Brake caliper

[Cbitz23]

Let me start off by saying I am only 21 and I have a lot of learning to do. I bought a caliper and new hoses for the left side. When I installed everything the brakes weren't working so I took the caliper apart and compressed the piston. Somehow I managed to break the little nipple that holds the pad and locks it into place. Then when I put it back together I put two little brackets on upside down (learned my lesson) and installed it. So it put a nice big deep ring around the rotor. Question is.

should I keep the caliper as is until I do a brake conversion or should I get a new caliper and/or cylinder. Does the damage of that nipple effect the brakes if the brake pad cannot lock?

Edited April 6, 2018 by Cbitz23

[Avanti83]

Rock auto seems to have the calipers for under $40. I would cut my losses and order another one. Damaged brake parts are something I won't deal with and for $40 a pretty cheap lesson.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/avanti,1974,ii,6.6l+400cid+v8,1311523,brake+&+wheel+hub,caliper,1704

BTW, I've been at this hobby for over 60 years and I/we've all learned to work on cars the same way you are, Fix it/break it/fix it. 

Glad to have you on board, nice to see young folks entering the hobby. Let us know what we can do to help further.

Bob

Edited April 6, 2018 by Avanti83

[Devildog]

Ask anytime, the guys on the forum are great and enjoy helping.

 

[Gunslinger]

If the definition of experience is that it's what you get when you don't get what you want, then most of us here are quite experienced when it comes to working on Avantis.

[brad]

Your year Avanti uses the same bendix calipers as the original Studebaker Avanti. NOT the ones listed in Rock Auto. Sorry, they are about $200, not $40. The little button on the piston is there for pad retraction, There is a pin inside the caliper, and there is a friction clutch inside the caliper piston, There is a spring that pulls the piston back a pre-determined amount every time you release the brake pedal.That in turn pulls back the pad, via the button that the pad slides over. It will still work ok, without the pad sliding over the button, but it would be better if you had it. The only thing may be a little bit more squealing, and some slightly increased pad wear. 

Edited April 7, 2018 by brad

[Cbitz23]

1 hour ago, brad said:

Your year Avanti uses the same bendix calipers as the original Studebaker Avanti. NOT the ones listed in Rock Auto. Sorry, they are about $200, not $40. The little button on the piston is there for pad retraction, There is a pin inside the caliper, and there is a friction clutch inside the caliper piston, There is a spring that pulls the piston back a pre-determined amount every time you release the brake pedal.That in turn pulls back the pad, via the button that the pad slides over. It will still work ok, without the pad sliding over the button, but it would be better if you had it. The only thing may be a little bit more squealing, and some slightly increased pad wear. 

Yeah I paid exactly $200. Seems they used the same brakes that some old jaguars had. I'll probably just take the loss and and buy a new one. Probably will keep the caliper to learn more about it and how it works. Noticed when I had my girlfriend hit the brakes that one of the pads didnt retract. I honestly didn't think that would effect them that much but it does. 

[Jim78]

Since you only need the piston, not the whole caliper, you may be able to find a used one at a reasonable price.  The calipers are usually scrapped because of rust pitting of the housing.  Since there is a sealing ring on the piston, it doesn't really matter if it is a bit corroded.  A quick clean-up will do.  If necessary, the seals are readily available and not very expensive.  Since your caliper is the same as the Studebaker, you may also want to post a request for a piston on the SDC forum, which has many more readers than the AOAI.  A used piston would have the adjusting and return springs already installed.  It's a friction fit between the adjusting spring and the adjustment pin.  Your broken piston is removed by undoing the dust cover and applying compressed air to one fluid port (blocking the other).  Re-assembly is a matter of lubing the piston with brake fluid and pushing it over the pin and down into the bore.  Here's how it all goes together:

 

[Avanti83]

Sorry about the bad advice on the Rock Auto parts. Setting on the shelf in my polebarn is a set of calipers and rotors from my 74. They are high mileage and the cost to replace them was so high I just went with a new Turner setup when I rebuilt the front end. If you are interested in a piston, I'll pull a caliper apart and take a couple of pictures of what I have.

If it's acceptable, I'll donate it to your build. $200 is a pretty steep lesson at your age.

Almost tripped over the caliper today so I disassembled one. Here are the pistons from it. I only wiped them off and decided not to clean them any further. If you can use one of them, PM me here. The first two shots are one piston and the third pix with the #2 is the second piston.

Bob

Edited April 7, 2018 by Avanti83

[Cbitz23]

12 hours ago, Avanti83 said:

Sorry about the bad advice on the Rock Auto parts. Setting on the shelf in my polebarn is a set of calipers and rotors from my 74. They are high mileage and the cost to replace them was so high I just went with a new Turner setup when I rebuilt the front end. If you are interested in a piston, I'll pull a caliper apart and take a couple of pictures of what I have.

If it's acceptable, I'll donate it to your build. $200 is a pretty steep lesson at your age.

Almost tripped over the caliper today so I disassembled one. Here are the pistons from it. I only wiped them off and decided not to clean them any further. If you can use one of them, PM me here. The first two shots are one piston and the third pix with the #2 is the second piston.

Bob

Okay so I haven't sent back the core so I have the old caliper. One piston looks terrible the other one looks in really fair condition. They're extremely hard to try to get out I guess from age. What's the easiest way or best way to get them out? 

[Cbitz23]

15 hours ago, Jim78 said:

Since you only need the piston, not the whole caliper, you may be able to find a used one at a reasonable price.  The calipers are usually scrapped because of rust pitting of the housing.  Since there is a sealing ring on the piston, it doesn't really matter if it is a bit corroded.  A quick clean-up will do.  If necessary, the seals are readily available and not very expensive.  Since your caliper is the same as the Studebaker, you may also want to post a request for a piston on the SDC forum, which has many more readers than the AOAI.  A used piston would have the adjusting and return springs already installed.  It's a friction fit between the adjusting spring and the adjustment pin.  Your broken piston is removed by undoing the dust cover and applying compressed air to one fluid port (blocking the other).  Re-assembly is a matter of lubing the piston with brake fluid and pushing it over the pin and down into the bore.  Here's how it all goes together:

 

Oh... wow. Just now seeing this! This helps so much. Thanks Jim 

[Jim78]

11 hours ago, Cbitz23 said:

Okay so I haven't sent back the core so I have the old caliper. One piston looks terrible the other one looks in really fair condition. They're extremely hard to try to get out I guess from age. What's the easiest way or best way to get them out? 

Compressed air will usually pop the piston out.  At 100 psi, you'll have 240 pounds of force.  If that doesn't do it, re-install the caliper, bleed it, then remove the pad from that side.  Hit the pedal, and it WILL pop.  Note that the ring seal will probably be damaged during the removal, but they are available.  It's been a few years since I bought a seal kit, but IIRC I got it from NAPA.  My notes show it as a Wagner F46462.  Otherwise, I see that Studebaker International has the seal kit for $72, and a new caliper for $110.  If you haven't visited Bob Johnstone's Studebaker Info site yet, I would highly recommend it.  http://www.studebaker-info.org/rjtechdec2017p1g.html#dunlopreb

The interchange list shows a Girling kit SP-2556.  It that is correct, there is a kit on ebay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jaguar-XK-XKE-XJ-E-Type-Nelson-GIRLING-N51917-SP2556-Brake-Caliper-Rebuild-Kit/302120807437?epid=2250937742&hash=item4657cdac0d:g:YEMAAOSwImRYEVQf

 

 

Edited April 8, 2018 by Jim78