450SLC Dragging rear brakes – part 3

In part 2, I had been struggling with my new SLC rear Calipers.   As outlined in that section, the new calipers I had on hand are for models not equipped with the anti-squat rear suspension.   This was because USA models were not so equipped.   The hard lines were too short to fit properly and fouled on the suspension bump stops.    I dropped the car off earlier in the week to have new hard lines made up that fit, and to change the flexible hoses.

I have since found out that I made a pretty stupid mistake.   Instead of checking the new parts properly, I used the old ones to determine how they should fit.   In this case, I fitted the calipers based on the position of the old ones.   If I had checked the part numbers properly, I would have seen they were on the wrong sides.   Additionally, if I had used even a modicum of common sense I would have seen the bleeders were facing down, not up.     Why is this a problem?   Having the bleeders facing down means it is pretty much impossible to bleed the brakes.   Instead of pushing the air out, the fluid will just run out leaving air in the calipers.

The brake shop first put the SLC rear calipers on the right sides.   Then they made up new hard lines for the rears to go from the hose to the caliper.     After that, they changed the hoses.   The fronts were not much of a problem.     They had the same problems I did with the rears – no matter what they tried they could not undo the fittings.    I suspect that due to the extreme heat from the sticking rear calipers, the metals were almost welded together.

In summary,  I have an entirely new rear braking system.   New calipers, rotors, hard lines on both sides and hoses.    I also have a new master cylinder and front hoses.    The brakes feel great, and now the brakes are not dragging, the car feels more lively.

Incidentally the shop I took the car to has recently done some work on a 50,000km 450SLC.   They commented that mine rode better and seemed to have more power.   Not bad after 300,000km.