The brakes continue to perplex. After getting it all back together, I drove it around for a little while and it did fine. Right up until the brakes locked up on me again. I tried to get it home and almost made it. I had to pull over because I could barely get the car to move and the engine was starting to overheat from trying to work so hard. I was pulled off on a little hill with the handbrake off and the car in neutral, the car wouldn't even roll backwards on its own.

Before I called AAA again, I was on the phone with Sal talking about what the problem could be. I tried pulling the vacuum line to the brake booster and it didn't make any difference. Then all of a sudden in the middle of our conversation, I'm sitting in the car and I notice it starts to roll backwards on its own. The engine had cooled down by this point so I tried driving home and the brakes worked fine.

A few days later, I dropped it off with Sal hoping he could finally fix them once and for all. He drives it for a week straight and couldn't get the brakes to lock once. That includes riding the brakes and accelerating and braking hard to try and get them to do it. The brakes held up and worked just fine.

Last night I got Perry to go over there with me and drive it home, he drove it all the way back to my house with no problem, until we pulled into the driveway and they locked up again! Parked on a level surface in the garage with the parking brake off and the car in neutral, you could barely push the thing forwards or backwards.

So that's where I am now, it's basically still not drivable just because of the brakes.

How would that solve my problems? It would just make my problems your problems. Unless you can fix the brakes, in which case you should definitely contact me. I'm not a very good mechanic, but I can write a check.

The clutch is also slipping but that's another problem.

In other news, I think it looks pretty good with a rack on top. I plan on getting some wooden slats on there too for a full roof rack.

Seems to be just one wheel. And I suspect that wheel has been a problem for a long time.

The whole reason I replaced my calipers in the first place was when I was replacing axles back in February. I got new pads and noticed the front passenger caliper's piston wouldn't push back in. Both calipers looked pretty old and crusty anyways (remember this was a flood car) so I replaced both with remanufactured calipers from Auto Zone.

A little while later I drove it home from work (only 3 miles) and I hosed it off cause it was just covered in pollen. I sprayed the wheel and noticed it sizzled a bit when it hit the caliper, which I thought was odd for not being driven that far. The wheel itself was very hot to the touch, especially compared to the driver's wheel which was basically cool. Like you'd expect for a short trip. So that was my first indication that caliper was maybe dragging a bit. I replaced the brake hoses thinking they might have been collapsed inside but the new ones didn't make much difference.

I drove it around for a while after that still and never really had any major problems. The brakes started getting pretty soft overall, when Sal looked at it he said my booster had gone bad. So I replaced the brake booster and master cylinder, we bled the brakes really good and then that's the first time the front caliper locked down really, really hard. I finally warrantied that passenger caliper and put the replacement on, bled that side again and drove it around for a little while. Next day, as soon as I got on the interstate it seized up again. I pulled off and had to get towed home.

By that point, the rubber seal on the passenger caliper was totally disintegrated from the heat so I warrantied it again. Did another bleed and it was still locking up a little. Took it to Sal's and he drove it for a week and couldn't get the brakes to seize up once. Perry followed me home last night in it and it did great the whole way until we pulled into the driveway. That was last night, and you could barely roll the car in neutral across the level concrete in the garage.

Today, I noticed it's rolling freely again. I was going to drive it around tonight, but the battery was dead so it's on the charger. I'm gonna try to drive it some tomorrow and see how it does.

That's the complete summary of what we've done so far, just in case you missed any details. I was thinking maybe that remanufactured booster may be bad, so I could warranty that and replace it along with the master. However, you'd think if it were a bad booster, all the brakes would lock up and it's just the passenger front that's the problem.

What are the chances something could be wrong with the metal brake line itself? I only say that because it's the only part of the brakes that haven't been replaced. Seems like if it were leaking though then the brakes would be really soft all the time. Could something be clogging up in there when it gets warm? And then seems to go away after a little while?

Yes, it's been a problem since before then. That's why I changed them cause I thought the old ones had collapsed inside.

Yeah it's drivable but that wheel is still getting pretty warm so I think the brakes are still dragging a little. But I'll drive it around town until the brakes lock up again.

Sounds like something is acting as a check valve. The flexible hose is the normal culprit, but it could have some kind of obstruction in the metal line I guess.  I think at this point, I'd go ahead and replace it . . . or at least take it loose at both ends and blow it out with compressed air.

Well fingers crossed, but hopefully I've figured out the issue. Today I took the wheel off and even though it wasn't locked up, it was still dragging pretty good. I undid the metal line and ran some compressed air through it. Nothing really came out, but it felt like it was coming through okay. Removed the caliper and one of the sleeves was stuck in there pretty good. Every time I've swapped calipers, I reused these sleeves because the new calipers don't come with them. So I got a new set along with new bolts and some more caliper grease. Greased them up good and reinstalled, the caliper slid back and forth much better. Bled the brakes again and drove it. Not locking down!

However I noticed a puddle of brake fluid from the rear passenger wheel, and it looks like it is leaking from the drum itself. Looks like I might have to work on the rear brakes next but I don't think that was related to my previous problem.