[Forrest]

Literally, doing a complete brake redo on a customers '70 gto..new lines new rear check valve, original distrib. block, original metering valve..so I needed a new master cylinder, went to the zone and got one (rebuilt, customer has a budget)..put it on and the rears had no pressure..went thru everything and no worky..so then went back and got a NEW one (saw the box and it said "made in China") that irritated me.. description says :micro polished bore, thoroughly 100% computer inspected, meets or exceeds oem specs, guaranteed performance every time! blah blah ,same exact problem as the first one that had all the same "benefits/quality". So now I'm thinking this can't be and started to check flow at all locations from the master cyl. to the distribution block back to the check valve ect. Pulling my hair out I looked into the rear reservoir of the M.C.and saw bubbles coming up.."Houston we have a problem"..of course the things were bench bled and I have done complete brake systems MANY times ( most of you know I own a shop)..but How could I get 2 bad units..so I pulled one off one of my personal ones (70 gto) and whalla!! it works as it should. Moral of the story...there really isn't one...just pissed spending all that time and mess because of cheap Chinese crap..so now I have to reinstall and re bleed my personal car AND the customers AGAIN! I have to figure out where to get one that I will be confident that it will work...Oreily's has a new aluminum one sounds kinda neat? Napa? Not to mention, I will be needing an additional one for the resto on this '70 ram air car that I'm doing..now I'm paranoid of these Master cylinders! Don't want to order one online because of the "return" costs if it is bad..know what I mean?? I've vented enough..thanx for listening..back to your regular ect...

[2002Z4CSS]

I will ask if a made in USA part is available and will even pay more for it.

[quicksilver97ta]

I buy batteries, oil, antifreeze, wax, ect at autozone but thats it. For hard parts it's Napa or O'reilys usually... and with good success too.

[Forrest]

well, I may try that oreilys aluminum m.c. God, if I get another bad one..get out of my way!!

[Rob B]

I've found that O'Reilly's to be the place to go for older vehicles like our Pontiacs.

[marxjunk]

NAPA...always..screw the rest

[Sirrotica]

Rebuild what you have and then you know it's done right, Anything I need to depend on I rebuild them myself. If it screws up I have no one to blame but me. I have a lot more confidence in what I do than someone that won't ever have to ride/drive the car I'm putting it on.

Dorman and Wagner make rebuild kits, probably Bendix too.

It's usually cheaper in the long run, just look at how much time you have invested trying to save money, hardly worth all the hassle.

[67drake]

X2.
Off the shelf masters are junk 50% of the time. I've been rebuilding my own for years. I've never had one not work if I rebuild it. If It's going into a nice car (unlike my own!),you can clean them up and spray them with a cast color paint. PY also sells new covers for them.

[Forrest]

Thanx guys...I have rebuilt many over the years..just wanted to get this guys car on the go (as he did also!) and it turned into a nightmare...so I got one from oreilys ( a cardone unit!) and it worked fine.. I usually save the rebuild-able ones for my cars that I restore and then sell..thanx

[steve v]

I'd usually say rebuild the original mc too but the last 6 I've pulled apart had rust pitting so bad in the bore they couldn't be rebuilt w/o sleaveing them.

[Kokamo]

Forrest, my family owns 6 full size auto parts stores here in the central Texas area and I manage one of them. Our competition is Vato-Zone and O-Really?.....that is if you want to call it competition. The A1 Cardone is a very good brand as far as rebuilds go....and they have some new units as well. We also sell AC Delco, pricy, but if you want the best factory stock part for your ride, that's the way to go.

Glad you got it fixed up,

~Joe

By the way, I'm in the final stages of building a 68 Camaro Autocross car for a client. Customer supplies some of the nicest parts....6 piston Wilwood's, 2 piece rotors all around, the MC, booster and prop valve....some top quality stuff. Gonna get fluid thru it by the end of the weekend I hope....gonna be sweet!

[sonjaab]

Ahhhhhhhh..............china parts!

Even buying OEM name brand stuff check the box AND part to check if its made
in the USA or Canada! And theres NO guarantee of that either!

A few years back my Poncho needed new front grease seals and I figured what the heck
I would put in a new set of front wheel bearings and races while I am in there!
Heck.. at 150 THOUSAND miles its about time!

I went off to my local vato-zone and asked for a set of bearings and grease seals.
Well they had their premium brand of Red Star bearings made in china to boot.
Thanks I'll pass..............

Now off to my local AC-Delco jobber and got a set of "genuine GM/AC/Delco" goods !
The smaller outer bearing was a NDK and stamped made in USA while the larger inner
bearing was also stamped NDK and made in china !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gotta watch carefully..................

[PontGuy]

I did major repairs on my factory 69 disc brake system a few years ago. Got new lines and distribution block from Inline tube but figured I could save money buying the rest of what I needed from the local guys. Picked up a matched/assembled master and booster, hoses, rear wheel cylinders and rotors from Advance Auto. And I caught h...ll getting the system to work properly.

Problem 1: Getting the hose fittings to seat on the rotors without leaking was a real PITA. Went through several sets washers before I finally got got it licked. Not sure why, but I never had problems with this in the past.

Problem 2: I could not get fluid to go to the rear brakes. But then I tried it without tightening the master cylinder mounting bolts (by accident) and it suddenly worked. Found that the intermediate rod in the "matched" master and booster was too long so the master would not return quite all the way. Some thin washers between the master and booster solved this one.

Problem 3: I could not get the rear system to bleed properly- air kept on getting into the lines even though there were no external leaks. After weeks of trying to figure out what was going on I finally replaced the Advance rear wheel cylinders with some from NAPA that said "made in USA", and the system bled properly within minutes. Evidently the seals on the Chinese wheel cylinders allowed air to bleed back into the system and there was no residual valve on the disc brake master to prevent this from happening.

Lesson learned- there are a whole lot of bad brake parts out there for our cars. And anything sourced from the local chain stores that is made in China is suspect.

[Norwood]

This is a NEW Master? Or a rebuilt unit? I have never seen a rebuild that didn't start life as a REAL GM part. Hard for me to believe that they send cores over to China to be rebuilt and then send them back and sell them for 14.95

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/par...912%2C5661