Just picked up a '96 miata. It's a two owner with 128K. It's been really well cared for, has new springs and shocks, cooling system, tires, and braided lines and all regular maintenance. Should replace the calipers? The previous owner regularly bled the brakes with ATE blue and they look fine. I'm strapped now as I bought new tires, race seats and paid for install/fabrication but I don't want to be stupid and not spend the $300 for new hardware to have a brake failure at my next event at the end of April.
Thoughts?
Be kind...
Knurled
UltraDork
4/10/13 8:28 p.m.
If they work, don't bother.
I recently bought a '90 miata and the brakes worked well and looked fine. When I replace the rotors, I pressed the pistons back into the bore to get some extra clearance and some brake fluid started leaking out of the boots. I don't think I would have noticed if I weren't doing a careful inspection of everything, but I'm glad I caught it.
If you're going to be taking it out on track and think the calipers are pretty old, give them a good inspection at least.
FYI, I just rebuilt mine (just the fronts). The rebuild kit was like $6 per, and it only took an hour or so to rebuild them.
In general though, I totally agree with Knurled's post.
Depends on what you want to do. I grabbed a set of Sport calipers for my track rat '90 and had a buddy rebuild them with all OEM parts and blast and powder coat while they were apart.
Just what you want to spend.
codrus
Reader
4/10/13 11:33 p.m.
Check the rears carefully -- it's easy to strip the adjuster screw thingey, and in some cases it damages the threads inside the caliper. Look for corrosion on the slider pins (pull the calipers all the way off the bracket). Other than that, if it works, keep it.
If you inspect the pins (and you want to inspect the pins), make sure that you use liberal amounts of lube on them when reassembling.
if they work, don't touch them..
I lubed the pins twice annually on mine. Look for leaks. Don't see leaks? Don't fix it.
whenry
HalfDork
4/11/13 9:05 a.m.
rear calipers and the emergency brake cable tend to seize and it is cheaper to replace the rears than mess with rebuilding(I am not sure that the kit is even available anymore). However if they are working, just drive it. Dont use the emergency brake after a track session. YMMV
whenry wrote:
rear calipers and the emergency brake cable tend to seize and it is cheaper to replace the rears than mess with rebuilding(I am not sure that the kit is even available anymore). However if they are working, just drive it. Dont use the emergency brake after a track session. YMMV
I know everything to rebuild front and rear Sport calipers is still available from Mazda as of last summer.
DaveEstey wrote:
I lubed the pins twice annually on mine. Look for leaks. Don't see leaks? Don't fix it.
That's pretty much the way I look at it. Clean and lube the pins, bleed and call it good.
Keith Tanner wrote:
DaveEstey wrote:
I lubed the pins twice annually on mine. Look for leaks. Don't see leaks? Don't fix it.
That's pretty much the way I look at it. Clean and lube the pins, bleed and call it good.
What lube do you use for the pin?
I like Sylglide. Should be easy to find at an auto parts store.
In reply to ea_sport:
Permatex makes some ceramic brake grease good for extremely high temps. I've seen it at NAPA, but got it at a local parts place.
