GTV-6 Brakes

["Rex Carz" <rexcarz@domain.elided>]

Vangelis asks about fixing a GTV-6 that will not stop even with new front
rotors and pads.  My GTV-6 had a similar problem, exhibiting the following
symptoms:  when I pushed lightly on the brake pedal, the car stopped, albeit
gradually.  When I pushed harder on the pedal, the car did not stop any more
quickly and perhaps even less quickly.

If this is your problem, perhaps you should replace the flex hoses,
particularly the ones in front.  Take a piece of cellophane wrap or
something similar and rubber band it tightly over the brake fluid reservoir
before removing the old flex lines.  This will prevent the brake fluid from
all running out and forcing you to bleed the brake master cylinder (trust
me, you do not want to have to do this) or the rear brakes.  After the new
flex hoses are in and tight, extract as much fluid from the reservoir as you
can and fill it up with new fluid, so that after you bleed the brakes you
will get a fluid change for your trouble as well.  I used my Mityvac.

Once you are done, remember to pump the brake pedal a couple of times to
seat the pistons tightly against the pads before starting off.  I almost
wrecked my Spider once when I forgot to do this and had no brakes at the
first corner I came to.  If you have already replaced your own pads, you
probably know this already.

This cured the brake problems on my car, which also had new pads and rotors,
as well as having been upgraded to the lighter all alloy Brembo calipers
that had worked fine on the parts car they came off of.  Apparently what
happens to old flex hoses is that the rubber inside fails and starts to
partially peel off of the inside surface.  When you press on the brake, the
hydraulic fluid gets behind the flap of peeling rubber and pushes it until
it becomes a plug preventing any fluid from moving through the hose.  The
only cure is new flex hoses.

Anyway, its probably a good idea to replace the flex hoses on these cars
once every fifteen years or so whether they need it or not!

Good luck.
Rex (who lives near Albany, NY)

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