Just joined this morning. I usually lurk on the corvetteforum, but it's nice to have another source. I've had my 65 for about 8yrs and have learned quite a bit. This is the first car I've ever actually worked on. Since it sat for about 6-8 months recently, I've had a number of problems I have been fixing myself(with manuals and the forum). I'm not done yet and expect more stuff to pop up.
Bob welcome to the STS Corvette Forum. Happy to have you aboard. When I contacted you on the other forum concerning brake bleeding on a C-2 and C-3 Corvette I felt the info already given you there at the moment was not the best information on how to bleed brakes especially disc brakes on these old Corvettes. As I mentioned to you in the PM I sent you, a Motive Power Brake bleeder is the way to go. I am surprised that John Z on the other forum someone who is well respected over there and even here didn't chime in on your thread as he feels the same as I do about the Motive Bleeder. Owning a C-2 or C-3 there should be a requirement so to say to own a Motive Bleeder because there is nothing out there that works as well as the Motive Power Bleeder for such a low cost and the best thing about it is that 1 person can bleed their Corvette by themselves in no more then 20 minutes and have the hardest pedal they could ever get with these cars. Trust me it is the only way to go. Afther messing around with these cars myself for now 39 years I wish something like it at the low cost was available 39 years ago. Have any questions about it fire away. Picture below is a courtesy of John Z.
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1967 Marlboro Maroon 4spd Coupe 1973 Dark Blue 4spd Coupe w/air, original 25,000 miles 1999 Black C-5 Hatchback Coupe 6spd LS1 1934 Ford 3 Window Coupe eng. code "ZZZ" 350-345hp Chevy Powered! 1970 Black on Black Monte Carlo(FOR SALE)Asking $18k
Welcome Bob, hope to have some good discussions here in the near future like the corvetteforum. Will take some time but always nice to get other opinions! Also, you can speak your mind here about vendors or whatever.
Thanks guys. As for the Motive bleeder, yes I read good things about it and also heard the MightyVac worked well. I bought the MightyVac and was able to get it to work pretty well....but since I am considered a newbie at this and had never touched a caliper, brake line/hose or Master cylinder...I needed someone to verify my work. A friend came by and to be safe, also went around to each bleeder and pumped the break etc...
My next test was to test them out, but came across a stripped wheel stud. Again with forum help, I ran down to OSH and got a thread die that fixed it and I'm back in business. Now just waiting for the rain to stop to take her out for a test drive.
Thanks guys. As for the Motive bleeder, yes I read good things about it and also heard the MightyVac worked well. I bought the MightyVac and was able to get it to work pretty well....but since I am considered a newbie at this and had never touched a caliper, brake line/hose or Master cylinder...I needed someone to verify my work. A friend came by and to be safe, also went around to each bleeder and pumped the break etc...
My next test was to test them out, but came across a stripped wheel stud. Again with forum help, I ran down to OSH and got a thread die that fixed it and I'm back in business. Now just waiting for the rain to stop to take her out for a test drive.
Bob
Bob, Not knocking your Mighty Vac but it doesn't even come close to the Motive Bleeder. For one thing you never even touch your brake pedal using the Motive Power Bleeder. No pumping the brake pedal churning up brake fluid. With the Motive you only add a Pint to a Quart of Brake Fluid to the bottle. Remove your Master Cylinder Cover and replace it with the Motive Adapter. Clamp it down and pump the Motive Cylinder up to about 10 pounds. You then go around opening up 1 bleeder at a time starting at the Driver Side Rear. Yes you heard me right. The Driver side rear. This is stated right in the GM Manual on C-2 and C-3 Corvettes. Don't let anyone tell you different. Most other cars you would start on the Passenger side rear but not on these old Corvettes. Anyway Driver Side rear over to the Passenger side rear forward to the Passenger side Front and then over to the Driver side front. With the Motive you are done at this point. Myself I go around one more time with the Motive to be sure. All done in about 20 minutes. If I were you I would bring the Mighty Vac back or just use it for vacuum purposes like to check the Vacuum Advance Can on your distributor or to check choke pull-offs on other older cars. You probably paid almost as much as the Motive Power Bleeder costs. Just trying to give you the best advice here. The Mighty Vac is not the way to go here.
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1967 Marlboro Maroon 4spd Coupe 1973 Dark Blue 4spd Coupe w/air, original 25,000 miles 1999 Black C-5 Hatchback Coupe 6spd LS1 1934 Ford 3 Window Coupe eng. code "ZZZ" 350-345hp Chevy Powered! 1970 Black on Black Monte Carlo(FOR SALE)Asking $18k
Thanks for the advice. If I still have problems after my test drive I will seriously consider the Motive bleeder. I did start on the rear (inside) passenger side based on info from the forum.
Bob, Let us know how you made out. These old Corvette Disc brake calipers could be a pain in the a$$ as they can break a seal at any time. This could also be part of your problem of not getting a hard pedal I should mention. I have rebuilt plenty over the years. Back in the day when C-2's were new within a couple of years you had to deal with these calipers and leaks. Back then we were dealing with cylinders made of cast iron and the Dot 3 brake fluid would absorb moisture causing pits in the caliper cylinders causing the seals to leak. Thats why they recommend changing Dot 3 Brake Fluid every few years but how many really do that? We did the best we could back then trying to hone and clean up the cylinders putting news seals in but they didn't last very long. Finally someone came along with the idea of rebuilding these calipers using Stainless Steel inserts or sleeves and it eliminated the pits in the walls of the cylinders. I have to say even though this was done whether it was the design or not on occasion many of us still have a problem with a seal that will start to leak. Just make sure you are using the correct brake fluid in the car. Some of us have switched over to Dot 5 silicone over the years. I did the change quite a few years ago on my C-3 but not my C-2. The problem with making the change is you really need to make sure all Dot 3 is out of the system. I did my change after I had my original calipers resleeved with SS inserts. At the time I replaced both front hoses also. That was around 1990. I later on maybe back in 2001 I had a problem with a leaking caliper in the rear of the C-3 and had found that I must of never got all the Dot 3 fluid out after I split the caliper to take a look and because of that there was a accumulation of a waxy build-up in that rear caliper that actually pushed the upper seal away from the piston causing the leak. Dot 3 and Dot 5 do not mix. Dot 5 Silicone brake fluid is good to use but there really is no need to switch to it most of us have found out over the years especially now that most rebuilt calipers have SS inserts in them. It would of helped greatly back in the 60's if a Dot 5 type of brake fluid had been used by the factory. Being Dot 5 doesn't absorb water we might not of had the problems with the pitting in the old cast iron cylinders. One thing for sure though the Dot 5 fluid sure keeps the Master Cylinder free from pits from what I have seen so far. Factory and replacement Master Cylinders are all cast iron inside and Dot 3 does a number on them over time I have heard there is a vendor out there that will SS SLeeve your Master Cylinder also but don't remember who it is out there.
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1967 Marlboro Maroon 4spd Coupe 1973 Dark Blue 4spd Coupe w/air, original 25,000 miles 1999 Black C-5 Hatchback Coupe 6spd LS1 1934 Ford 3 Window Coupe eng. code "ZZZ" 350-345hp Chevy Powered! 1970 Black on Black Monte Carlo(FOR SALE)Asking $18k
Have any questions about it fire away.
