I'll start out by saying I sure liked it when the Spider had semi-frozen
brake caliper pistons. It had great pedal. The caliper's are all rebuilt
and it now has three quarters of loose/soft brake pedal after spending
umpteen hours trying to bleed the ungrateful wretch.
I don't suppose there is some special trick to bleeding the brakes after
a compete caliper rebuild is there?
PLEASE, no speed bleeder suggestions. The thought of even a small leak
terrifies me, let alone the thought of spraying brake fluid all over the
engine bay, exterior, and top. If the cars I work on had a single,
non-notched cap on the reservoir, I would then consider it.
That said, I currently have enough grease around each of the bleed
screws for a front hub rebuild. Yes, there is a new MC.
I'm mostly talking to myself since I won't use a speed bleeder but will
now pull out the MightyVac. As I said in the past, this to me makes
sense to pull the fluid through. Too bad they're not better made. But
worse, you always have bubbles.
Whining over (maybe) but I want to thank all of the tips regarding the
caliper rebuilds. I'm not trying to now come across as the expert, but I
still feel it makes sense to pop out both pistons before removing the
caliper, it they're really stuck. As it is, by using the suggested
C-clamp to then pull one back far enough to get the other piston out
with air pressure it then later takes a fair amount of blowing/pressure
to remove this piston as the rebuilt one is held in by the C-clamp. I
also installed a cut/crimped hard-line fitting on the caliper and blew
through the bleed screw hole. I'll also add that I began using my (CSI)
face shield after one C-clamp flew by my head when the stuck piston came
free.
I'm pretty sure I got the seals in fine. After the pistons were pulled
in past the seal, they then pulled the rest of the way in smoothly using
a C-clamp. They certainly do like to cock before then. That said, on the
final piston rebuild the piston would only move with a great deal of
pressure after going past the seal. I removed it and there was some
schmootz (sp?) under the seal/ring. I cleaned it out and it then went in
smoothly.
I never have claimed to be the fastest restorer/rebuilder, but it any of
you feel you 'want' to rebuild your four calipers for your one and only
daily driver and you still have a job, I suggest you start on a Friday
night.
In my case, this is a client car. Tell me, how would you feel about
receiving your somewhat expensive restored Alfa and all looks and works
well except...the brake pedal is a 'bit soft'?
I was afraid you'd say that.
Biba
Irwindale, CA USA
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