ClassicG

Hi, I bled the brakes yesterday and found the front right caliper has a leaky piston. I removed the caliper and the pistons look pretty rusty/dirty. Is it worth it to try to rebuild it or should I just buy new calipers for all wheels? if so, any suggestions on where to buy oem factory replacements?

Steve2147

It's probably not worth trying to rebuild them unless it's important to you to have the original castings still in place and intend to send them out for sleeving. These brakes use floating pistons instead of floating calipers like most cars. What that means is that the sliding seal surface is the bore, not the piston and any defect (pitting) in the bore will be problamatic and not cured by new pistons. Floating calipers found on most cars use a square cut o-ring in a groove and the sliding action takes place on the piston. Not much goes wrong with the groove in the caliper so replacing the piston restores the seal surface. We're not so fortunate.

Steve g

Edit:

You want to check runout on your rotors as part of the job. Excessive runout will cause the pistons to "flutter" and pump air back into the system.

Steve COSD

Don't waste your time trying to rebuild them. Waste of time and money. I have a 75 and an 82 both had the same problem. Get the O ring type from Vette Brakes and products. Also if the hoses are old replace them also. It's good insurance.
Good Luck,
Steve

muskegonbrake

We have our Brake Super Kit with all 4 calipers, M/C, Hoses, etc. ready to ship if you decide to replace. If the caliper has not been sleeved it's not worth trying to rebuild yourself, you'll just end up with another leaker. Feel free to give me a call with any questions.

Andrew
800-442-0335
http://www.muskegonbrake.com

69 Chevy

So true. And if one corner is leaking now, the other 3 are not far behind. I got stainless sleeved calipers over 30 years ago from a local auto parts store with a lifetime warranty. About 5 years later, one half started leaking. I returned it for another at N/C. No problem since then.