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Brake caliper resto and drum brake cleanup. |
My car is equipped with front disc brakes, a good thing as they are a more performant then the standard drum brakes. When season 2007 was getting to an end I noticed that the brake performance was worsening. I had things checked and noticed that there was a problem with the calipers. The 66 calipers have 4 pistons each (unlike the 67 setup that has only 1). Some were stuck so with uneven brake pad wear as a result. So I took them of and restored them with my dad. It is not a complicated thing to do, still it required some thinking (how the get the pistons out once the caliper is removed from the disc) and several hours of work. All the pistons were dirty (maybe changing the brake oil more regularly should prevent this from happening......) so just a thorough clean did the job; the 4 dust boots and oil rings are replaced of course. Also the calipers were nicely cleaned up as well. |
Since it was winter I also decided to dismantle the drum brakes together with my dad. I took the wheel cilinders of and noticed that both were quite dirty on the inside. They were both opened and cleaned; there were still in good order so no need to replace them. We used my air compressor to get all the old brake oil out of the brake lines. Once the calipers are installed (with new brake pads of course)I can reconnect everything and bleed the whole system. |
Before the work started. Go over the pic to get a closer look. |
Go over the pic to get a closer look.
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The drums are dismantled and the wheel cilinder removed for cleaning. |
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Both wheel clinders are overhauled. |
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Nice and clean and ready to be put together. |
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The drums were cleaned and received 3 coats of black paint |
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The front rotor without the caliper |
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Here are the calipers, you can see the pistons, dirty but not rusty so no need to replace them. They will be cleaned up together with the caliper. The inner rings and dustboots will be replaced. The flexible brake lines as well. |
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The grease and old paint comes of revealing the caliper in good shape |
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The rings: before and after |
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The calipers completely taken apart. The inside is cleaned up. The new inner rubbers and dust boots are waiting to be installed. |
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Everything installed and a fresh coat of black paint. |
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The caliper installed on the rotor, with new brake pads and new flexible hose. |