crunch!!!!!!

[67HEAVEN]

Just as an FYI to the rest of us, what would cause a brake to lock up like that? Perhaps this may serve as a reminder to some of us to make sure we perform routine maintenance.

It could be as simple as a fatigued brake line hose. To quote JohnZ...

How old are your flex hoses? When they get old, they deteriorate from the inside out (swelling) and act like check valves - they'll pass fluid under pressure, but when you take your foot off the pedal, they won't pass fluid back toward the master cylinder, causing the brakes to drag. The more they drag, the more the fluid heats up (and expands) between the restriction and the caliper, and eventually they lock up solid.

I, too, am sorry to see what happened.

You're all out checking your brake hoses now, right?

 

[67HEAVEN]

If more than one brake locks........

Brake pedal free play isn't adjusted properly - this causes the master cylinder piston seal to cover the outlet and compensating ports; the brakes work when you step on the pedal, but the return path for fluid is blocked, causing the same result as above.

After spending many days with my car in a local body shop (complete body off), I've seen too many people spending tons of money on appearance, while covering up many mechanical sins with paint. Not because the shop owner wanted to, but because a fancy paint job was the most important thing to the car owner. Frame, suspension, etc. could come later.

Brakes are job one, followed closely by suspension and frame integrity.

NOTE: This message is definitely NOT intended for the author of this thread.

 

[bill81vette]

looks like the frame extention in the front did what it was supposd to do but i cant imagine the feelings for the vette seeing it like that ...i know i would be:cry my heart out but at least you are ok and that is no 1 the vette can be fixed!!!!

 

[Eddie 70]

Sorry to see what happend to your vette. But it does look like you are well on the way to getting it started back. Keep up the good work and keep us posted on your progress.

 

[JohnZ]

I feel your pain... just be glad it didn't end up like this - nobody walked away from this one:

 

[rassan]

If more than one brake locks........

After spending many days with my car in a local body shop (complete body off), I've seen too many people spending tons of money on appearance, while covering up many mechanical sins with paint. Not because the shop owner wanted to, but because a fancy paint job was the most important thing to the car owner. Frame, suspension, etc. could come later.

Brakes are job one, followed closely by suspension and frame integrity.

NOTE: This message is definitely NOT intended for the author of this thread.

67 you are so right about what some people do to their cars first and not take care of the important safety issues.
i have been guilty of things like in the past so this time i thought i would start with the brakes and on to the suspension, i payed a car shop over 400.00 to replace everything on the front brakes because my buddys shop was swamped with work & i just couldn't wait & do it my self....

i thought that i could chill out from working on a car for a while and just drive because my knee, back, and shoulder that i hurt @ work told me to get up off the cold concrete floor and hit the hottub. i noticed that my brakes felt funny about a week before the accident and then my brake light came on friday. i parked my car in the station friday night and was going to take my car back to the shop that did the work on monday because they are not open on the weekend. i checked the brake calipers , hoses , fluid; found nothing hanging or leaking or loose .

i got transfered that sunday and was going to move some of my gear from one place to the next on monday and forgot to call the shop. loaded up the vette with a few things and went on down the road.

i have been down this street a thousand times so i know to slow down before i see the hill sign or the slippery when wet winding road sign. doing about 25 when i saw some road kill slowed down even more , who wants road kill on their vette, as i got down to where i thought i was going to make a rt. turn i put my foot on the brake pedal and the car started slideing to the right like all the brake power was in the rt. front wheel.

when i hit the wet grass and leaves the car seemed to go faster, i released the brake trying to turn into my slide but the front wheels did not turn, i went across the street i was trying to turn on into the grass and into the biggest telephone on the street.

i dont know how many of u have been in situations where it feels like your on the sideline watching something happen but there is nothing u can do about it, that is what this felt like, i knew it was going to be bad.

i wasent worried about getting hurt i just remember thinking "NOOOO!!!! NOT THE POLE" i have wrecked 1 of my monte's before and the sound a all metal car makes is not crunch , but that is what i heard when i finally stopped slideing "CRUNCH"

i jumped out and tried to pry my car off the pole when another car came over the hill saw me slammed on their brakes and slid into the grass jumped out of their car ran over to me to see if i was hurt because i was laying across my hood trying to seperate fiberglass and wood. they thought i got ejected out the windsheild. i think i freaked them out because i asked them to help me get my car off the pole because the electrical box on the side was throwing off sparks and i did want my car to catch on fire, i have seen that a time or two-not pretty at all.

i did not even notice that i had ground fiberglass into my hand until the police arrived and we got to the ticket signing part and the guy did not want me to use his pen until i wiped the blood off my hand. failure to control-score 2points for me........

my lawyer said that if i cant find something ironclad wrong with the brakes that the shop did it will cost me a lott of time & money because they will out expert me...its a pretty big chevy dealer that i thought i could trust because the guy that worked on my brakes had his own custom corvette rapair shop for about 20+ yrs./ and it might not be anything they did wrong/

so far i have spent 2500 on parts and was told that a custom bodywork and paint will cost me another 2500 for everything- pullys , radiater belts everything..... with me doing some of the work myself........... i can give the whole new front clip back and sell my car for about 1500- 2000 max. or sit it in the garage and try not to think about it for a while or spend the 5000 fix it and take that second job............


i'm really leaning toward that 2ND job right now, i have worked 3 jobs before so 2 is no problem


you have seen the pics and now u know the story

tell me what u think.........

 

[JohnZ]

If the "Brake" warning light came on when you stepped on the brakes, you either had a leak or air in the front or rear system; if it's the front system, the shop you paid didn't do the job right. The only thing that turns that light on when you step on the brakes is a differential in pressure between the two systems.

 

[gec]

I don't know if this will help any but I was just browsing through ebay & came across a frame extension for $95.00
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4507005946&category=10076
and a complete frame that looks in very good shape
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=7936304649&category=42609
I imagine there are alot of us in the same boat with no collision on our vettes. I hope everything works out what ever you decide to do. Christmas is comming soon, maybe time to write a letter to santa.