Yesterday was a good day for the Scorpion. It finally received an overhaul of the most fundamentaly critical system of any vehicle...the brakes. Whatever power source motivates your vehicle, be it internal combustion, batteries, solar panels or gerbils in a wheel, there needs to be a reliable system of bringing it to a stop. 
Until this weekend the Scorp’s system for stopping was questionable at best.
Until this weekend the Scorp’s system for stopping was questionable at best.Thanks to the help of Anthony Rossano, friend and fellow Scorpion owner, that has now been rectified. He generously offered up the time, tools and space to rebuild the brakes. Not to mention the expertise of having already done this to his own Lancia.
The signs of the disrepair of the brake system were plenty. There was the murky brake fluid in the reservoirs (with chunks),the deeply grooved rotors, the squeals of friction during stopping AND driving,the reluctance of the Scorp to coast (even downhill) and the right-rear rim which was hot enough to cook an egg on after my 5 mile drive home.
With the weather in a typical Seattle misting-wet overcast, we gambled on staying outside vs. cramming ourselves into his garage beside his Ferrari Dino. 
Behind his two car garage is a fairly ample amount of concrete slab, a perfect spot to use his rolling hydraulic jack and stands. Once the car was up on the stands and the wheels were off, we were committed. Our luck held and we only caught a few minutes of rain during the day.
Behind his two car garage is a fairly ample amount of concrete slab, a perfect spot to use his rolling hydraulic jack and stands. Once the car was up on the stands and the wheels were off, we were committed. Our luck held and we only caught a few minutes of rain during the day.The tear down went amazingly smooth. No horribly frozen bolts or hardware too striped to remove. The front brakes looked to have received service not long ago with hoses in decent shape. The rear, however, had dry-cracking in the lines and deeply scared discs. When we pulled the calipers off the car, they were still clutching onto the rear discs and required considerable for to be pried apart. No wonder the rear wheel was getting so blistering hot. That certainly wasn’t working to improve my range
While I fought to remove the rear brake lines from where they disappeared into the frame, Anthony started tearing apart and rebuilding the calipers. To get the piston free from the cylinders, he had a trick of using a bike pump and a small plastic fitting to pressurize the fluid port. It took 4 hands, but worked like a charm. .
They all popped free like bottles of champagne. Everything looked to be in fairly good condition, even the troublesome right-rear that was trying to cook my rim, Only one piston suffering minor pitting. The rubber gaskets all looked solid, but we replaced them with the new ones while we were in there.
They all popped free like bottles of champagne. Everything looked to be in fairly good condition, even the troublesome right-rear that was trying to cook my rim, Only one piston suffering minor pitting. The rubber gaskets all looked solid, but we replaced them with the new ones while we were in there.With everything rebuilt it was ready to go back on the car. Aside from the awkward position of the rear hose fitting it was relatively painless. In addition to the hose, the rears also have a cable connection for the handbrake. Connecting those would have been most unpleasant without four hands. Adjusting the handbrake cable also required I get upclose with the bottom of the car. So that’s what the bottom of the battery pack looks like.
Calipers and the new discs were back on and everything was rotating freely. A vast improvement from where we started. Now for a quick system flush and brake bleed. 
Anthony has a great little hand pump that made this task much simpler. Instead of pushing the fluid out by pumping the pedal, you can suck it out. We wound up doing both to great effect.
Anthony has a great little hand pump that made this task much simpler. Instead of pushing the fluid out by pumping the pedal, you can suck it out. We wound up doing both to great effect.As we flushed fluid from the system we got a better look at the multitude of colors and particles that were lurking in the lines. 
The front end favored bright yellow while the back took it’s fluid dark. You can see the combined results in the photo on the left. We soon had them all taking it clear with no additives. The only snag of the whole operation came during the final adjustment of that last bleed screw... snap... the bleed screw sheared off inside the caliper. That’s going to suck next time I service these brakes. Oh well, I’ve got a few years until that one comes back to bite me. For now, everything was set and we were ready for wheels and a test ride.
The front end favored bright yellow while the back took it’s fluid dark. You can see the combined results in the photo on the left. We soon had them all taking it clear with no additives. The only snag of the whole operation came during the final adjustment of that last bleed screw... snap... the bleed screw sheared off inside the caliper. That’s going to suck next time I service these brakes. Oh well, I’ve got a few years until that one comes back to bite me. For now, everything was set and we were ready for wheels and a test ride.On the road the brakes felt much more solid and effective than they ever had. We tried a few really hard stops to get it to lockup. I was only barely able to lock it up as the extra weight of the car gives it much stronger road contact. The car also coasts freely again, so the should be a little range increase to reward our efforts.
Again, big thanks to Anthor for helping me tackle this. No way I could have done it without him. I walked away with increased knowledge, a sense of accomplishment and confidence that the Scorpion will be a much safer car to drive.
Monday, May 28, 2007
