It's beginning to feel like I am on a see-saw. Front to back and back to front we go.
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| One half of the new set of disc brakes |
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| A shiny new caliper |
With the front brakes done, it was time to move on to the back.
Originally, the Ghia had stock drum brakes in the rear. When I pulled these off the car I resolved to upgrade to a set of new discs. The bolt-on kit cost just under $350, but it is really worth it. Not only did this save me from having to clean up all the old rear drum brake parts, but it meant that I get to bolt in a whole set of shiny brand-new parts.
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| Trailing arm bearing is ready |
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| A new seal for the bearing cap |
After pulling it apart and cleaning it up again, I began the rebuild by replacing the oil seal in the original bearing cover. Next I brought out all the pieces for one side and laid them out next to the car. Then came assembly.
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| Parts ready, set, go! |
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| Bracket installed...incorrectly |
Sadly, the documentation for brand-new these parts is like something out of the seventies. The instruction sheet is photocopied and it looks like it's been through a few thousand versions. Also, it isn't clear from the instructions which parts actually need to go on.
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| The new rotor slides right on |
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| Time to add the caliper |
That is, in addition to providing all those shiny new bits, they actually provide some parts that don't go onto my car. This meant that figuring out which parts to leave out was almost as hard as figuring out which ones go in.
Eventually I managed to figure it out and assemble the new caliper mounting bracket in the bearing set, but being me, I did it wrong the first time. Fortunately I am a bit of a nut about taking pictures so all I ahd to go was go back to the day I took it apart and look at the picture to figure the correct configuration.
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| Left side brake installed |
Even after fixing my rookie blunders, it didn't feel like the new calipers were fitting correctly. The thing is, the distance between the new caliper bracket and the rotor is so small that it makes me nervous. Even a small bit out of whack and the whole thing will tear itself up inside.
Although they are installed, I am not satisfied with the way they work. I've been reading about others' problems with the kit and think I know what to do, but that will have to wait.
