Little Red Corvette - The Tow Truck Is My Backup

  

It's been an interesting winter as I've attempted to get the rear brakes working on our 1977 Corvette. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. The latest disaster in this never ending saga? Yesterday morning I broke the front to rear brake line here at this brass "block". It broke as I was bolting the fitting for the new cross over line, the line that failed in the first place, into the right side of this block behind that metal flange. That greasy old clip secures the block to thet flange which, in turn, is welded to the frame. I know. How primitive. Installed correctly, it works well enough.

 

 

It broke the day after I found a small shop near our house that could help me with this project if I need be. My "Tow Truck Is My Backup" mantra never being more comforting than yesterday morning when brake fluid came gushing our from that broken old line. That unmistakable "squish-squish" telling me once again I was a long way from being done.

 

 

This isn't the first time that I thought I was near completion on this project when disaster struck. About three weeks ago I broke that inside bleeder valve off the right rear caliper as I began the "bleeding" process. 

 

I didn't store the car this winter because I wanted to work on it and spend the money I would have spent on storage on parts. So, it's worked out for the best. So far at least. I'm still under budget but I did not count on rebuilding the entire rear brake system; the power steering rack will still need replacing as well. The longer this project takes to complete the more it rubs up against spring time when I would have taken it out of storage in the first place. So, I'm thinking the steering project might have to wait. It's taking so long to complete this proect because I have to do so my research first. Remember, I'm not a mechanic, I'm just handy. I also have to take a back seat to the cold weather. Despite wearing insulated overalls that keep me wonderfully warm 'n toasty, the same can't be said for my fingers. It's cold out there in the garage. Finally, this car is, in general, a big, rusty pain in the ass to work on. For instance, it took me almost two full weekends to get this broken caliper off.

 

This snazzy, remanufactured, period correct, 4 piston caliper now sits on the right rear rotor. Something tells me I should replace the left caliper too while I'm at this seeing how leaky the caliper I broke was. By the way, I got this handsome devil at Autozone for $60 (including the core swap) which is almost $100 cheaper than what I could get at a Corvette supplier on line. Sometimes you luck out. Most often times, though, you don't.

 

Now I have to remove and replace the front to rear brake line that runs down the left side of the car and is held in by a total of four of these innocent looking, 1/2 inch bolts. Sounds easy enough but it's (surprise!) not. They're tucked up under the rocker panel and right next to the fiberglass tub for the interior. That means there's little room for a socket or box wrench and these suckers have been in place for, nearly four decades. Thanks to that heavy duty vice grips (on the floor), an old 1/2 inch driver and that breaker bar, after about 2 1/2 hours of yanking, twisting and screaming, I got them out. I felt like a greasy dentist removing wisdom teeth that just wouldn't budge. Now, spit.

 

 
While I've never done any of this work before, it is straight forward work that anyone with any degree of mechanical intuition could handle. And I know I'm saving a ton of money. While frustrating, I do find the work to very rewarding if not satisfying. Wish me luck getting the old line completely out and figuring out how to get the new one in. All the while anticipating disaster at every turn. Or kink in the line.