Brake Parts

Considering the similarities of the Budd disc brakes and the 4-piston Corvette calipers of the same era, you might get yours rebuilt by a Corvette brake re-sleever/rebuilder?

I was in both the Raybestos and Wagner brake catalogs last week, seeing what was there. Each had or appeared to have all of the bits to rebuild Chrysler drum brakes in their catalogs. Might give them a look-see to see if they might have what you're needing for the rear drum brakes.

RockAuto can be a really good catalog source to see what might be around, if not a good place to find things. Did NAPA not have the desired parts in their catalog or just not in there regional warehouse? Just curious.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

Napa doesn’t even show a parts listing for front Disks. Had them check several different c-bodies of the same year and all of them only listed front drum brakes. Same for Carquest
 
Those earlier applications were probably deleted from the more recent parts catalogs. But they still might have a source for them, IF they knew/could find the part numbers for what you need. Which is where RockAuto can come in.

CBODY67
 
Those earlier applications were probably deleted from the more recent parts catalogs. But they still might have a source for them, IF they knew/could find the part numbers for what you need. Which is where RockAuto can come in.

CBODY67


Rock auto doesnt even show a listing for rotors or pads for the front of the car. They have Calipers though. For the price they want I’d rather rebuild mine, they aren’t hard to do.
 
Rock auto doesnt even show a listing for rotors or pads for the front of the car. They have Calipers though. For the price they want I’d rather rebuild mine, they aren’t hard to do.

When I discovered RockAuto 20-some years ago, it was a "one stop" place to get into catalogs for so many brands of parts they carried/had access to. So I used that website for such, then as now. The issue is that they, like any auto supply chain, will change their vendor listings every so often, bringing in new lines as others are removed. To me, what's on that website can be a good gauge of "what's out there", which a local auto supply might have access to if they might desire to check. So, RA has LOTS of stuff/listings which the locals and chains might not have access to, but RA does NOT have everything for everything, either.

The issue with the referenced Corvette calipers was that moisture in the brake fluid would cause corrosion in the caliper piston bores, resulting in leaks. The caliper halves were quite expensive, back then, which is where the stainless steel sleeve upgrades came from. Which might also be performed on the Budd calipers, too?

When the "box stores" can't provide what you might need, then you have to seek out speciality vendors, as mobileparts. OR you can go there FIRST and skip all of the frustrations of dealing with counterpersons who only can find what's in the computer's databvase, with all due respect. The speciality vendors will become MORE important as the vehicles needing their parts age-out of the auto supply databases.

To me, the amusing thing about the factory disc brake systems is that the original multi-piston calipers (Budd) were replaced with the single-piston caliper (which was highly-lauded at the time), but by the later 1990s, ALL super-perf vehicles had multi-piston calipers again, some up to 8 pistons per caliper. A more even application of the brake pads, they claimed, for better breake performance.

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
Also not impressed with the premium price associated with the original style brake parts.


They were essentially two year only and not a lot of cars got them. SO, you have rarity and scarcity to contend with. The calipers, rotors and pads could also be sourced from Imperial. But you're still in the same boat.
 
Craig @ mobile parts will help you figure out your options and give you an idea of the cost. The guy knows his old car parts and is great to deal with.
 
Craig is the man for this kind of stuff. He generally has everything on the shelf or knows where to get it. In defense of NAPA, I walked into to the local outpost on a Sunday afternoon and got everything I needed for the left rear of my '92 B350 1 ton van and Rock Auto got me everything I needed for the brakes on MAX.
 
Anyone know a good place to find the parts to replace the brakes on my 68 Town and Country?

Napa and Carquest both do not even show an option for front disk brakes let alone any parts for them. Also they can’t get half the parts for the rear.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Try Vintage Auto Parts. vpartsinc.com or Arizona Mopar, 480-966-6683 or Parts Geek. Good luck!
 
I have been going through the same problems with the Budd system on my 68 New Yorker.
My rotors were worn under size, and one had deep grooves from someone running out of pads at some point.
My calipers were a mess, pitted bores and the brakes hanging on but not leaking.
I think it was the 50 years of crud in the system stopping them from leaking.
Also my lower ball joints were showing wear and needing to be replaced.
So after many hours of searching i found new rotors were going to be like $600 a rotor landed her in Australia, $400 to sleeve each caliper then pistons and seal kits.... then lower ball joints etc, just way to much expense,
So i managed to find a pair of excellent used rotors off a 68 New Yorker that was off the road since 1980 and then bought a pair of (Cardone rebuilt) calipers off Summit which i received and are very happy with them, they even have new pistons and were $320 each landed which is a lot better than spending $1200 on mine.
Lower ball joints are as you know hard to get and expensive, i sent mine away and had them rebuilt and came up like new at $100 each here in Australia.
So that's my journey with the Budd brakes, great system but just costs to much to repair / replace.

Gavin
Ballarat Australia
 
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