[leespeedshop]

I am interested in getting my 4 piston calipers sleeved in either brass or stainless. Has anyone done this and if so who did you use and what was the cost.

[Vintage 68]

While I've had some 4-piston units sleeved locally years ago in $$ - I now prefer Brass ...
I had some issues with a $$ sleeved unit having a sleeve come loose and begin to slide out after a few years of use.
Granted this vehicle saw some track-time and it may have resulted in the caliper(s) getting hotter than they would if 100% street driven (the most likely reason as stated by the supplier when returned for repairs) but still, it was a very frustrating (and expensive) issue to correct that I have never had with a Brass sleeved unit.

I have been using a California vendor for the past several years - but he is retiring the end of the year
He will do your work if you get it to him by Dec. 31st though so better hurry if you choose him.
Link to his site - http://www.brakecylinder.com/index.htm

I have also been given a new vendor with very good reviews to try next year.
I heard they do lots of Corvette work, so maybe JohnZ or others can comment on them
Link to WhitePost - http://www.whitepost.com/brake.html

Hope this helps

[nashcar]

I've had all mine done in the past with SS with no problems. I just had my master and rear wheel cylinders done for my Z28 by Whitepost and they use brass. They have a lifetime guarantee, we'll see. Not cheap, I think the master was $185 and the wheel cylinders were $85 each.

[Vintage 68]

The 'going' rate for most Masters is @$200 with Wheel Cylinders running just under $100 ea.
(of course YYMV - and they will always adjust pricing if the unit is really dirty, rusted or needs rework of fittings/threads ...)

[leespeedshop]

thanks for all the feedback. I already contacted Whitepost and the calipers work is quite expensive,...but then again you do get a lifetime warranty. For the guys who got theirs done in brass what brake fluid did you use.

Lee
1967 rs/ss
1969 Z28

[nashcar]

I had silcone in mine and have used it for years with good results, some will say it's no good. Whitepost says not to use it so I changed to DOT3.

[satz28]

Originally Posted by nashcar

I had silcone in mine and have used it for years with good results, some will say it's no good. Whitepost says not to use it so I changed to DOT3.

Why no silicone brake fluid?

[bilodeaulynn]

Originally Posted by satz28

Why no silicone brake fluid?

Yeah, what is wrong with silocone?

[Vintage 68]

Originally Posted by bilodeaulynn

Yeah, what is wrong with silocone?

There is really nothing "wrong" with Silicone (Dot-5 NOT 5.1 ) - if ... the system is specifically designed for it, as are many higher end performance vehicles.
The problems arise when folks start mixing early hydraulic design components with the different fluid characteristics of a Dot-5 system.

Most common 'short-term' issues are due to components sizing leading to "spongy" pedal feel and braking bias calibration(s) which takes time, and familiarity with, to overcome until a good balanced feel can be achieved.
You can select components during system construction to minimize this if your building/rebuilding a vehicle braking system from ground up.
OEM systems using this fluid are specifically engineered from the 'get-go' to work with these characteristics.

Early glycol based (Dot 5.1) fluids were also not fully compatible with many of the elastomers (you know - rubbery stuff ) commonly used in seals and internal o-rings.
The glycol-ethers can/would attack the components over time and leaks were the common indicators of 'issues' ...
The true 'silicone' fluids don't exhibit this, and most components are now multi-fluid compatible from the vendor, so this is not as big an issue as earlier - but still a concern depending on your systems history and composition.

Lastly - silicone fluids are completely 'non-hygroscopic' (can't absorb any water ).
That sounds like a "good-thing" right?
Wellllll .... not so much
It depends on where in the system any entrained moisture (oh it will get in there, trust me ) comes to rest and it's concentration(s).
It will most likely settle to lowest points in the system - think calipers here - and when it does it then is in the worse place it can be, right where the maximum heat zones are in the system. And since water has a very low boiling point you can probably guess what happens to your braking effort as you get into spirited braking cycles and the caliper temps exceed 400+ degrees
[Note: the earlier Glycol based (Dot-5.1) fluids just absorbed some of this moisture - so even though they were hard on seals, they didn't have the lost of effort issue 'true' silicones do.]
On true performance and/or Race systems, the fluid is bleed, checked, serviced and/or changed very often during routine vehicle prep cycles - so these guys don't see much if any problem with moisture entrainment.

Hope this helps understand the 'why' most suppliers don't recommend the "DOT-5" type fluids.

And ... I'm sure you'll most likely never exceed the limits of a good DOT-4 anyway, so there should be no incentive to 'pioneer' use of silicone on the majority of street driven vehicles.

Oh, wait a minute ... I just thought of a GREAT use for Silicone

[Eleanor's Nemesis]

Thanks for the explanation John.

[nashcar]

Whitepost says it can affect the seals in the cylinder or caliper.