[T3] Who sells these caliper kits for my 73 type 3?

[William Jahn]

I always felt the main intent of rebuilding any caliper was to at least
replace both the seals and the boots as well as inspect and clean the
pistons and bores. I used to do them all the time back when I lived in IL
where a tech did all the work on the repair order . Most caliper's were one
piston yet on Lincolns and some of the full size Fords they used 4 piston
calipers as well as 2 piston. Of course there were wash bins which I don't
have and wire wheels to clean off casting rust. One main difference was new
parts were available as well as complete new units. Many of the rebuild
kits back then also included assembly paste in a small tube, it was the
same for all makes you got everything needed same with VW .

 One mistake I made was not taking the calipers off the 72 square I had as
a parts car , never thought about it at the time, if I had I would at least
have something I could work with while still being able to drive my only
mode of transport .

 I was a bit surprised at the cost of the kit . I can get the seals and
boots and thought I saw the positioning plates as a separate item on some
site . I do know the pistons are not frozen and here since we don't deal
with road salts the calipers on my car only have surface rust not that
heavy scale rust I used to deal with and last time I bleed the calipers was
about 1998 the bleeders came loose easy yet who knows now after 20 years .
We don't get much rain and they look fine yet I can't see the threads in
the caliper and the hex are not rounded . Then again in 98 one could still
get a new caliper so if a bleeder snapped I had access to ways to get them
out . They are my main concern now. My not working on cars daily as I did
back then sort of lose the feel of judging how much force to apply . I
haven't run across one bolt or nut anywhere on this car , even ones under
the car that did not break loose with little effort. Of course a bleeder is
a hollow bolt making it much more fragile.

 From your description above that you don't use the entire kit I would
imagine what parts are replaced is based on the overall condition of a
caliper yet imagine you would replace the piston seals as well as the boots
. This may depend if a piston is stuck , usually piston seals survive as
long as no piston rust exists or leaks are evident . For me I prefer to
replace the seals based on age alone.

William

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On Tue, Aug 14, 2018 at 7:52 AM, Jim Adney <jadney at vwtype3.org> wrote:

> On 13 Aug 2018 at 18:52, William Jahn wrote:
>
> >  One place think it is CSP1  only sells the entire kit the seals , bolts
> > the anti rotate clips for the pistons and the lock plate. Can I re use
> the
> > lock plate? do I really need the bolts and all I need are 2 of the piston
> > anit rotate clips that are the type that secure on the piston center hub
> > because the two on the right are missing. Their kit is $40 for one
> caliper.
>
> Yes, the kits tend to be expensive, and I almost never replace the bolts,
> but I
> have them if anyone needs some. When I do rebuilds, I only replace the
> parts that are bad, so in the long term, I use less than 1 kit per
> caliper. If I
> replaced everything on every caliper, my price would have to be much
> higher. The part that's most often needed is the boot.
>
> I charge $100 to rebuild a pair of calipers, but a new pair of positioning
> plates would add $10 to that. Broken bleed valves increase the cost
> significantly. New pads are extra, if needed. Then you have to add in the
> cost, and time, of 2-way shipping, so it starts to look like you could do
> your
> own for significant savings. The problem comes when you try to actually do
> this yourself. I've made a number of special tools that help me get the
> old
> pistons out. I also made dies to put the positioning plates back into
> their
> original shape, since they are often bent out of shape by clumsy
> mechanics.
> Without those tools, and the experience I've had since I did my first
> calipers
> in 1971, you're going to find this to be a very difficult job.
>
> It's not just a matter of taking the old parts out and putting the new
> parts in.
>
> Rebuilding a master cylinder is simple, assuming you can find the correct
> parts, but rebuilding calipers is something that stumps most people. Plus
> there is the question of what lubricants you use when reassembling.
> That makes a huge difference in how long your rebuild will stay good.
>
> --
> *******************************
> Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> *******************************
>
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