Are the front calipers easy to rebuild?

[Fiat88]

May want to try and rebuild my front calipers myself instead of buying ones already rebuilt to save some money and not having to send in the cores. Anyone done the fronts themselves before, the book looks detailed enough to follow. The rears I will already buy rebuilt as it looks much more complicated because of the handbrake. Just wondering what you guys think.

The rebuild kit looks to be under $15 for doing both.

Tools I have:

1. C-clamp
2. Air Compressor(friend has)
3.Rags
4. gloves
5. Brake cleaner
6.Vice

[narfire]

Yes they are but do make sure the piston goes back in without pinching the new seal you will be installing. I think I pinched mine or something,but anyway I had a chunk of rubber stuck in there that prevented the piston returning after applying pressure to the pedal. Result was the piston kept applying pressure to the pads and not backing off. The wheel eventually stopped turning. Easy fix but a needless hassel if I paid closer attention and kept all the brake parts CLEAN.
How are the brake lines? perhaps a good time to replace the short rubber lines as well. You'll need new copper crush washers regardless.
Chris

[Fiat88]

Yes they are but do make sure the piston goes back in without pinching the new seal you will be installing. I think I pinched mine or something,but anyway I had a chunk of rubber stuck in there that prevented the piston returning after applying pressure to the pedal. Result was the piston kept applying pressure to the pads and not backing off. The wheel eventually stopped turning. Easy fix but a needless hassel if I paid closer attention and kept all the brake parts CLEAN.
How are the brake lines? perhaps a good time to replace the short rubber lines as well. You'll need new copper crush washers regardless.
Chris

Chris,
I'm actually in the process of replacing all the brake hoses and even the metal hardlines. Got plenty of new copper crush washers.

[Foster48x]

I rebuilt the front and rear calipers on my 80FI and found it to be a fairly easy task. There's a real good article on Mirafiori.com on rebuilding the rears if you decide to have a go at it. The fronts are easier. I think the hardest part about doing the fronts was getting the piston to come out of the caliper. After messing with it for a while I shot some compressed air in it and the piston popped right out.

Just a note: If you use compressed air the piston will shoot out of there with some considerable force so make sure you don't have any of your fingers in front of it or you may lose one.

Rick

[Fiat88]

I rebuilt the front and rear calipers on my 80FI and found it to be a fairly easy task. There's a real good article on Mirafiori.com on rebuilding the rears if you decide to have a go at it. The fronts are easier. I think the hardest part about doing the fronts was getting the piston to come out of the caliper. After messing with it for a while I shot some compressed air in it and the piston popped right out.

Just a note: If you use compressed air the piston will shoot out of there with some considerable force so make sure you don't have any of your fingers in front of it or you may lose one.

Rick

I ordered the rebuild kit last night and some new master cylinder to reservoir hose plus a heavy duty silcone brake booster hose. Thanks for the word of caution about the piston shooting out like a bullet, the book also warns of that. Will use a piece of wood and keep my fingers clear.

[narfire]

Good point about the fingers...forgot to mention that. Took 5 months for the new finger nail to grow back

[kristoj]

It has been a couple of years, but I am pretty sure I got my rebuilt front calipers from my local Autozone for around $35 ea. Didn't seem like it was worth the hassle to rebuild for that price and i was able to return my cores to the store.

[Fiat88]

It has been a couple of years, but I am pretty sure I got my rebuilt front calipers from my local Autozone for around $35 ea. Didn't seem like it was worth the hassle to rebuild for that price and i was able to return my cores to the store.

Well, I'm gonna give it a shot and see how it goes because it was like under $8 for the rebuild kit which does both front calipers. Also, its a learning experience for me. I did check advanced auto but they didn't have them even though on the computer it said they did but if the rebuild doesn't go as plan will check advanced auto.

[kristoj]

It is actually a great learning experience if you haven't done them before. I rebuilt the calipers on my Lancia as rebuilt ones are only available from Europe, which is cost prohibitive -- especially when you factor in shipping. The fronts on the Lancia have four pistons each (2 on each side) and were an absolute bear to do. The rears have two pistons each and were fairly easy.

There was one piston on my right front that just wouldn't come out with compressed air. A buddy of mine told me about a method where you hook up a grease gun to the caliper and use the pressure of the grease to force the piston out. Worked like a charm, but made quite a mess of the inside of the caliper. So I wouldn't recommend it unless all else fails.

Like others have said, the key is to get the pistons and the inside of the caliper clinically clean. Any dirt, grease or dust could comprimise your brakes.

Good luck!

[Fiat88]

So today I started working on the caliper rebuild. I got the pistons out using my 12v battery charger / tire inflator because I don't have an air compressor. The way I did it was I stuffed a small vaccum cap upside down into the banjo bolt hole and screwed the bleed screw into it also to get a air tight seal, then I used an adaptor which came with the tire inflator pump and placed it in the bleed screw hole. Stuffed some rags between the caliper and the piston and waited for the pop! So I'm pretty happy!

The outside of the piston has some rust but not the inner piston surfaces I assume I can just sand the rust lightly down? Should the seals and pistons be coating with some type of caliper grease or is new clean brake fluid just ok? Thx.

[kristoj]

Do NOT use grease or oil. Use only clean brake fluid to lubricate new seals.

[Fiat88]

Do NOT use grease or oil. Use only clean brake fluid to lubricate new seals.

Thanks.

[manoa matt]

If you got a wire wheel mounted on a bench grinder, It'll make those calipers and pistons real purrdy, real quick.

I always ensure the sliding surfaces on the caliper body are good, flat, and gouge free by using a flat file to level off high spots or imperfections.

[Fiat88]

If you got a wire wheel mounted on a bench grinder, It'll make those calipers and pistons real purrdy, real quick.

I always ensure the sliding surfaces on the caliper body are good, flat, and gouge free by using a flat file to level off high spots or imperfections.

No bench grinder but I do have a wire wheel which attaches to a drill. I think I'll pickup my uncles vice or buy one from sears around the corner to make it a little easier at grinding.

You should of seen them before I cleaned them with brake cleaner and my wire hand brush. 90% cleaned, just gotta clean the other 10% off.