Front Calipers

[Mickfly]

What are you guys doing when in need of front brake calipers? Is there a replacement caliper that is out there? What about rebuilding the factory ones? Thanks

[sdg3205]

What is the issue with yours? You can buy seal kits and pistons so sweat. As long as you actually have callipers, they probably just need a rebuild with parts from your preferred vendor.

It's actually quite straight forward.

[Josh]

+1 with Dave! Rebuild them. There are cross referenced calipers that can be had but the stock calipers are the best option. Just buy two seal kits and you are off to the races.

Some while you are at it parts:

-Flexible hoses, if yours are cracked
-Caliper hard lines, if the nuts are rusted
-Caliper pistons, if there is pitting on the bore face (usually an issue if the car has been sitting for a long time)

[SS Spoiler]

What is your countertop made out of? Just curious

[Josh]

What is your countertop made out of? Just curious

Haha, it is my low budget workbench. The surface is made out of 2x12's with a piece of rectangular air ducting attached to the top. Not very strong so it dents easily, but it cleans up much nicer than pine!

[David T]

Haha, it is my low budget workbench. The surface is made out of 2x12's with a piece of rectangular air ducting attached to the top. Not very strong so it dents easily, but it cleans up much nicer than pine!

It is rare that a brake caliper cannot be rebuilt. The internal bore is not critical and can be cleaned up. What typically goes bad is the piston and seal and they are easily replaced. Best if you can bead blast but not required. Eastwood.com sells paint for them if you want to make them pretty. I don't know if you can buy new ones anymore, most of the vendors sell rebuilt/reconditioned ones and require your old ones or charge you for the cores. You should consider doing all four at the same time and replacing the 4 hoses too. If the pads have enough materiel on them you do not have to change them but at least use new shims.

[kings1527]

Is there any kind of specific technique to use when bead blasting the calipers? My only reservation is causing problems with the internal bore, such as scoring it from being blasted.

I'm guessing any business who re-plates calipers would/should know the ins and outs of it?

[sdg3205]

Don't blast the bore. Blasters will usually fit a cap over the bore to protect it during blasting. If it needs a little TLC, some crocus cloth (very very fine emery paper) can be used.

[Josh]

When I was blasting mine, I taped off the bore with some duct tape and used caution when blasting on the inside of the caliper half. I also bought some m10x1 caps and closed off the holes for the lines. Afterwards, I used a hone to clean up the bore, mine were very very bad. Three out of the four calipers were seized so there was alot of crud in the calipers.

I tried to get my calipers zinc plated locally and they told me they did not have the capacity to do large cast pieces. I know that DMCMW can get them plated if you send them off to them. Any delorean vendor probably would if you inquire.

[David T]

Don't blast the bore. Blasters will usually fit a cap over the bore to protect it during blasting. If it needs a little TLC, some crocus cloth (very very fine emery paper) can be used.

The bore is not a precision fit. A little corrosion there won't hurt. What IS important is the groove where the seal goes and the outer surface of the piston. This is not like a cylinder in the motor. The seal and the outer surface of the piston is what is doing the sealing, the internal bore of the caliper just keeps the piston straight. You don't blast the bore for a more important reason, you do not want the media getting stuck in there and not being able to get it clean. A light honing to remove any corrosion is all you have to do. The piston must be able to slide easily in the bore and not get scratched up. You don't want the surface of the piston getting scratched, it will leak. If you do have the caliper blasted you must insure that ALL blast media has been cleaned, especially in the small passages where the brake fluid goes.

[kings1527]

Thanks for all the info, guys. I'm actually leaning towards sending my cores to Dave and Julee since I know they get everything done correctly. That's a huge piece of mind right there!

[jawn101]

Thanks for all the info, guys. I'm actually leaning towards sending my cores to Dave and Julee since I know they get everything done correctly. That's a huge piece of mind right there!

Alex - based on that other jobs you've tackled, you can *definitely* handle the brakes. It's a really easy job - mostly grunt labor actually. With 3 owners on the task, we removed, cleaned, rebuilt, reinstalled and tested all 4 calipers on a local guy's car in one day. That included replacing the hoses with stainless and a complete flush of the hard lines, as well as getting the rotors turned at a local machine shop. Now, his calipers were in serviceable shape. If yours aren't, it may be a different story. But if you were doing it on your own (with help to bleed, of course) I see no reason you couldn't finish the task in a weekend! :)

Just my $0.02 anyway, I certainly also support giving the business to Midwest if that's the route you choose.

[David T]

Alex - based on that other jobs you've tackled, you can *definitely* handle the brakes. It's a really easy job - mostly grunt labor actually. With 3 owners on the task, we removed, cleaned, rebuilt, reinstalled and tested all 4 calipers on a local guy's car in one day. That included replacing the hoses with stainless and a complete flush of the hard lines, as well as getting the rotors turned at a local machine shop. Now, his calipers were in serviceable shape. If yours aren't, it may be a different story. But if you were doing it on your own (with help to bleed, of course) I see no reason you couldn't finish the task in a weekend! :)

Just my $0.02 anyway, I certainly also support giving the business to Midwest if that's the route you choose.

If you want the calipers plated you can't beat the prices the vendors do it for. Since they handle large quantities and are repeat customers they can get much better pricing then you can with just 4 calipers. The shops the vendors use also know how to handle them, a local shop that you find may not do it correctly. Plating is nice but powder coating is also a nice option. Most of the vendors will do it on an exchange basis. They send you out a set, bill you a core charge, and credit you when you take your set off and return it to them. That way your car is not out of service any longer than necessary.

