Brake caliper blues...

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Spacenut
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Brake caliper blues...

Post by Spacenut »

...Or a cautionary tale about re-manufactured Alfasud brake calipers.

OK, it's been a while since I wrote anything in this forum, so I thought I better bring you up to speed with an on-going mechanical saga that might be of interest to some of you.

As you will probably recall, I had my Budweg re-manufactured brake calipers colour-coded to match my Ray's Racing bronze gearbox. The reason is quite simply that the gearbox and brakes are pretty much the only part of the Alfa mechanicals that you can see through my rear louvre panel, so they need to look the part. And they did – right up to the point where I put the brake fluid in.

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As you can see, after all the nause of fitting a new handbrake cable, re-building both master cylinders, installing both calipers without damaging the paint and bleeding the brakes, THIS happened!

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Thinking I must have inadvertently forgotten to tighten down the bleed screw, I re-bled the brakes, re-tightened both bleed screws and then cleaned off any excess fluid with engine degreaser, just to be sure.

I then put my new (patent-pending) adjustable seat side mounts to good use and literally STOOD on the middle pedal. A quick check around the rear calipers revealed the awful truth - both of the bleed screws were weeping fluid! I tightened them down as far as I dared and tried again, but it was no good – the brake fluid kept weeping out of each bleed screw and the pedal gradually became softer as more air got into the system.

I couldn't risk having any more fluid leach out onto the paintwork (by some miracle the fluid coming from the nearside caliper hadn't got onto the gearbox casing), so I drained the rear brake circuit completely and removed the bleed screws for inspection...

This is the nearside caliper bleed screw – a clear wear ridge on this one

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And this is the offside bleed screw – man did I come close to disaster with this one!

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The calipers were painted by a company called the Brake Caliper Specialists, and because I went for their super-deluxe service all the work was covered by a 4-year warranty. I got onto them and explained my problem; they weren't too surprised to hear about the leaking bleed screws and promised to re-work and re-paint the calipers under warranty. They even arranged for collection by courier at their expense. Of course that meant I had to remove the calipers again without damaging the gearbox paintwork! But I did manage it, and after removal from the car I was able to inspect the bleed screw bores and confirm that the tapered seat appeared to be pitted on both cases. A quick lapping-in of the taper seats and problem solved, or so I thought...

Last week I received news of a more worrying development. The RH caliper (the one that had the paint stripped off it) was pressure-tested on receipt, and at 2000psi the casting actually ruptured!

BCS think there may have been a hairline fracture in the casting, which might explain why more fluid leaked out of this caliper than the other one. What was bothering me is that the calipers BCS painted for me were re-manufactured units with zero miles on them. If I had been happy to accept an electroplated finish (which soon corrodes through) against the bronze/gold of the gearbox this could have happened out on the road!

This unexpected failure left me with another problem – with only one serviceable brake caliper I needed another RH one. Fortunately, I remembered that I had another caliper that was given to me by ace Minari pilot Mark Pollard. The intention was to rebuild it and use it to fix my original calipers' sticking handbrake mechanism, but I never got around to it and exchanged my old calipers for the Budwegs instead. As luck would have it, the spare caliper was a RH unit, had never been re-conditioned and apart from a bit of surface corrosion, was just as it left the factory.

BCS were quite relieved to hear the news, as Budweg are currently out of stock and other suppliers have drawn a blank (Alfasud? What's that?). The caliper was collected on Tuesday, and I am now waiting to hear the outcome. Can my old caliper be re-worked? Will I ever get the rear brakes to work again? Will our heroine manage to escape from the clutches of the evil Dr Doom..?

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode...

Lauren

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KevJTD
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by KevJTD »

a real shame it's creating you more work, back-tracking where you've got to Lauren but that could have been so much worse if it'd happened when you'd been going down the road.

good job you've got all the work covered by the same people too, if another firm had done the painting for you you'd be well out of pocket again and trying to get compo from the brake company.
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Kegsti66
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Kegsti66 »

What a bummer Lauren, sorry to read your bad luck.
Just when you think you can tick another job off the list that happens.
Bye the way, great close up pics. :D

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Spacenut
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Spacenut »

Thanks guys. I know it could have been so much worse, and with a bit of luck (of the good sort) I should have a set of serviceable calipers very soon!

