Brake job from Hell

[mercl8]

Bought a 74 2.0 a few weeks ago, drove it for a couple days, but the brakes just didn't feel right. The peddle was nice and firm, but braking effort seemed a little much and brake performance was poor. Driving home from work the next day the right rear caliper decided not to disengage and the joy of my new ride subsided some. After checking out the problem it became apparent that a simple rebuild was probably not going to remedy the situation. neither adjuster was functional and the outboard piston wouldn't budge. Always the optimist, I decided it wasn't a bad thing. An opportunity for an upgrade already. Had been reading all the info here and decided to upgrade the front to bmw calipers and move the fronts to the rear. Problem #1, none of the local shop guys would touch the calipers citing liability issues. Ok, not a problem, volvo calipers to the rescue. Problem #2, removing front right caliper, both piston boots are torn and pistons ain't goin nowhere. removing front left......one boot torn, one pad half worn, the other....like new. Time to order 2 more calipers. Get the volvo's out to test fit em and realize that Advanced Auto parts is not so advanced. Some moron in the warehouse sent two of the same side calipers. I'm just not comfortable mounting a caliper bleeder pointing at the pavement, lol. Call Advanced, they order the right caliper, it'll be in tomorrow with the fronts i ordered. Start taking of the left rear and it won't come off? Bolts are out, but it's hanging on something. back adjuster is sticking out a quarter inch and won't clear the hole in the arm. At this point I'm just laughing. I can't wait to see what happens friday afternoon when I start puttin the new calipers on.

[mercl8]

Advance auto parts strikes again. Got the correct volvo caliper today, but one of the 914 fronts they ordered for me was missing a bleeder screw, had the pistons installed in the wrong orientation, and had no piston retainers. Not that the retainers mattered much, they wouldn't fit with the pistons positioned backward anyway. I was going to just fix it myself but figured if that was messed up the seals may not be installed correctlyeither. So I guess I'll putting together bicycles, toys, and a porsche on christmas eve this year!

[Joe Bob]

Geeeez.....

[M. Hendrix]

... we're ready in Advance!


M