White95’s Brembo caliper restoration project

white95

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As many of you know, I have a big brake setup that centers around third generation, Dodge Viper Brembo calipers. The calipers feature 44mm and 40mm pistons. This setup appealed to me due to the fact no rotor or wheel spacers were required. The brackets came from Fiveology Racing and haven’t been produced for several years now. There isn’t much information out there but this old thread on SVTPerformance details it nicely. Fiveolgy removed material from the lower side of the caliper for alignment and offered the option of milling the upper edge of the caliper flat.

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(Notice how rounded the leading edge of the caliper is above the Viper text.)


Luckily, I stumbled upon my kit when someone offered it to me as trade for a giant GT500 heat exchanger. One of the calipers had a stripped bleed screw port but had been “repaired and didn’t leak”.

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Undeterred by the bleeder port issue. I jumped at the opportunity because I didn’t want to continue with the S550 setup I had. It needed a rotor spacer and my front track was already quite wide.

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Unfortunately, the calipers were poorly packaged and screwed up during shipping. The guy put them in a tiny box with minimal padding and the finish paid for it. Speaking of, he sent me $100 to cover repairs which I put towards Coyote swap stuff.

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The car was going together and I had no choice but to install them as is. The goal was to source more calipers and modify them for use. I’ve done just that and it’s time to get to work. The plan is to have the necessary machining done, replace all the seals, restore the hardware to the proper zinc finish, install new fluid crossovers and have them slathered in a sexy, new layer of bright red powder coat. This thread is meant to chronicle the progress from start to finish.
 
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white95

white95

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Prior to installing them, I did a better repair of the stripped bleed port. I am still not in love with the fact that one of the bleed screws is smaller but I’ve dealt with it.

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Detail of the bracket.

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Kit installed on the car.

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Fast forward to now, I’ve obtained a pair of calipers and have begun reworking them to replace the current set. I’ve been fortunate enough to have friends at work who are machinists as they love “government projects”. Eddie milled the mounting pads down and also the upper edge flat.

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white95

white95

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Didn’t have the other caliper soon enough and the machine shop is now too busy to mill it this week. No matter, I’ll continue with what I have. I’ve repaired yet another stripped bleeder port but this time, it was a seized fluid crossover that messed it up. As I alluded to in the opening post, I’m faced with replacing the fluid crossovers now and that will be covered in a future post. I’ve elected to repair it with a M10x1.0 helicoil and did so at work today.

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white95

white95

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Almost all of the components laid out with the exception of the pad guides and one washer that is stuck in the red coating.

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The calipers were obviously assembled and then painted. All of the Viper calipers came this way. In my opinion, they should’ve left the hardware in the raw zinc finish. Just seems like a rushed job.

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The same goes for the bleed screws and the crossover tubes.

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I have partially disassembled the other caliper and it awaits machine work. We will pick this back up in 2023 when there is more progress to report.

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Let's hear more about this cat.

Roux! She is about 5 years old now and I rescued her from the facility I work for. She has lived a spoiled life ever since. The other cat, Nibby, was also rescued from work a few years prior and they come from the same colony.

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weendoggy

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Looks nice! How different is this from the Caddy swap? Pads need trimming? etc.

I'm thinking about the ATS swap but will mill and trim them to fit my 17's, I hope. Don't want to use the spacer.

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Our two current sisters, both from SPCA. Not too relaxed. Both have same markings on bellies.
 
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white95

white95

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Looks nice! How different is this from the Caddy swap? Pads need trimming? etc.

I'm thinking about the ATS swap but will mill and trim them to fit my 17's, I hope. Don't want to use the spacer.

View attachment 22608

Our two current sisters, both from SPCA. Not too relaxed. Both have same markings on bellies.

Thanks! I’m trying to continue the DIY theme of the project and cut down costs. Some.

Not exactly a bolt on affair as there is caliper machining required but no pad modifications are required.

Good looking pair you have :)

Both have same markings on bellies.

Speaking of belly markings..

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weendoggy

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Thanks! I’m trying to continue the DIY theme of the project and cut down costs. Some.

Not exactly a bolt on affair as there is caliper machining required but no pad modifications are required.

Good looking pair you have :)



Speaking of belly markings..

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Yeah, who said cats don't like to lay on their backs! All due to comfort levels. We've had tuxedo (some with boots) for the past 25yrs. Just something about them.
 
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white95

white95

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Small update:

Received the new fluid crossovers from SStubes.com and I’m very happy with the results.

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