rebuild old or get a new brake caliper?

[leftfield6]

How do you know whether to rebuild a leaking brake caliper, or to invest a replacement rebuilt caliper? The driver's side rear brake on my 83 Azzurra is leaking, and I'm trying to decide what items I need to repair.

Choices are (a) complete newly rebuilt caliper, for around $140, (b) a rebuild kit with seals and a new piston for $75, or (c) a seal only kit for $9.

I'll be removing the caliper in the next day or so, how do I diagnose if it's repairable, or if it's time for a rebuilt?

[redek]

I had a leaky front caliper, I decided to just replace it with a rebuilt unit. I drive it daily, and didn't want to spend the extra time rebuilding the caliper. Other Members have said that the rear caliper is more difficult to rebuild compared to the front. Follow the brake rebuild procedure in the fiat service manual, inspecting the caliper bore and piston for corrosion, scoring, or pitting. Worst case is that you will need to get a new/rebuilt one, but at $9 for new seals it is worth a try. I bought my rebuilt caliper from the local Checker auto, it was less expensive than from the other suppliers.

[BEEK]

Rebuilding a front caliper is real easy. Take the caliper off the car. Use compressed air and blow the piston out of the caliper. Put a towel over the caliper when you blow the piston out. Too keep the fluid off of you and to keep the piston in the general area. Once apart, check the piston for rust and pitting. If the piston has no pitting, then clean out the grove where the seal sits, replace the seal and off you go. Use brake grease when reassembling.

[ventura ace]

Here is a pretty good procedure for rebuilding the rear calipers:

http://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/re ... lipers.htm

Alvon

[Fiat88]

I rebuilt my fronts, and it was my first time rebuilding a caliper. It was easy. The rear looked a little trickier because of the emergency brake mech, so I bought new rebuilt.

[azygoustoyou]

If I don't do mine this weekend , I'll do them next. I'm going to media blast, rebuild, and paint them. I'll show pic's.
If I can't get my friend to blast them for me. I'll do the jack at the same time.

[leftfield6]

Thought I'd update this thread. I finally got around to removing this caliper, and it's beyond repair. The walls of the cylinder and the piston itself are heavily scored and pitted. There is also rust in the bottom of the cylinder. Seems like the fluid that was left in the system had become heavily contaminated with water and who knows what else. So, ordered a new caliper yesterday.

Also pulled the right side caliper to inspect it. It looked a lot better, so I rebuilt it with new seals and put it back together and back on the car. Also found the reason my parking brake didn't work, the cable was completely severed where it attaches to the right side caliper. Ordered a new cable as well.