Stick rear brake calipers - be patient or replace?

[SteinOnkel]

Or install rear caliper from Fiat 500 2012. You remove backplate, Fiat 500 use larger rotor that you remove .1 inche in the center hole, use the adaptor that my friend make and use the Fiat 500 handbrake cable that you modify. The advantage is more braking for shure but the handbrake is like in new car.

I would be very careful with this. Having converted the brakes on a few cars, you need to stick with an oem system because of the brake bias. If the rear locks up, there is not telling what the car will do.

I fail to see the advantage of using 2012 brakes given that the proportioning valve is not adjustable. The handbrake on my car works great. It's not like they left the assembly line with poor performing handbrakes.

One of the main reasons I bought a classic spider is that it has fantastic brakes. Especially compared to other cars of the time. The system is very modern.

Cheers
Steiny

[tdskip]

Thanks for the discussio

I ended up ordering four new calipers from Vick’s.

[TX82FIAT]

hope the new calipers do it. When I installed new brake lines and a new master cylinder it took me considerable time and effort to properly get all the air out of the braking system. By serious effort, I think I bled the brakes three times each time from back to front with the kids complaining as if they were getting tired of pumping the brakes. Read a little about the compensator or you will never get the air out of the system. The rear brake compensator can get clogged or malfunction. If you were getting clean brake fluid in the back when you bled the lines you should be fine with new calipers.

[tdskip]

I will have to read up on that, but I am getting clear new fluid at the rear calipers.

Tried new fluid and soft lines to see if they would free up but still too sticky to feel good about them and the passenger side bleeder isn't working properly. Nothing too unexpected after sitting for that long.

Thanks for the note.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

You may know this, but if you lift up the rear of the car to remove the rear wheels to bleed the brakes, lift the car by the axle, not the body. If you lift the car by the body, the rear axle will hang down and could cause the rear brake compensator to restrict fluid to the rear when you're bleeding. After all, the rear brake compensator is designed to restrict fluid to the rear calipers when the car pitches forward under heavy braking (i.e., the body lifts up away from the axle).

As I've noted, the design is a Poor Man's anti-lock brake system (admittedly only for the rear brakes, though).

-Bryan

[tdskip]

Thanks Bryan, excellent tip.

[tdskip]

Got both new rear calipers from Vick's installed, easy job, nice quality calipers. New softlines installed as well, rotors and pad are OK for now.

On to the fronts since system is dry again.