In the meantime there are plenty of other jobs to do, including the imminent engine start-up!

Lauren

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PETROLHEAD
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by PETROLHEAD »

Hi Lauren

If it helps. I have a pair of newly remanufactured calipers (would need colour matching) available, plus a pair of Bls former race calipers modified for vented discs, and handbrake eliminated if you ever wanted to go that route?

Although i suspect that might be getting close to over braking the rear end could it?
SHREW

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junior
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by junior »

How very frustrating after all that effort to make it so smart.

Hope your luck changes very soon.

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Spacenut
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Spacenut »

petrolhead wrote:Although i suspect that might be getting close to over braking the rear end could it?
Most definitely! Rear end is overbraked as it is, just with standard solid discs... but thanks for the offer, it's greatly appreciated 8-) If I didn't have a spare caliper for the correct side, I was planning to put a plea out on CAF as my very next port of call!

Thanks Junior, I'm sure I am due some good luck after all this!

Lauren

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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Alfasixnut »

Any update on this saga Lauren?

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Spacenut
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Spacenut »

Yes, I received the reworked calipers about 3 weeks ago, together with the remains of my original RH caliper. I was quite surprised to discover where the casting had broken - around the inboard piston bore. A large portion of the flange had broken away, allowing the pressure seal to explode out of the casting and jamming the piston in so tight it can't move :o

After a lot of huffing and puffing I managed to re-fit the new handbrake cable without damaging the paint (too much), and last weekend I refilled the rear brake system with fresh fluid and bled the system without any sign of further leakage. I've got a reasonably firm pedal now, so another bleed is in order, but right now I am just pleased to be back to the same place I was 6 moths ago!

I did snap a few more pictures of the completed installation, I will post them up in due course.

Lauren

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Spacenut
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Spacenut »

Here you go...

Image

Close-up of the reworked calipers. As you can see, I have reversed them L-R as I can access the inboard adjusters more easily. The handbrake cable is also evident here. Being able to see the cable doesn't make it any easier to fit!

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Side view, highlighting my completed rear wiring harness, which you can see snaking down the brace bar in the foreground. Thinwall cable makes a big difference to the cable bundle size - what you see here covers both LH and RH the indicators, brake lights, side lights, reversing lights and speedo sensor.

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Here's the refurbished driveshafts, ready to go back on. Still debating whether to just install the LH one, so I can run the engine in-gear and confirm correct operation of the speedo and Nav computer. Either way, I have been tripping over these items for far too long!

That's your lot for now.

Lauren

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KevJTD
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by KevJTD »

looking great Lauren 8-)

sure I remember a tip from Tom of BLS re the hand-brake cable fitting.......put it in the caliper arms first then fit the calipers over the mounting studs...easier than trying to open out the cable springs and feed them into the levers....

as long as i'm thinking straight :roll:
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Kegsti66
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Kegsti66 »

Very tidy Lauren, I think it is great that you changed the calipers around to suit your layout. So versatile 8-)

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Spacenut
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Spacenut »

Thanks guys - I'm hoping I won't have to do that again for a loooooooong time!

I can see how putting the cable onto the lever arms before fitting the caliper could work. I actually left both calipers very loose on their mountings anyway, which may have had a similar effect.

Thanks Keith - I really like the clever engineering of Alfa parts, and these calipers are no exception. I know that by today's standards they are a bit marginal as front brakes go, but on the back of a car they actually work really well, even the handbrake, thanks to John @JustSuds timely advice, on this very forum :D

Lauren

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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Alfasixnut »

Coming together very nicely now Lauren!

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Spacenut
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Spacenut »

Right, a bit of an update on this topic. After fitting new Goodridge Speed Bleeders and re-filling the system with fresh DOT 4, I found the calipers were leaking yet again :x

Thinking that the Speed Bleeders might be to blame, I replaced them with the bleed screws that came with the calipers. Still no joy - the fluid just kept weeping out from around the threads. Nothing for it but to drain the system down (again), remove the calipers (again) and send them back to BCS (again). I did this in November of last year, and after receiving numerous promises that this time they would fix the problem I did not hear anything from them after January.

