C-3 brake calipers

[James G.]

Had the car out recently and found the rear caliper is leaking. I had rebuilt the calipers about a thousand miles ago with the original style piston seals. I was thinking about replacing the calipers with the o-ring calipers any pro's and con's?

[Joe L.]

Re: C-3 brake calipers

Had the car out recently and found the rear caliper is leaking. I had rebuilt the calipers about a thousand miles ago with the original style piston seals. I was thinking about replacing the calipers with the o-ring calipers any pro's and con's?

James-----

You don't need to replace the calipers if they've been previously sleeved. All you need to do is replace the seals or the pistons and seals if you decide to go with the o-ring style. For now, I'd figure you have a defective or improperly installed seal on one of the pistons and just replace that seal (or, all the seals in that caliper if you can't identify the leaking one). I think I'd save the conversion to o-rings for the day when it's time to re-seal all the calipers. The original, lip-type seals won't last forever.

[James G.]

Re: C-3 brake calipers

Thanks for your reply Joe. So you are saying I can get new o-ring pistons to fit the existing bore on my calipers without any machining work? What makes the o-ring superior to the lip seals?

[Gene M.]

Re: C-3 brake calipers

James,
Are the seals made in china? If so that answers the question...............

Made in USA parts are getting harder to find.

[Phil D.]

Re: C-3 brake calipers

You might search some old posts on the subject of o-rings. Not 100% certain that you can do it yourself easily. We just rebuilt the calipers on my brother's 72. They had been sleeved previously, probably some time back in the 80s. Ordered the o-ring piston set and subsequently discovered that there was a ridge left at the bottom of the bore when it was sleeved that wouldn't allow the o-ring pistons to fit all the way in. Some folks have very carefully used a dremel to remove the ridge, but we felt it was safer and easier to ship the o-ring set back in exchange for lip seals and new regular pistons. Personally, since you did all four not long ago, and knowing what an ordeal it was to rebuild and r&r all four, I'd lean toward just ordering another set of seals and try that one caliper again.