Lebaron Brake Upgrade Issues (Page 1/1)
Zachf1720 JUN 06, 11:28 PM
I did the lebaron brake upgrade on my 86 fiero gt with the 3800 swap. All of my brake calipers are burnt on the outside, like the red paint is black now. The front wheels spin freely when you jack them up and spin them but the rear brakes are a different story. they basically are stuck all the time. you can compress the piston and put them back on and it works until you press them again. I'm not sure what this could be. It still does this even with the emergency brakes not connected. Any help would be appreciated.


pmbrunelle JUN 07, 12:10 AM
theogre says that a flap of old brake hose liner can delaminate from the hose, forming a structure like a heart valve.

When the master pushes fluid towards the calipers, it the fluid cannot return, due to the heart valve structure, then the brakes will be stuck on. Did you replace the hoses?

Bizarre that the paint is burned even on the wheels that you say have no problem (obviously, they do).

I used regular el-cheapo Krylon spray bombs on calipers, and burning like that never happened. Looks like the paint also peeled off next to the piston?

[This message has been edited by pmbrunelle (edited 06-07-2020).]

Zachf1720 JUN 07, 12:46 AM
The paint I used was VHT caliper paint (with a paint brush) and I did not replace the hoses. could it need new hoses all the way around?

[This message has been edited by Zachf1720 (edited 06-07-2020).]

jjd2296 JUN 07, 08:09 AM
I highly recommend that you get the SS brake lines from the fiero store. Running stock lines with this set up is bound to fail especially if their original lines. Question, did you use the proper spacers on the front and rear with the brackets? It sounds like you didn’t and now your front pad is constantly pressing on the rotor.
jjd2296 JUN 07, 08:16 AM
Also by the looks of your paint job it would appear you didn’t remove all the oil coati that comes on the calipar when new. Did you strip off the coating before painting?
wftb JUN 07, 08:38 AM
When I rebuilt my OEM rear calipers I managed to get thepistons reversed from side to side. The ebrake did not work and they would stick on all the time. I figured it out before driving the car luckily. One piston has a left hand threaded actuator and the other has a right hand thread. So if you rebuilt the rear calipers that could be one of your problems.

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86 GT built 2.2 ecotec turbo
rear SLA suspension
QA1 coilovers on tube arms

Frenchrafe JUN 08, 02:37 AM
Hello,
You say all four calipers are a little burnt? Even up front?
Your piston in the 'photo doesn't seem to have got that hot. It's only the extremities of the pads that have trasmitted a bit of heat to the contact points of the calipers.
Honestly, I don't think that it's that bad when compared to a track session that I've done in the past!
I've had pads totally toasted after 5 to 10 laps, and the calipers showed heating much worse than you have got.

If you are not driving the car hard, then you have probably got crappy pads that don't wear and disperse the energy properly. They are just heating up too much.

Regards,
Rafe

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"Turbo Slug" - '87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. Sticky tyres. Driven hard!
https://www.youtube.com/cha...1wZvWQlkYxTjivW_0XNg