Awhile back my brakes started squealing, and as usual, while annoyed, I let them go until they stopped squealing. I knew what would be coming next, grinding. Sure enough, about a week ago while applying the brakes I heard just a faint sound, a sound that sounded a bit like metal on metal. A day later, there was no mistaking it, my brakes were done for!
So I milked my brakes along for a few more days, until my two days off where upon I could repair them. I waited until my dad was visiting, as I knew if I simply drove to the store, bought the parts I thought I would need, something would be forgot...right about the time the brakes were all torn apart and the car undrivable. My prediction would have been dead on too.
I no more than got the car jacked up and wheels off when the first obstacle presented itself. Now I know that at some point in the past I had an allen wrench that fit the brake calipers. I looked everywhere, and it was nowhere to be found. So, I added that to the list of things I needed and ventured to the parts store in my dad's truck. By the looks of things, one rotor was toast, no turning that one to clean it up. The other side appeared ok, so I went with 1 rotor and a set of pads. Upon returning home, I removed the calipers on both sides, then the rotors. It was then that I realized that while the surface seemed ok on the passenger side, the thickness was beyond gone. After some thought, I'm pretty sure these are the factory original rotors...with 141,000 miles on them! While putting the new rotor on the driver side of the car, I realized something else, they neglected to sell me the rear seals to hold the wheel bearings in the new rotor. Oh well, since another trip was in order, I'd simply pick up a set up seals to go with my 2nd rotor I needed.
As luck would have it, the 1st rotor I picked up was the last rotor in stock. The Murray's employee called up the road and verified that another store had one they would hold for me. After returning home, I realized that this is why I hate working on brakes so much. For whatever reason, it just never goes smoothly for me...and it appeared the fun wasn't over.
After installing the used bearings inside the near calipers, I finished up the driver side. I pumped the brakes a few times, just to see how they'd feel, forgetting that I had the passenger caliper off, so the pedal felt soft considering the caliper extended the piston all the way. As I ventured over to the passenger side, I so the piston fully extended and attempted to push it back in. I no more than touched the piston and it fell out, breaking the rubber seal, and emptying all the brake fluid onto the garage floor. Yeah, this is why I hate doing brakes!
After removing the brake line from the caliper I placed it on the bench. After fighting with it for what must have been a good 30 minutes, I got the piston back inside the rubber seal, and pushed back into place. Everything went smoothly from then on, with my neighbor assisting with the bleeding of the brakes. I crossed my fingers during that first drive, hoping everything went together ok. After several hard stops, the brakes started to come alive, and now the car stops better than it has in many years.
As I flipped throught he pages of one of my new magazines, I see that Baer has a kit out for Firebirds/Camaros. It's a 6 piston kit with 14 inch rotors, all for the price of $2,500! I'm sure when the day comes to rebuild/restore my Formula, something along those lines will be in order. Till then, I guess I'll make due with the Chinese crap from Murray's to slow my car.
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