[jawn101]

If you want the calipers plated you can't beat the prices the vendors do it for. Since they handle large quantities and are repeat customers they can get much better pricing then you can with just 4 calipers. The shops the vendors use also know how to handle them, a local shop that you find may not do it correctly. Plating is nice but powder coating is also a nice option. Most of the vendors will do it on an exchange basis. They send you out a set, bill you a core charge, and credit you when you take your set off and return it to them. That way your car is not out of service any longer than necessary.

Now that is an undeniable truth. Good point, David. Plating will be a steal from a vendor if that's how you wanna go. We found on all of our cars that the plating was intact under all the grime and a careful cleaning brought it back to a pretty nice appearance. Can't see the calipers through the wheels anyway so I wasn't hyper concerned with looks on them.

[kings1527]

Alex - based on that other jobs you've tackled, you can *definitely* handle the brakes. It's a really easy job - mostly grunt labor actually. With 3 owners on the task, we removed, cleaned, rebuilt, reinstalled and tested all 4 calipers on a local guy's car in one day. That included replacing the hoses with stainless and a complete flush of the hard lines, as well as getting the rotors turned at a local machine shop. Now, his calipers were in serviceable shape. If yours aren't, it may be a different story. But if you were doing it on your own (with help to bleed, of course) I see no reason you couldn't finish the task in a weekend! :)

Just my $0.02 anyway, I certainly also support giving the business to Midwest if that's the route you choose.

Thanks Jon! Wow, you guys moved quickly, huh? I know it's getting tough to find the OEM Girlings if anything were to happen to them and I just don't know how much I trust a plating company to know exactly what needs to be done to them. I know the ones from DMCMW will be perfect. I'd love to have the experience doing the brakes and from what I've been reading and what you're telling me, it won't be the most complicated job in the world. I'm having so much fun driving my car right now, I can't stand any more downtime! I was thinking they could use a re-plating, including the dust shields, which I know is kind of lame since they're going to get dirty again anyways. But I think David T touched on what I'm looking for. From a cost perspective (and knowing there won't be any issues with the plating), it'd be tough to beat DMCMW.


If you want the calipers plated you can't beat the prices the vendors do it for. Since they handle large quantities and are repeat customers they can get much better pricing then you can with just 4 calipers. The shops the vendors use also know how to handle them, a local shop that you find may not do it correctly. Plating is nice but powder coating is also a nice option. Most of the vendors will do it on an exchange basis. They send you out a set, bill you a core charge, and credit you when you take your set off and return it to them. That way your car is not out of service any longer than necessary.

Thanks David. Appreciate the info.


Now that is an undeniable truth. Good point, David. Plating will be a steal from a vendor if that's how you wanna go. We found on all of our cars that the plating was intact under all the grime and a careful cleaning brought it back to a pretty nice appearance. Can't see the calipers through the wheels anyway so I wasn't hyper concerned with looks on them.

I still like the idea of getting the experience doing this job. I'll pull a wheel off and see again exactly how beat up the calipers are and go from there. Maybe I'll do what you did, Jon. If they're really bad, I'll just go with DMCMW and periodically clean the calipers. Wow, who does that?

Thanks!

[jawn101]

Thanks Jon! Wow, you guys moved quickly, huh?

Now that I can't argue. The three of us (me, David/DavidProehl and Clint/vwdmc16) are a great team. We work really well together and have a great task-sharing mojo when we get together - every job seems like a breeze, and there are precious few we haven't tried at this point!

Anyway, your way forward is all going to depend on your personal situation. If you wanted to save some cash and risk some more downtime, you could pull a wheel and a caliper and see if you can get it clean (purple degreaser with a very light brass/nylon brushing - no wire wheel, etc) to your liking. If not, go the loaded caliper exchange route. If so, do the rebuild yourself!

If your specific situation has you prioritizing drive time over saving the cash, then core swaps it is :)

[Tillsy]

If it helps in your decision, I did mine over the course of a week (one calliper per night) with no experience what-so-ever and only help was with bleeding.

Did the rotors and front lines separately another time. Rear lines not done yet as I haven't worked out how to reach all the way in there and not spill brake fluid everywhere...

By the way, I had completely flushed my brake fluid as part of getting her on the road a month or two prior and the calipers seemed to be working fine - I just did the rebuild to be thorough. Yet this is what I found inside each, so I rank this job as important as replacing all the fuel lines...
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=12729

[David T]

If it helps in your decision, I did mine over the course of a week (one calliper per night) with no experience what-so-ever and only help was with bleeding.

Did the rotors and front lines separately another time. Rear lines not done yet as I haven't worked out how to reach all the way in there and not spill brake fluid everywhere...

By the way, I had completely flushed my brake fluid as part of getting her on the road a month or two prior and the calipers seemed to be working fine - I just did the rebuild to be thorough. Yet this is what I found inside each, so I rank this job as important as replacing all the fuel lines...
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=12729

Your decision to do it yourself is going to come down to how you want the calipers to look. If you want them plated the best way is exchange. If you don't care or you want to try painting them yourself then you can rebuild them yourself. If you have the necessary tools (and you don't need a lot of expensive ones) then all you need are the pistons, seals, dust boots, hoses, and brake fluid. You should get a brake hone to clean up the bore but they aren't expensive and you can use it with a cordless drill. You might need some compressed air to get the pistons out. You can go to a nearby gas station and they can help. This job is within the capabilities of just about anyone willing to get dirty. I for one am not for making them pretty. They get dirty so fast and you can't see them anyway.

[jawn101]

Rear lines not done yet as I haven't worked out how to reach all the way in there and not spill brake fluid everywhere...

This is an easy one. Drain the fluid from the system and bleed out of the bleed screws on the rear before you remove the calipers. Then just remove the old lines and wipe up any residual drips quickly. The fluid won't hurt anything if it just touches the frame briefly. Prolonged exposure is what you need to avoid, not a few minutes while you get your paper towels in there :)