Complete and Total Brake Overhaul - Part 1.

[mdsalemi]

After 25 years, whether it needed it or not, I decided it was time to overhaul the braking system, to prevent problems that may come up after a quarter of a century.

I didn't want to keep the car laid up on blocks (actually impossible at my home) so the first goal was seeing if I could borrow some ATE calipers for rebuilding. Sounds crazy but my friend and our member Eddie Black from Atlanta came through. I've borrowed a set of old calipers he had on the shelf, sent them out to Caliper HQ for rebuilding, and they just came back.

When mine come off the car, Eddie will have the choice of rebuilding them too, or just getting my old cores returned to him.

I've accumulated, over time, the following parts, all new, in addition to the rebuilt calipers:

*ATE Master Cylinder
*All flexible lines
*new fluid reservoir (one that sits straight, not cockeyed.
*ATE rotors
*ATE pads
*ATE Hardware
*3L of ATE fluid

Waiting for a mutually agreed upon time to attack the project.

More to come when the labor starts. It's easy to spend money and accumulate parts over time, but getting it all in is the goal of course.

[JedinDetroit]

So, did you get a chance to start yet?

The only thing missing from your list is a pressure bleeder.  I like the Motive bleeder. Inexpensive and works great.  get the 'euro' version and the adapter will fit right on your reservoir. 

[wwheeler]

Another vote for the Motive bleeder

[mdsalemi]

Tomorrow is the day.
Calipers have been returned. All parts have been accumulated. I have a snap on pressure bleeder but Pedro the mechanic has his own…

[JedinDetroit]

Oh baby...looks like Christmas in September....

[EeVeeWee]

For my car it was also really necessary. 

[RobParkerMB]

I just replaced all my hard and Flexi brake lines, plus new front calipers. Nice satisfying job, and apart from the small hardlines on the front calipers, it was all pretty cheap for genuine parts

[mdsalemi]

Well, today started great but ran into a few minor roadblocks that prevented the task from being completed in a timely manner.

1. Bearing caps: we needed to replace the bearing caps. These are on the inner front bearings. Thankfully the local NAPA store had them in a few hours.

2. Speaking of bearings, when cleaning up the bearings, it looked like Tinker Bell had sprinkled glitter in the parts washing bin. No, it was tiny metal flakes from the bearings. Upon critical examination, one bearing was clearly worse than the rest, but it doesn't matter: they'll ALL be replaced.

3. Due to my error in ordering, probably, I was missing one proper rear flex hose. The right rear flex hose is F-F. The left rear flex hose is M-F, and the M end goes into the brake proportioning valve. We made do by using one of the extra front hoses I had, yes a little bit longer than necessary but it works.

4. The rebuilt front calipers (NOT the rear) had the pistons installed upside down. Yes, there is a proper direction to insert the pistons. So, a bit of a time sink to pull the pistons out (compressed air) and rotate 180 degrees. If only they went in as easy as they came out. It took some time to get it all proper and back together.

So, will take a bit more time to get it done. Here are some pix from today.

[mdsalemi]

Speaking of "pistons in upside down" here is something from the BBB:

[mdsalemi]

The brake job has been completed.
A local NAPA store had the bearings in stock. Everything went together, smoothly, including the new master cylinder and reservoir. Just on general principles changed the air and fuel filters as well. Some additional photos from today.