Well I tackled something this weekend that I have never done before....rebuilding brake calipers. I have done many brake jobs on my own autos but never rebuilt a caliper. I was trying to replace the pads on my coupe and when got in there you could barely turn the wheel. So I had to back the pads off of the rotor before i could even get my caliper off. This particular one wouldn't move very far, and it took a great deal of effort. I knew something wasn't right. So after I got the caliper off of the rotor I went ahead and removed it from the car to see what was going on. Now my rotor was spinning freely. Whew, no bearings needed yet. I carefully applied 80 psi of air to the fluid port and it moved the cylinder about an 1/8 of and inch.

After calling the local parts house and getting a price on a new one for $30+ I priced a rebuild kit for $3. That was a no brainer. I figured with the present condition of the caliper I would only loose $3 if I wasn't able to do it. So my dad and I took it on.

It wasn't really very hard. The hardest part was figuring out how to get the piston out. We finally reattached it to the car and let the car do the work. He pumped the brakes in manual mode and I stood clear and watched. Finally it popped right out. I honed the cylinder with some 1500 grit sand paper (that was all i had) and polished the piston with a drill polisher, installed an inner and an outer rubber seal and we were done.

If any of you out there have never done this and have a need, don't be afraid of it, just do it. It was soooo easy and well worth the $25+ (each side) I saved.

That works, be careful you don't get hurt doing it that way, there is a LOT of force available to a brake caliper. Compressed air works too. Put an old brake pad in there to "catch" it.

BUT, the "issue" with rebuilding old calipers is said to be the bore gets worn and then is prone to leaks or the piston can wobble in the bore.
Now common sense says that the rebuilt ones might have the same issues and probably do, it is a VERY profitable business.

You found out what GM says to do, rebuilt, not replace. But our easy as can be mentality says to just replace it...

Congrats!!! I honestly end up replacing, but that is because I often have broken bleeders....

[QUOTE=N0DIH;1469034]That works, be careful you don't get hurt doing it that way, there is a LOT of force available to a brake caliper. Compressed air works too. Put an old brake pad in there to "catch" it.

Yeah I am sure there is. We chose to do it without power so as to be somewhat more gradual. Doing it this, once the piston passed the seal, it just kinda made "pop" sound but didin't shoot across the shop or anything. But you are so right to be carefull and very cautious.

I am with you about the "do it now" mentality, but that $50 bucks was speaking loud. Had it been my wifes SUV I would probably just put a new one on it, but I will have to say i rather enjoyed learning something new, and i figure as long as your seal is new and your piston is smooth it shouldn't leak. I had some minor pits in the cylinder that wouldn't sand out, but the piston polished up t real nice. It stops on a dime (or at least a dollar) now. :)

I like to rebuild starters, alternators, carbs, etc. If I can, I will, no reason not to. Then I get the part that I know the history on. Like most alternators and starters, it is just the brushes in most cases. So $5 in parts to fix a store rebuilt starter for $100-$300. It is silly. Oh, sure, they give you a warranty, but honestly, I am more comfy with my work than theirs. Heck, they can test it for me for free and I can check my work!

I am still wanting to have spares on the shelf, but haven't got to that point yet. My grandfather always did or he had a friend who worked at NAPA and gave him the parts he wanted when he took a trip and he just returned what he didn't use and paid for the one he did.... Connections!

But these parts stores now make it hard to get parts to push people who like to rebuild into their parts. That ticks me off. I have a local shop that will sell me parts too. Like the SD250/5MT armature that is a culprit on the 4.5/4.9L cars and most other GM cars from 77-up. $25 new. And brushes @ NAPA for $1 each. I tried to repair and armature once, it worked for 6 months, but it failed again (corrosion) and I just bought the new armature and all was fine, still good to this day, >200K now....

Yeah the starter was my next project. It is starting to drag a little, so i figured i would use the same logic here...it is so much cheaper, and hey, i learn something. Of course the money save alone is reason enough when i need paint, and chrome and a muffler and tail pipe and this and that and ......

Well you get the idea. It could be a big money pit or just a small money "leak". :)

Here is some info on rebuilding calipers. Pay attention to these circle track stuff, GOOD tech there, the chassis they like to run is VERY similar to the cars we drive!!

http://www.circletrack.com/techarticles/ctrp_0612_brake_caliper_rebuild/index.html