That $600 master cylinder rebuild kit was a total scam

I bought a supposed high-end rebuild kit for a 1972 Chevelle I'm working on. Spent 3 hours tearing down the master cylinder, honing it, and putting all the new seals in. First press of the pedal and it leaked worse than before. The piston bore was pitted way deeper than I thought and no kit was gonna fix it. Anyone else get burned by trying to cheap out on brake parts instead of just buying new?

2 comments

2 Comments

nora_park7220d ago

Oh man, I feel your pain all the way over here. I did the exact same thing on a 68 Mustang, bought a fancy kit for like 50 bucks more than the basic one thinking it'd be better. Spent a whole Saturday messing with it, cleaned the bore like a maniac, put it all together, and it just pissed fluid out from the front seal the second I bled the system. The bore looked fine to my eyes, but I guess there was this tiny scratch I missed. Ended up buying a whole new master cylinder from the local parts store for like 80 bucks and it worked perfect first try. Learned my lesson, now I just buy new every time for brake stuff, it's not worth the headache or the risk of crashing over saving a few bucks.

webb.linda20d ago

Bought a used pressure bleeder off Craigslist once that looked fine but shot brake fluid all over my garage ceiling. Now I just borrow the one from AutoZone for free.