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Front brake calipers, 1980 BRAT.


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First I want to just say, the stock calipers on the front of the first gen BRAT have to be the dumbest design I've ever had to deal with on a car. Awful.

 

Secondly, I found the passenger caliper is completely frozen and the drivers one is rotten (the rubber and seals) do any of you guys know of or have done a different brake setup on these using the stock rotor/hub assembly? Maybe calipers from a gen 2 would work? If all else fails I'll just order new calipers to replace them but just wondered if a different cars would work?

 

Thanks everyone!

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I think the later EA81 cars are pretty similar with a worm drive mechanical parking brake. They are really an ancient technology 60s-70s caliper with those and retaining shims/clips. I don't think there's much to be gained with bolt-in newer calipers other than vented discs, which would be a good upgrade for cars with more power or more tire. I do some 'spirited' driving in the local mountains and haven't really overheated my calipers much, and they are original to the car. 

Edited by djcommie
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I did bolt up 84 Brat calipers, hubs and rotors to my 74 sedan using 79 Brat spinals. So I know they bolt rite up.....I might have actually used the 79 Brat hubs now that I think about it.

So if you gotta replace them you might as well upgrade. ;)

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Thanks dudes, I'm not concerned about performance so to speak because i am leaving it all stock I was just thinking gen 2 calipers might be easier to get haha. Rock auto has a left and right for only $52 each but I've noticed a trend with them if sending parts that aren't correct. So we will see!

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Yeah those calipers suck. Especially if they're really old and have a ton of wear on them. I struggled for about 30 minutes on one just to get the damn pad retaining portion of it off because they were so stuck. I bought a refurb (I think from rock auto) to replace one and it went together so much smoother. Wish I had bought two. I will when I do pads again, most likely. Anyway, moral of the story is while the tech is ancient and pretty silly in today's standards, a new caliper isn't nearly as much of a pain as trying to work with a 30 year old one barely clinging on to life.

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