Brake question.

[Mr.Puff]

My brakes are rusted all to heck (calipers mostly), and my rotors are warped. What course of action should I take? CLR or upgrade the calipers? The rotors need replacing . Share your thoughts.

[rfn026]

We need to know a little more here. Do you just have surface rust on the calipers or are the pistons frozen. What sort of car are we dealing with and how do you drive it. Do you track the car?

Richard Newton

Autocross Performance Handbook

Ultimate Garage Handbook

[Mr.Puff]

The car is not tracked, although it might be in the future, and the pistons are not frozen. When coming to a stop it feels like I have anti-lock brakes (the clamp-release sensation), which I do not. It is a 1984 Targa with 213,000 miles. The hubs are also rusted. From what I have seen, all of the rust appears to be on the surface. However, it does look really bad in some places (like the torque bolts). I only noticed the extent of the stuff when replacing my O2 sensor yesterday. The PO did not take care of this car very well .

[rusnak]

The hubs should be aluminum and should not be rusted. If it were my car, I'd clean everything really well. Take time during the disassembly process, because this is the stage where you inspect parts for their mechanical condition. Replacement of calipers is case by case. In other words, you only replace bad calipers, not in pairs.

Rotors are replaced in pairs only.

Calipers can be refurbished with new o rings and dust covers with considerable success. I'd also replace the pins and spring steel parts if they are rusted. You can buy rebuilt calipers if you dont want to buy new, but be careful of where you buy these from and make sure they will warranty bad parts.

[Mr.Puff]

Sounds like a plan. The hubs have rust all over them . Dunno how that happened.

Thanks a bunch .