4- piston caliper "sleeving"?????

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Bill Dedman

Bill Dedman

bill dedman
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I have a '72 A-Body with the original 4-piston caliper disk brakes, and one of the calipers has had a problem, almost since it was new, of one of the pistons sticking in its bore, and not retracting, This not only slows the car down, (dragging brakes; just what you need at the drag strip.... NOT!) it wears the pad into a wedge shape and wears it out prematurely.

I had a friend who made his living supplying calipers (to a brake-shop retailer for Corvettes) that he would rebore, and then press in a stainless steel sleeve, so the bores wouldn't rust. When they rust, they get pits in the surface, and the abrasive action attacks the rubber seals and then, they leak and tend to stick in their bores... like mine is doing.

Brake fluid (regular-style) is "hygroscopic," which as you probably already know, just means it absorbs water out of the atmoosphere. That water is what causes the bores in these calipers to "pit" and destroy the rubber seals.

I am trying to find out if it's possible to buy stanless steel sleeved calipers for my Valiant, like my friend used to make for Corvettes. I'm tired of this problem, and would like to fix it "right." I'm not going to replace this system with the '73-up single piston caliper setup unless I have to.

If anybody knows of a stainless steel sleeved caliper setup for my Kelsey-Hayes, 4-piston calipers, please let me know.

Thanks for any information!!!

Bill, in Conway, Arkansas
 
I had Stainless Steel Brakes reline my original 69 Kelsey Hayes calipers. They did not hold up after a few years. They started leaking. I did use silicone brake fluid. I ended up buying a new set of SSB four piston calibers that are a direct bolt on and look the same. I bought the iron units they are also offered in aluminum. I think the iron bores are harder to scratch than the aluminum units. So I would recommend just buying the new ones from SSB to begin with.
 
Try this website, www.calipersonline.com. They show rebuilt calipers
with stainless pistons for our mopars. They are a little pricey,but what
isn't these days. Hope this helps.
 
:read2:white post restorations will resleeve calipers, there in VA. and have a web site. they use brass I believe. maybe pricey though, but lifetime warrented.
 
Bill,
We had our Firebird calipers rebuilt in 2005 by Muskegon Brakes:
www.muskegonbrake.com
They were super people to do business with. We shipped our calipers, they bored and inserted stainless sleeves as you are wanting to do.
They specialize in Corvette calipers. If they cannot do your KH, they may know of a place that can do them.
C
 
What a great wealth of information!

Thanks to all of you.

If I can't find a satisfactory solution from all THOSE posts, I should be shot!

I do appreciate all those great suggestions!!!

Happy New Year to you ALL!!!

Bill, in Conway, Arkansas
 
Does anyone know how to get Stainless Steel Braided Lines for these brakes?

obvious next question...

Where did you get them and might as well put the link or phone number down...

Thanks A-body Buddy
 
The 4 piston calipers on my car are over 20 years old and work perfectly. I flush them out every year or so. Not a daily driver though. I don't think you need stainless steel if you flush them out regularly.
 
Thanks to some really good advice, I giot my new calipers from Calipers Online, and they are working perfectly, now. Gone is the dragging brake syndrome I was suffering, before.

They are $75.00 each with a refundable core charge of $100.00 each.

Reasonable, in this day and age, I thought!

Thanks again for all the good info!!

Bill, in Conway, Arkansas

PS That "flushing" operation sounds like the way to go! I appreciate the good advice!!!
 
how do you go about using a vaccuum bleeder? ive never even seen one and I cant seem to get a bubble out by my master cylinder. Im problably going to pick up one of those vacuum bleeders if they work that well.
 
340sFastback, those look like some pretty fancy bleeders. Which one did you get, the Chrysler one? Would it also work with an older GM, or are they actually model specific?
On a side note, I have an an el-cheapo brass one from Harbor Freight. It works "OK", but nothing special and I think the brake fluid actually ate up some of the rubber fitting that it came with!
C
 
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