65 leaky brakes

[Tim Sinsel]

hello, i am not much of a mechanic first of all.
discovered a puddle of brake fluid by driver side rear wheel after storing car for winter. Filled up with brake fluid, and eventually got brakes back but they are awful soft. I have read about the disc brakes being notoriously bad. any suggustions

[Stephen L.]

Re: 65 leaky brakes

If the calipers are leaking...which is what you indicated... then you might as well bite the bullet and replace them all with rebuilt SS sleeved units. You may want to rebuild the Master Cyl also. Flush the lines very well and replace all fluid with Silicone brake fluid. While you are there, check the rubber lines... they are probably in need of replacement too.

[William C.]

Re: 65 leaky brakes

If you are trying to keep the car original, it is important to pay attention to the caliper rebuilder. The '65-66 calipers are different than the '67 and later designs, and the casting numbers are different. They are also dated. Depending on your degree of enthusiasm, you could have your priginals sleeved and keep the original pistons, or have yours sleeved and use the 67-up pistons which is the method preferred by most rebuilders. In any event, check the casting numbers against the original numbers in the judging guide, and work woth a rebuilder that will give your castings back if you still have the originals on the car. May cost a little more, but better now than kick yourself a few years down the road.

[Joe L.]

Re: 65 leaky brakes

Bill-----

Yes, I agree. If the calipers are original, it's best to retain these. If the calipers are original (or, replacements identical to the originals and, therefore, indistinguishable from same) all 8 of the caliper HALVES will have casting numbers beginning with "546". If they are "545" or "547", then they are not original calipers.

I doubt very much that the original pistons will be reusable. I've never seen a piston come out of a Corvette caliper that was reusable. A good friend who's been in the stainless steel caliper rebuilding business for over 30 years and has seen thousands of Corvette calipers says he has not seen one, either. Basically, if any of the "irridite" (gold) anodize is worn through at the seal ring the piston is scrap. I've never seen one that wasn't worn through.

Vette Brakes may have replacement pistons for the 1st design calipers. With these, one uses the existing 1st design Pyroceram insulators with the new pistons. I've had conflicting reports regarding whether, or not, they actually have these available. I know of no other source for the 1st design pistons, though.