For the benefit of other phorum readers who may have brakin woes, here is what I did to replace the left/rear brake caliper on my '82. Thanks to all who gave me advice!
I purchased a rebuilt caliper from Motorsport ($120), a flare wrench ($25 @ Motorsport), and a "one man bleeder" kit ($10) a quart of DOT3 brake fluid ($4), some new brake pads ($15), and a can of brake cleaner ($2) at the local parts store.
Some here advised me to buy only a brake caliper that was remanufactured by Nissan, however, the Nissan unit was quoted at $185 (from Courtesy Nissan), and they didn't have it in stock, so I went with Motorsport. The Motorsport calipers were rebuilt by Bendix - this didn't sound too scary so I went with Motorsport.
I blocked the front wheels and disengaged the emergency brake so I could freely work on the rear wheels. Removed the driver side rear tire. I was using the Haynes Manual as a guide. First I removed the emergency brake cable. You slide the retaining clip off where the cable is mounted to the calper unit, and remove the cotter pin from the end of the cable. Then you can remove the cable completely from the caliper unit.
I then removed the two bolts that hold the caliper to the rest of the car. They were surprisingly easy to remove in my case.
The only thing holding the caliper to the rest of the car at this point is the cable itself. This is not the order that the haynes manual recommends, but this is the way I did it.
I rested the caliper on the top of the rotor. I then prepared the new caliper for mounting. I removed the two bolts on the back of the slide pins and seperated the caliper into it's two pieces. I attached the base of the caliper to the mounting bracket.
Next, I removed the brake line from the old caliper, and attached it to the new caliper. The reason I did it this way was so that I didn't have to fool around with trying to plug the tiny hole in the brake line and risk getting something stuck in there or damaging the brake line in some other way.
I then put my new brake pads on to the base of the caliper, and discovered that the caliper cylinder needed to be adjusted so that the caliper would fit over the new brake pads. I screwed the cylinder into the caliper by turning it clockwise with a pair of needle-nose pliers (not easy!).
I was then able to re-assemble the caliper by placing the cylinder unit over the new brake pads and re-attaching the two bolts.
When I attached the bolts, the brake hose was a little bit twisted, so I loosened the nut on the back side of the mounting bracket where the hose goes from rubber to metal. I used the flare wrench for this. You could do it without one, but I wouldn't recommend it. If you strip this bolt, you are screwed and will be hunting down parts and replacing brake lines all weekend. With the brake line loosened, you can reposition the rubber brake line so that it is no longer twisted. Then retighten the bolt with a flare wrench.
With everything reassembled, I give it a good cleaning with brake cleaner. I put the tire back on, and move to the pasenger side rear tire to begin bleeding. I had my brother over to help with this. I put new brake pads on the passenger side rear. I attached a clear hose to the bleeder valve, and positioned the small bottle above the bleeder valve. My kit had a magnet attached to the bottle - don't mount it to the paint!! I used the strut tower to attach the bottle to. My brother pumped up the brakes and then held the pedal to the floor. I then opened the valve. When the fluid no longer flowed, I closed the valve and repeated the process. Once the small bottle is about 1/3rd full, you can just pump the pedal with the valve open. Close the valve when the bottle is full, or it is time to check the reservoir.
Check the reservoir regularly!!!! Don't let it go below the low mark on the master cylinder. The nice thing about using a bleeding kit is that the small bottle forces you to remember this - I checked the reservoir and topped it off after I emptied each bottle of old brake fluid.
Once the fluid was no longer hideously brown and the air bubbles were to a minimum, I closed the valve and moved onto the next wheel. Go in this order: Right rear, Left rear, Right front, Left front. The pedal should be nice and firm when you are done.
This was the first time doing this job, and it went smoothly thanks to the help I received from this forum, and a Haynes manual.
I purchased a rebuilt caliper from Motorsport ($120), a flare wrench ($25 @ Motorsport), and a "one man bleeder" kit ($10) a quart of DOT3 brake fluid ($4), some new brake pads ($15), and a can of brake cleaner ($2) at the local parts store.
Some here advised me to buy only a brake caliper that was remanufactured by Nissan, however, the Nissan unit was quoted at $185 (from Courtesy Nissan), and they didn't have it in stock, so I went with Motorsport. The Motorsport calipers were rebuilt by Bendix - this didn't sound too scary so I went with Motorsport.
I blocked the front wheels and disengaged the emergency brake so I could freely work on the rear wheels. Removed the driver side rear tire. I was using the Haynes Manual as a guide. First I removed the emergency brake cable. You slide the retaining clip off where the cable is mounted to the calper unit, and remove the cotter pin from the end of the cable. Then you can remove the cable completely from the caliper unit.
I then removed the two bolts that hold the caliper to the rest of the car. They were surprisingly easy to remove in my case.
The only thing holding the caliper to the rest of the car at this point is the cable itself. This is not the order that the haynes manual recommends, but this is the way I did it.
I rested the caliper on the top of the rotor. I then prepared the new caliper for mounting. I removed the two bolts on the back of the slide pins and seperated the caliper into it's two pieces. I attached the base of the caliper to the mounting bracket.
Next, I removed the brake line from the old caliper, and attached it to the new caliper. The reason I did it this way was so that I didn't have to fool around with trying to plug the tiny hole in the brake line and risk getting something stuck in there or damaging the brake line in some other way.
I then put my new brake pads on to the base of the caliper, and discovered that the caliper cylinder needed to be adjusted so that the caliper would fit over the new brake pads. I screwed the cylinder into the caliper by turning it clockwise with a pair of needle-nose pliers (not easy!).
I was then able to re-assemble the caliper by placing the cylinder unit over the new brake pads and re-attaching the two bolts.
When I attached the bolts, the brake hose was a little bit twisted, so I loosened the nut on the back side of the mounting bracket where the hose goes from rubber to metal. I used the flare wrench for this. You could do it without one, but I wouldn't recommend it. If you strip this bolt, you are screwed and will be hunting down parts and replacing brake lines all weekend. With the brake line loosened, you can reposition the rubber brake line so that it is no longer twisted. Then retighten the bolt with a flare wrench.
With everything reassembled, I give it a good cleaning with brake cleaner. I put the tire back on, and move to the pasenger side rear tire to begin bleeding. I had my brother over to help with this. I put new brake pads on the passenger side rear. I attached a clear hose to the bleeder valve, and positioned the small bottle above the bleeder valve. My kit had a magnet attached to the bottle - don't mount it to the paint!! I used the strut tower to attach the bottle to. My brother pumped up the brakes and then held the pedal to the floor. I then opened the valve. When the fluid no longer flowed, I closed the valve and repeated the process. Once the small bottle is about 1/3rd full, you can just pump the pedal with the valve open. Close the valve when the bottle is full, or it is time to check the reservoir.
Check the reservoir regularly!!!! Don't let it go below the low mark on the master cylinder. The nice thing about using a bleeding kit is that the small bottle forces you to remember this - I checked the reservoir and topped it off after I emptied each bottle of old brake fluid.
Once the fluid was no longer hideously brown and the air bubbles were to a minimum, I closed the valve and moved onto the next wheel. Go in this order: Right rear, Left rear, Right front, Left front. The pedal should be nice and firm when you are done.
This was the first time doing this job, and it went smoothly thanks to the help I received from this forum, and a Haynes manual.
