Disc brake swap hoses and caliper rebuild

[Meatman]

I know what I need to do to swap on my discs. Thats pretty simple. My questions are wheres best place to buy brake hoses? Assuming they sell hoses that will connect to my 68 hard lines and work with disc calipers.

Also.....is there caliper rebuild kits available? How hard is this do.....anyone have experience with this? Assuming you can buy reman calipers and parts stores, but this is a budget project.

[cdowns]

68 drum brake hardlines for the front wont fit the disc /drum master cyl prop valve


rebuilt calipers are sure a heck of alot cheaper than a hospital stay

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by Meatman

I know what I need to do to swap on my discs. Thats pretty simple. My questions are wheres best place to buy brake hoses? Assuming they sell hoses that will connect to my 68 hard lines and work with disc calipers.

Also.....is there caliper rebuild kits available? How hard is this do.....anyone have experience with this? Assuming you can buy reman calipers and parts stores, but this is a budget project.

I bought disc brake "conversion" hoses from www.earlyclassic.com.

[ctandc]

Rebuilding disc brake calipers is simple and CHEAP.

A rebuild kit WITH new pistons is like $12-15. Most times, unless your pistons are pitted, you only need seals, so just a couple of bucks per caliper.

Rebuilt calipers are normally around $30 or so EACH.

1. Take the pads and hardware out of the caliper.

2. Using a rubber tipped air gun from your compressor and a thin block of wood inside the caliper (so the piston will hit the wood and the other side’s piston doesn’t come flying out) use some air to force the pistons out.

3. Pull the rest of the way out (many times they get caught on the seal or dust boot) Use a shop rag and your fingers to get ‘em out. If they are stubborn, use a THICK rag over a pair over the jaws of a pair of channel locks to CAREFULLY work them out – taking care not to scratch the pistons.

4. Clean the caliper inside and out. Only use brake cleaner.

5. Now is the time to prep and paint the caliper if you want.

6. Using NEW, CLEAN brake fluid as your lubricant (use A LOT) soak the new seals in brake fluid and install them.

7. Install the pistons and dust boots, don’t FORCE them. They can be picky in how they go back in.

8. Install new pads and hardware

9. Crack another beer and move onto the other caliper.

[Meatman]

Are the calipers the same as sqaure bodies? Was thinking I looked at Oreillys store online and then didnt carry reman calipers for 71-72. Was wondering if later ones were the same. Wheres a good place to get rebuild kit for calipers if I went that route?
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[chevytruckluver]

I bought a pair of rebuilt calipers from NAPA, the are very nicely done look like a new part and they came with a roadside assistance for 24 months...if anything on the truck fails I have free help what a deal! they were about 18-20 bucks a piece

[LowGT]

I just did the conversion on my 68 from manual drums to power front disc.

There is a conversion brake hose from earlyclassic.com as mentioned above that will attach to your stock hard line and the caliper.

You will also need 2 adapters for the hard lines where they attach to the proportioning valve.

Reman calipers from O'Reillys are $11.99 a piece with a core, $17.00 without a core. That was too cheap of a deal for me to pass up.

[Lee H]

Originally Posted by Meatman

I looked at Oreillys store online and then didnt carry reman calipers for 71-72.
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I just looked, they have many options, Cardone and Wagner, loaded or unloaded (with or without pads). $11 to $45 plus core.
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[Meatman]

Ya checked it out tonite. Calipers are cheap. What are sizes on adapters needed?

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by Meatman

Ya checked it out tonite. Calipers are cheap. What are sizes on adapters needed?

Glad to see you working on the beast. Yeah, I found out how cheap calipers were when I broke the bleeder screw off of one years ago and tried fixing it for hours, finally I broke down and went to the parts store to find that they were less than $20.