1957 Corvette RestoMod Story – Page 10
C4 Front Brake Rebuild
The 2-piston C4 Grand Sport front brakes were disassembled in page 9. Now it’s time to rebuild them with all new replacement hardware and brake pads.
Parts for the rebuild are readily available from your parts store. The caliper rebuild kits on page 9 are from Autozone – and they fit great (the best instructions I ever saw!).
Caliper bore seals and piston boots need replacing no matter what condition the calipers are in – these rubber pieces get beat up by heat. Make sure to clean the bores and pistons with non-chlorinated brake cleaner and use compressed air to clean and dry the pieces.
Okay, let’s rebuild some calipers!
Each caliper piston had overspray from someone painting the Grand Sport black calipers RED! So before any rebuild, I took a 3M pad and gently rubbed off the overspray.
Inspect the pistons and bores for abnormal wear or damage. If either exists, time to buy new calipers.
Piston-to-bore tolerances are critical for safe brake performance. If pressurized fluid gets past the piston, stopping power is greatly reduced – so be safe.
This is the high-temperature paint system I used on both front and rear calipers. I media blasted the calipers down to bare aluminum, then cleaned them thoroughly.
I used the G2 paint system from Eastwood. The paint comes in various colors (black in my case), hardener, brush, and non-chlorinated brake cleaner. Don’t use chlorinated or the paint won’t stick. Also pictured are the caliper bore seals and piston boots.
Notice I marked all parts for location. And make sure the pistons go back into the same bores from which they were removed.
After removing the old bore seal with a pick (careful not to score the inside of the bore!), the new seal is installed (above left). Use caliper lube that comes with the kit to coat the bore and rubber seal.
Start the seal on one side of the groove and work it around until it seats itself in the groove and MAKE SURE THE SEAL IS NOT TWISTED IN THE GROOVE.
After the seal is seated correctly, generously lubricate the inside of the bore and the piston (above right).
The caliper piston dust boots are really difficult to install correctly – many a mechanic has torn these boots using the wrong method.
I found a slick way to install the boots without any damage to the boots or pistons.
Chapter 4 of my book gives all the details in an easy to read and step-by-step way. Loads of photos reinforce the narrative of the chapter.
The next page continues our C4 front brake rebuild on the 1957 Corvette RestoMod.
All parts have either been painted or replaced. New piston bore seals and piston boots are replaced on this page. The next page is the assembly of the caliper and associated parts.
Chapter 4 of my book details every step to rebuild your C4 front brakes. The chapter includes all part numbers and sources to buy from. See the Bookstore to purchase.