Can entire brake caliper assemblies still be purchased?

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

After leaving my best Festy, a 93 with 123K on it, in the field with a leaky head gasket and flying home, I find myself in the uncomfortable position of having something wrong with all of my "driveable" Seattle Festies. The one with the least wrong (and which hasn't been driven for a long time), a 93 with only 102K on it, has the left front brake dragging, even after removing and lubing the slider tubes tonight. I think the piston is sticking, since that wheel gets hot after only a few miles of no-brakes driving. Other wheels are all cold. If it were a bad bearing, I think I'd get noise, and it would take much longer to get hot.

The pads are almost worn out anyway, so I just want to do a quick swap-in of rebuilt caliper assemblies ASAP in the morning. Are the whole assemblies still available, say, from Napa? Any idea what I should expect to pay? Should I expect core charges? I'd really like to clean up the ones on the car now (the whole car is rust-free) to keep as spares.

[Safety Guy]

"Loaded calipers" should be available from Rockauto and the McParts stores. Go online and search to compare pricing. Or buy rebuilt calipers, pads and hardware kits separately to see if it's cheaper. Shouldn't be a problem.

You can get rebuild kits for your old calipers too.

Karl

[FestYboy]

yeah, i can get them from RockAuto and other McAutoParts. Advance is advertising $38 per side ($25 core) AZ at $32 per side ($20 core) rockauto is showing a caliper at $25 with a penny core!!!

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

We don't have RockAuto here, and I don't want fries with my brakes.

I rang up Napa at opening time. They'll have the driver side (that's the one that's dragging) in their hands in 3.5 hours and the passenger side same time tomorrow coming up from Oregon. $38/side, with no shipping charges and no mention of core charges.

Not a bad deal! How many car types that have been out of production for 20 years have that kind of aftermarket support?

[Larry Hampton]

RockAuto is RockAuto.com

They have no stores.

[georgeb]

If you're cheap you can pop the seal out with a toothpick, hone the bore with 220 grit sandpaper, polish the piston with fine steel wool and reassemble.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

Georgeb,

I am cheap, but my reasons for wanting quick "Plug-and-Play" solution include:

1. No garage.
2. This is Seattle .... gray skies .... cold .... rain .... more rain .... did I say rain?

[FestYboy]

McAutoParts = Advance, AutoZone, PepBoys, NAPA, O'Reilys, etc.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

There was a core charge of $25/side on top of the $38/side caliper charge, which turned out to be "partially loaded" (not "loaded"), so the pads (all they had were $40/set, not the $15 brand) were extra.

Fortunately, I found a seat of ghastly-looking calipers that have been sitting out in the rain that I'll use to get my $50 core refund, and keep the ones I just took off to clean up as spares.

[Christ]

Georgeb,

I am cheap, but my reasons for wanting quick "Plug-and-Play" solution include:

1. No garage.
2. This is Seattle .... gray skies .... cold .... rain .... more rain .... did I say rain?

Kitchen table and a beer flat.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

Two days later ... still raining.

Were you suggesting that I work on my Festy inside on the kitchen table? Great idea ... I'll round up a few neighbors and see if we can squeeze it though the side door.

[Bert]

I spent a winter in 'balmy' Vancouver trying to do outside work on cars during the kind of weather you describe. Made me fervently wish for the fresh fallen snow of Ontario over and over. I got my wish and am back here and either way continually find excuses to watch TV or drink beer instead.

[Christ]

Two days later ... still raining.

Were you suggesting that I work on my Festy inside on the kitchen table? Great idea ... I'll round up a few neighbors and see if we can squeeze it though the side door.

No, no... Pull the caliper, which takes 10 minutes, if you're slow... and rebuild/clean the caliper on the kitchen table. Simple.

[Christ]

I know everyone isn't as 'tarded as me, but when I got my first EGT (88.5 MY), I had to change the clutch... took 5 days, in the rain. It was surely an experience.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

I actually got the dragging driver side replaced in 10 mins a few days ago. I'm waiting for a "sunbreak" to do the non-dragging passenger side.

FYI, a "sunbreak" is one of:
1. A major astronomical event whereby the sun momentarily can be seen through a hole in the clouds.
2. The sun making a brief appearance just before sunset as it dips below the low overcast a few minutes before before setting.

The local talking-head weather people actually forecast a percentage probability of such events.