I got my first vette yesterday, a beautiful 69. The ride home was pretty interesting. The brakes seemed to work alright for driving around town, but I soon found out that stopping from highway speeds took forever. These are manual brakes, the pedal seems rock hard, no pumping required, and it doesn't pull or make noises. I would think that I should be able to lock up the tires if I press hard enough. I've done brake jobs before, what should I look for? I'd really like to take it out, but not till I fix the brakes....

|UPDATED|1/14/2003 10:04:22 PM|/UPDATED|

Congrats on the new toy...!!!

I'd recommend pulling the calipers and rebuilding them. And while you're at it have the rotors turned and install new pads. Then flush the the entire brake system. If you know what type of brake fluid is in there currently (DOT3 or DOT5) use the same type of fluid after the rebuild.

My 68 did not have power assist and it shed speed from 75 mph very easily. I recommend not only checking/rebuilding the calipers, but replacing the brake pads as well. Cheap brake pads are usually the culprit with poor performance. The BEST pads I have found for all around driving are the Raybestos Pro-Stop pads. (Life time warrantee) These are available at Pep Boys. When I have replaced calipers that come with pads, I just toss the ones that are in the kit. You may have to play with the brakes to get them just right.

Alex

The previous owner claimed to have had the brakes rebuilt a little over a year ago with only 100 miles or so on them todate, and I do have his receipts from a corvette shop for the work. A visual inspection shows very new looking set of calipers all around with new or resurfaced rotors. I’ve read about numerous issues with vett brakes, is it typical for them to turn problematic so fast?

It is possible that a glaze has formed on the pads and rotors in such a limited amount of driving. Having the rotors lightly resurfaced and installing new pads might be all it takes.

If regular DOT 3 brake fluid was used in the last overhaul of the brakes and there haven't been many miles put on the car since then, the first thing I'd do is completely flush the brake system with fresh DOT 3 fluid. This fluid WILL absorb moisture and cause gunk to build up in the system.

If DOT 5 (or silicon) brake fluid was used (which doesn't absorb moisture as readily) there is still an outside chance that some gunk has built up in the system.

With the problems I've had with the brakes on "The Toy" I've added a brake system flushing to both my "put it away" and "take it out" routines just to avoid any problems (hopefully!).

BTW - a point that was passed on to me during my caliper rebuilds last summer: If you had DOT 3 in the system before stay with it after the rebuild. Why? Because as I was told the DOT 5 is a finer fluid and may be more apt to leak around the seals on a non-professional rebuild. I stayed with the DOT 3 and the brakes remained just as firm as when I bled the system after putting everything back together.


Jim O.
Save the Wave...!!!

|UPDATED|1/22/2003 12:07:40 AM|/UPDATED|

I think your onto somthing there... good place as any to start. Thanks