[William Miller]

Rick, good thought!
Ken If you want I'll still swop and help you rebuild them!
We both win!

[William Miller]

Rick, good thought!
Ken If you want I'll still swop and help you rebuild them!
We both win!

[Rick Lee]

On second thought, I think Vertex has a $100 core charge. That sucks. Rebuild your calipers and buy the parts from Vertex.

[Trak Ratt]

Stock or slotted. Slotted are generally a lot more $$. DOT stainless front & back. The set is less expensive than just the factory front rubber. Don’t forget the caliper paint; I did the coupe in “Chevy Orange”. All the repair manuals I’ve seen have "to scale drawings" of the piston gauge. Unless Kurt tried already, push the piston back into the caliper & then press the brake pedal. Sometimes they will “stick” from sitting to long. Works especially well with new pads, you use a different part of the cylinder

Bill, bleeder on top. Rubber hose goes from chassis to strut, metal from strut to pretty much center mount on caliper. Upside down will work but bleeding can be a bit tricky. No, don't do that! Check the other side, may be they have a matched set! & yes I've done that, but didn't go past the "bleeding" part.

[William Miller]

David, now I'm really confused.
I ask a lot of questions, but a lot of answers at once got my head spinning.
The right side is correct.
I know the left front was dammaged because the left fender and door are replacements as well as a little work on the hood. The bumper and valance probably.
My guess is that this caliper was replaced with the wrong one.
I'll see what's up with the hose tonight.

One question I forgot to ask:
I saw in the new performance products wish book that they sell some bleed screws that are some how automatic. Open the 1/2 turn and you just pump the pedal. My guess is that there is a check valve in them.

Is this just hype or do they work?

[Vicegrip]

Rebuild all 4. All 4 have been subjected to the same conditions.

Two piston units are hard to rebuild only in the fact that the pistons are hard top remove at times. With air pressure the non stuck piston comes out and the stuck one stays.

I recommend that you remove the calipers before blowing the pistons out. In fact I recommend that you take them to someone that has the tools, prior experience and place to work. That will make a, without proper equipment nightmare job, seem almost easy. A few tricks are needed to keep the mess and busted knuckles to a minimum.
Before you disconnect the calipers push the brake pedal in an inch or so and block it with a stick. This will stop the fluid from running out of the system.

OEM rotors are the way to go unless aggressive track time is planned.

[Charlie Stylianos]

.....bleed screws that are some how automatic. Open the 1/2 turn and you just pump the pedal. My guess is that there is a check valve in them.

Is this just hype or do they work?

William,

They are called Speed Bleeders, and you are correct, there is a check valve that opens with hydraulic pressure. They pretty much make the 2 person pump, pump, pump, open routine a one person task. I've used them with good success, but honestly, I was able to get a firmer pedal with the Motive and a rubber hammer against the calipers.

[Jazzbass]

Ken -

I'd take Kurt's advice and rebuild all 4. At $12/kit it's pretty cheap. The first thing I did to my car was refresh the entire braking system - new hoses, rebuilt the calipers, etc. I even made some custom tools to make extracting the pistons easier.

If you want, you can bring your car over to my house and we'll rebuild your calipers. I have the tools (including the compressor) and I've done this more times than I can count, so it should be a quick process (because, you know, there won't be any hidden gotchas, right ). It'll have to be a weekend day as I'm away on business most of the week. Anyone else want in? We can have a big Dorki caliper rebuilding workshop!

BTW, I have OEM rotors and rubber lines, and my brakes feel like someone threw an anchor out the window. I'd skip the SS lines and cross drilled rotors and start to worry about the slotted ones when your brakes become the limiting factor to your performance driving. If you're a green newbie like me, this will take a while and you'll probably be ready for new rotors by then anyway.

[Ken Robinson]

Chris,

Sent you a PM.

Ken

[Parenn911]

I'll stop by since your right down the street from me Chris. Should I bring donuts or the refreshments !