[DeTomaso] caliper rebuild advice

JDeRyke at aol.com JDeRyke at aol.com
Tue Jul 10 15:38:31 EDT 2007


In a message dated 7/10/07 11:33:14 AM, lee_farrell at sbcglobal.net writes:

<< I have a sticking rear caliper on my '72.   I bought a stock rebuild kit.  
 Altho the problem started with the emergency brake, I was advised it's never 
just the return spring.  Any advice - for a newbie - on the difficulty level? 
  or things to watch out for?   This must be one of the few procedures that 
doesn't have web site instructions >>

The rebuild kits contain a dust shield and a square o-ring seal for the 
piston (on each side). Difficulty in releasing is often the cable rusted to its 
steel jacket & has nothing to do with the caliper itself. Is the mechanical cable 
free to move back & forth when someone pulls on the handle in the car? If 
not, soaking the cable assy in some sort of rust-penetrant will often free it up 
with no other work needed. One car had undercoating sprayed all over the cable 
assy, and then was inadvertently driven some distance with the e-brake 
engaged. The heat this generated melted the undercoating on the cable, which flowed 
inside the cable jacket and seized the whole e-brake. So the NEXT time this 
car was driven a distance, it burned out the rear brake pads!

Occasionally, a hydraulc piston (front or rear) will stick in its bore and 
the fix for that is to polish the sticky piston & its bore with a Scotch-Brite 
pad. I suggest NOT trying to disassemble the rear piston assy- there are a 
multitude of snap-rings and parts contained inside and to my knowlege there are no 
spare parts available anyway. So if the piston ass'y is actually damaged, 
you'll need a NOS unit or at least a good used replacement. But its likely just a 
stuck cable. 
FWIW, rebuilding of both front & rear calipers is exhaustively covered 
(illustrated) in the 'Pantera Service Highlights' manual, and reprints of this Jan 
'72 Ford publication are available from the POCA store both on CD and as a 
paper copy. The manual is also available from various POCA Chapters and vendors. 
Good luck- J DeRyke<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See 
what's free at http://www.aol.com.</HTML>



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