As I had nothing to lose, I thought I would have a crack at fixing some calipers myself. I bought 3 pairs of serviceable calipers from Graham and had the best pair media blasted to remove all rust and old paint. I stripped the calipers and fitted a caliper seal kit from Bigg Red, helped along with lashings of Castrol Red Rubber Grease :D

With the calipers re-sealed but still split, I masked up the facing joints and piston dust covers and etch primed the parts. After leaving them overnight to cure I then coated all the parts with Rays Bronze paint, and a week later I reassembled the calipers and sprayed several coats of 2-pack clear lacquer over the top. I know, its a lethal carcinogen, and I only had my old respirator mask to protect me, but they did come out rather well :D

Another week of curing later, I re-fitted the calipers onto the gearbox, struggled once more with the handbrake cable, re-fitted the brake discs and a new set of Speed Bleeders and re-filled the system with fluid.

They work faultlessly. I can stand on the pedal and there is no evidence of a leak from any of the joints. I was so pleased that I re-fitted the freshly re-greased and re-booted driveshafts, put the wheels down on the ground and actually drove the car backwards and forwards, using the brakes to stop!

So there was then just the matter of my old calipers, still at BCS. After bombarding them with emails they finally returned my calipers to me about 3 weeks ago. I didn't bother opening the box until last weekend, as I have no intention of fitting them. It is quite obvious that the calipers have not been repainted as there is still some overspray on them from the chassis work that I did. The paint has numerous chips in it, some going right down to bare metal. BCS assure me that the leak is cured, but the bleed screws show signs of being tightened down against a burred edge, and in any case show no evidence of rework to the threads or bore. Oh, and one of the caliper dust seals is missing, and no attempt has been made to replace it (the calipers weren't even split apart).

I dismissed as exaggeration the various horror stories I read about this company, but it seems quite clear now that any kind of engineering work is beyond their capability. Maybe their paint jobs are OK, but I won't be finding out. The calipers are still under warranty but I can't be bothered to send them back again. I will just have to put this one down to experience :cry:

Lauren

Kegsti66
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Kegsti66 »

So sorry to hear all the @rse ache you have had with them, but pleased to hear you have now sorted the issue with your own talent.
It is bad when the service they claim to offer is rubbish when you entrust your safety with these "specialist" .
Shocking .

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Spacenut
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Spacenut »

Thanks Keith - it is a bit annoying, as there are other companies around who (with the benefit of hindsight) do seem to offer a better service. Bigg Red for example. Anyway, I couldn't let this go without a couple of pictures of the calipers that I refurbished, by my own fair hand...

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Here is the offside caliper, nearly complete (just the pad retaining clips to fit)

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Lots of hoses got in the way of this picture, but you can make out bits of both calipers...

Now that the brakes are all back together and the driveshafts fitted I have been concentrating on bodywork again. After a bit more fettling I finally got my new rear window tunnel into paint, and I must say I am very pleased with the texture finish on this part. I effectively took a mould for the part off the curvature of the rear body tub, so it fits really well even without a seal (one will be fitted though). The UPOL top coat that I have used on the bulkhead panel appeared a bit too matt so I used VHT chassis black to cover the texture finish instead. I think I will be using this a lot more in future!

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I have a rough cardboard template cut for the window, 4mm polycarbonate with a black obscuration band will be the order of the day...

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This is a research shot so that I can figure out how to trim the side panels. Even in this unfinished state the cabin is looking quite inviting now :D

Lauren

Kegsti66
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by Kegsti66 »

Lauren,I got my service kit from Bigg Red as well.
Your brakes look great now they are back where they should be. 8-)
Last week I changed my pads as I had an oil leak that contaminated the n/s caliper and while checking things I fractured one of the link pipes :o
I like the finish you created with the rear window tunnel it looks really smart.
I am off tomorrow to get the sud mot'd, that was why I couldn't make Brooklands as the car needed fixing.

junior
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Re: Brake caliper blues...

Post by junior »

Hi I used big red a few years ago and had good service and when I took in the Sud brakes they immediately said,

`to upmarket brakes for us to do, this is where you want to take them and here is a map to get there ' which I thought was outstanding service.

Looking very good lauren. Keep going.

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