pressed the rubber tip of my air gun against the inlet hole and that held enough pressure to get the job done. When it releases it comes out pretty hard so don’t try to catch it with your hand!
I removed the dust seal and the inner rubber seal from the caliper. The dust seal comes off with your fingers, you’ll need to use a small screwdriver or something to remove the inner seal from its groove.
I masked off the bore and painted the caliper with Dupli-color engine enamel “cast iron” color. I don’t know what’s the best to use if your detailing but this looks okay to me.
Then I installed the dust seal and worked the lip of the seal all the way around the piston, kinda like putting an inner tube on a bike. Finally I used two blocks of wood and a pistol grip clamp to press the piston back into the caliper.
And that was it. It was a lot simpler than I thought it would be and a very satisfying little project. The seals were only $5 at the local auto parts store and all it cost me above that was a little bit of paint and evapo-rust.
The rotors weren’t anything worth saving. I’m putting on new ones from Raybestos. They had better reviews than the Bendix on Summit.
I’m not using any fancy pads, just OEM-type from the local auto parts store. I had ordered some from Summit but when they arrived the holes for the guide pins on the outer pads were not there.
Nice work, I’m sure photos will help the next guy at some point.
Believe it or not a lot of guys have not rebuilt calipers before. It’s not something that is common repair practice anymore since it’s easier and sometimes cheaper
to just install a store bought part. This era of car is somewhat different tho, it was built during a time when everything was rebuildable and not just a throw away part. It’s a nice feeling to fix what you had instead of tossing a new part at it. Good work!
Here are the fully assembled calipers, brackets, and pads, ready to go back on the car. Blitz did a great video for WCCC about the assembly and how to mount them to the rotor.
There is certainly nothing wrong with rebuilding them, but I wouldn’t.
Brakes are obviously a safety related item & your life is worth far more then whatever money you’ll save.
Professional rebuilders have access to specialized tools and jigs that no ordinary person has. They can hone, measure and repair a caliper to like new condition.
You won’t risk running into something you can’t fix & the install is far less of a hassle.
If I find myself in that position, I always get rebuilt or new ones & have done so on all previous vehicles I’ve dealt with.
It’s not like the calipers are that rare or expensive, especially if you redeem the core charge.
The process done as described here is far safer than anything done at the local brake caliper rebuilder. They employ folks who are getting paid minimum wage and no, you don’t get experts rebuilding your brake calipers at those prices.
If you look at what actually happened, there are not any specialized tools needed. If the calipers are pitted inside then your local brake repair place will try and save them using a hone. That’s not as good as what happened here.
From what I understand, many of the rebuilt callipers are magnafluxed to check for cracks in the housing and often the bleeder screw holes and brake hose ports are cleaned up with a tap to recondition the threads… at least in a halfway decent rebuild anyway…
Many are also painted or galvanized as well. This isn’t really necessary of course, but it’s nice to have. Even if I have a wheel that you can’t see the caliper through, rust and crud are ugly.
They sell rebuilt calipers at NAPA for about $28 exchange. They don’t do anything they don’t need to do. How much quality do you understand can be bought for $28?
The seal and boot kit costs less than $9. I would trust the quality of anyone to do a better job than NAPA on their own calipers following the process outlined here.
I gotta agree with Royce, anyone that has installed reman or rebuilt box store parts wound contest to its “quality” how this thread outlines the repair is far better then what your going to get with a genetic rebuilt part. Obviously there are some exceptions to this but I think these era calipers are pretty basic rebuilds and it’s clear what will be safe to run or not safe to run.
If one is not confident on being able to rebuild something like this the by all means get a quality reman part but I wouldn’t put rebuilding it your self in an unsafe category
I have installed my far share of reman parts and I can say you never know what your going to get. If I can get a new part over a reman I will get that any day! Reman parts Are not all they are cracked up to be. Especially if said part has been reman unknown amount of times
I just rebuilt mine too, media blasted to clean 50 years of mother natures abuse. Re coated/plated for the “natural” cast iron look and new seals. I think they look pretty good. Impervious to brake cleaner/carb cleaner too. The second picture is a before and after.
I used gun bluing fluid, then steel wool to lighten it up and achieve that look. I sprayed it with the harshest chemicals I had and it didn’t seem to bother it!
