Re: [Amc-list] Four piston brakes (was American Parts Depot)

[Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx>]

I don't think any of the Brembo or Wilwood brakes will bolt directly to the old Bendix brackets, but both have the dimensions of their calipers on-line. AMC used the same four piston Bendix calipers as everyone else did in the early 60s, so they may have a Mustang or Corvette replacement. Many simply replace everything from the caliper bracket out with a later AMC brake setup, 79-83 Concord/Spirit/Pacer is the easiest to get parts for and least expensive (parts wise). Any 71+ will work, just be prepared to pay a premium for rotors with 71-78 disc brakes. 

The reason the early four piston calipers leak is the placement of the seal. The seal is on the piston and wears the bore slightly oval. All new designs have the seal in the body and use a steel piston -- no wear or leaks, and if you do get wear replace the piston. That's why the bores are sleeved with stainless inserts to correct leaking -- stainless is much harder than the original cast iron bores plus it won't rust if the car sets a lot (like most muscle collector cars do). 
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Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 08:39:33 +0100
From: "John Eckersley" <john.eckersley@xxxxxxxxx>

APD have been great with me - shipping parts to England no problem and
excellent service.  Doug has been great at answering my e-mail
questions.

As for the calipers, mine are shot too.  I spent hours dismantling and
rebuilding them and honed the bores, only to reassemble and find they
are no better.  As soon as I get a decent pressure built up using the
vac bleeding kit I have, fuild just pours out of the bores -
interestingly, it's the lower outer bore on each caliper that's bad.

I was considering whether there might be a better option than
resleeved calipers (not  least because I have to ship the old ones to
the USA and that ain't cheap) - I hear the later single pot setup is
more reliable but I have been told the spindles and other fittings
need changing.  I was wondering if there are any "performance"
calipers (wilwood, brembo, whatever) that would fit in place of the 4
pot bendix ones.

-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
(free download available!)

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