Just wondering what people's thoughts are on rebuilding brake calipers. Is it worth the effort? I have some calipers and just wondering if it is worth my time to try to rebuild refinish them. I have not done it before and my calipers are a bit rusty. Anyone done this before?

Rebuilding them is easy, but exchange assemblies already rebuilt with all the hard to find mounting hardware, mounting bushings, anti rattle springs & pads are available as loaded caliper assemblies for a reasonable cost... I just bought a pair for a disc conversion on a friends car they were $40.70 each...

Those appear to be for 1971 car.

Is this for a show or driver car?
Show - Rebuild the originals
Driver - Rebuild the originals. It may not mean anything to you, but that may not be the case with a future buyer.

You could always pickup a set of rebuilt calipers and transfer the parts to your originals. Assuming your old housings are repairable.

I bought these from a brake rebuilder without cores, so they are out there.

Look in this area for a stamped date code.

000 1 -Jan 1, 1971

I agree with Snoopy to a point, the car I'm working on came with drums.. So original cores mean nothing.. If they did it's still cheaper to buy remanufactured assys & steal all the hard to find parts off them.. But on a numbers type resto you should try to at least hang onto the original cores..

KH 80012 - 70
KH 86166 - 71 maybe late 70
I don't know when they changed over, it was probably a plant thing dictated by supply. That's why the date code is of interest to me. The calipers i posted are dated 004 1 Jan 4, 1971 mid 71 production.

Thanks Snoopy. I tried real hard to get the date code. It was just not that readable. I even took my wire wheel and cleaned it down to bare metal. I think the last digit might have been a "2" with possibly an 8 or 0 in front of it, but I really could not tell. As for originality, the calipers do not belong to this car. My 70 Charger got punched hard in the nose in the early 80's. So when I picked the car up from my friend he threw a complete suspension in with the deal. I believe it came from a 69 or 70 charger that we hauled to the junk yard years ago. (Can't remember) But I do recall that we should have kept more of that car than we should have. Maybe my buddy with chime in with a pic of that car that we were hauling off to the junk yard all those years ago. My car is a drum brake car, but I figured since I was replacing everything, I might as well upgrade it in the process.
Here's what I am starting with and slowly refinishing/replacing.

The date codes are real hard to read sometimes. Here is a picture of the two calipers I posted showing the date codes and other markings.

hate to jump the post, but i have a question on the caliper brackets? the ones in the pic for his car, i have a set of these and also a set that are not as heavy built and have a turn up at the caliper mounting? can you tell me witch is correct for a 70 cuda? thanks moparts

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Snoopy, when you say you bought your calipers from a brake rebuilder who are you referring to? Like a mom and pop shop that specializes in rebuilding caliper? Those look really good. I would be curious if that is how they came, what you paid, and where they came from. I am leaning toward buying a set of rebuilt ones so I can focus on other projects. Back starts to ache after sitting in front of that blast cabinet for too long. Lots of parts left to redo.

I bought them from a brake shop in Lancaster, CA a couple of years ago. They arrived exactly as seen. I just walked in, said I needed a set of calipers for a 70 Barracuda and they ordered a set for me. I don't remember the cost, but it must have been reasonable. They got them from a large scale rebuilder, but I don't know their name.