vettepartsonline

[Gregory G.]

Does anyone have any experience purchasing parts from vettepartsonline? I am interested in purchasing their ss sleaved calipers with o-ring pistons. They are suspose to be approved by the NCRS and carry a lifetime warentee.

[Terry M.]

No parts,

by anyone are approved by NCRS.
These may be fine items, or maybe not, but NCRS DOES NOT approve any parts. Period.

[Gregory G.]

Re: No parts,

I guess I used the wrong word. They said that they are accepted by the NCRS.

I am not asking if the NCRS endorses them. What I am looking for is if anyone has had experence with them and are they satisfied.

I am especially interested in any experence with their o-ring calipers. I read that they will eliminate many of the problems experenced with the old sytle brakes. I also read that since the pads do not press against the rotor that there may be some play in the barke. All insite will be appriciated.

[Timothy B.]

Re: vettepartsonline

I installed O-ring brakes about 2 years ago from an outfit in Florida. They work great and I haven't had any trouble with them. FYI, I also replaced all brake hoses and master cylinder, and flushed all lines with solvent and then filled the system with silicon fluid.

[Gregory G.]

Re: vettepartsonline

Thanks for the response.
I was all set to buy the o-ring desing then I read on "fastcorvette.com" that since the o-rins pistons do not use springs to follow the rotors that there may be some increase in pedal travel. Do you feel that you have to press the brake pedal down further then with the old lip seals.
If you had it to do over again would you use buy the o-ring calipers?
Vettepartsonline is in FL. Is that where you got them?

[Timothy B.]

Re: vettepartsonline

I purchased mine from a place called Florida Calipers (before that they were Florida Corvette Calipers), but I don't think they are in business anymore. The ad in the Driveline for "Precision Engineering" is suspiciously similar to the ads that the place I bought mine used to run, but I only speculate on that. Several other places sell o-ring calipers too.

Regarding pedal travel, I do not notice any difference at all. I have power brakes, and I like the feel my brakes have now. I have no complaints with the setup I have.

I haven't heard of vettepartsonline.com, but I just checked out their website. They call their o-ring brakes "Caliper 2000", which is what the place I bought mine called them - interesting.

[Joe R.]

Re: No parts,

I recently installed a set of O-ring calipers from Vette Brakes & Products (VBP) in St. Petersburg, Florida (http://www.vbandp.com). I made this choice after reading everything I could find in the archives on the topic of brakes.

The postings in the archives suggested that there may be two different O-ring designs on the market, and that the VBP versions are more widely used.

I can assure you that there ARE springs behind the pistons in the VBP calipers, because I had to work quite hard to hold the pistons back while installing the pads. I ended up making two wood blocks that were slightly thicker than the rotor, and installing the blocks between the pads before I slid the caliper over the rotor. The rotor simply pushed the blocks out the top of the caliper as I lowered the caliper.

Regarding the NCRS issues you mentioned, the standard VBP caliper has non-factory silver paint and has a VBP tracking number stamped on the outside. For an extra $10 "special handling charge" per caliper, they will put the stamped number in a place that can't be seen when the caliper is installed, and they will paint the caliper black. The judging manual for my 67 calls for semi-black paint with the machined surfaces being bare, so even the "special handling" treatment is not quite perferct for NCRS judging.

Lastly, I want to reinforce the earlier suggestion that you replace the hoses and rebuild the master when you do the brake work. Old hoses can swell up inside and can act like a check valve that prevents pressure from being fully released from the caliper. This can cause a caliper to drag and eventually overheat. Needless to say, you should rebuild your master cylinder at the same time.

[John Chesher]

Re: No parts,

Can someone explain the concept of springs behind the pistons to me? Wouldn't that put a constant drag on the brakes, heating them up, wearing them out, and hurting gas mileage? What is the supposed benefit?

[John H.]

Re: No parts,

'65-'82 Corvettes all have the same "constant contact" fixed-caliper design, which is why there are springs behind the pistons; makes for less fluid displacement required (thus less pedal and piston travel) for application. The exact same design is used today on high-performance cars with Brembo fixed calipers (Viper, Ferrari, Porsche, etc.).

[Donald W.]

Re: vettepartsonline

This is the same company as Florida Calipers were in Florida under new name VetteParts, talked to the same owner a few months ago. I also purchased ss calipers for my 67 in 1998 from them and there still operating fine.

[Brandon K.]

DANGER Will Robinson!!!

I can tell you some horror stories about my dealings with this "company". They change names every few years because they have ripped off so many people. Deal with them at your own risk... BUYER BEWARE!!

Carl took me for about $800 if you add up the castings he ruined and the money he actually stole from me (2 full sets) . I was way too trusting. He is a one-man operation who works out of his mother's garage in Boynton Beach, and pretends to tranfer calls to different departments (and strangely enough all the employees sound the same.) Last time I called (about 2 years ago) he denied it was even the same company as Florida Caliper, and hung up the phone on me. I filed a complaint with the office of consumer affairs, but all they did was send him a letter. His replied stated that he had not received any money or parts from me, and that satisfied them, even though I had a paper trail leading right to him. I can tell you more if you're interested. I had a whole file of info on this guy, but probably tossed it by now.

There are enough reputable people building good calipers (Lonestar, CSSB, Vette Brakes) that I would avoid "VetteParts" like the plague! Just my 2 cents.

Brandon

[Donald W.]

Re: vettepartsonline

Brandon, I'll pitch this guy's phone #, after hearing about your dealings with him. Thank's FOR INFO!!, Don

[Gregory G.]

Re: DANGER Will Robinson!!!

Thanks
That makes two negatives and no positive. I will not butchase from them (him).

[Tracy C.]

I wouldn't butchase anyone 'cept my wife.. *NM*

[Gregory G.]

Re: I wouldn't butchase anyone 'cept my wife..

What can I say? Yes I am guilty of poor typing.