thanks to all you guys, especially you "oldbie" with that clever idea and jim! yeah, I have plenty of wet sandpaper, all grits... :-)
you guys ought'a see what flowed out of the master cylinder-looked exactly like molten tar or crankcase 'sludge'...car hadn't been driven since 1987, and was poorly maintained before that...
jim, thanks for the important updates. so, the calipers we're discussing all share a 'common' bolt center to bolt center (regarding mounting to the spindle) dimension-good to hear. I appreciate your offer of sale on the one side caliper, but generally prefer obtaining brake stuff in 'matching sets' at least in 'sets of 2', 1 per side, both fronts' in this case. nothing against 'used' and/or rebuilt stuff', by the way - I'm attempting rebuilds myself (well, piston extractions first, which oldbie's tip will be a great help).
however, using the oldbie method, I'm kinda concerned the pistons may be so PROFOUNDLY stuck that trying to push them INward, with my strongest vice, will make matters go from 'super-stuck but good, and I _mean_ stuck' to the more severe "petrified stuck forever tighter than a shrink fit solid-seized NEVER-go-ANywhere EVER again" type-status....oh, well, nothing to loose ;-) at this point
think maybe I'll put on my welders gloves, try my "grip the caliper half tightly, place wood blocks in the correct areas, and SLAM the damn thing down as hard as POSSIBLE on my piece of 1.5 inch thick steel plate out on the concrete slab outdoors" hoping to jar the pistons loose first...should be exciting ;-/ (might ought'a wear my goggles, too)
by the way, jim, one could 'draw an inference' from your reply that the educated buyer would prefer the 'single bleeder, non-ambidextrous' calipers, correct? I mean in terms of their better pad-wear characteristics?
more, jim: when you said == NOTE: ALL type 3 calipers have 42mm pistons; ALL Ghia calipers have
40mm pistons. They are almost impossible to tell apart without taking them apart somewhat, so that they often get installed on the wrong cars. I work on type 3s, and that's where I got all the Ghia calipers that are now on my shelf.
If you buy replacements, make SURE you get the right ones. The mounting holes and external appearance are identical. Type 3 calipers only came in the 2-pin style. == are you saying the type 3 calipers 'will fit' and 'will work' on the
71 ghia but are 'inadvisable'? if 'inadvisable', for what reason, piston bore size? I'm seeing sellers of type 3 calipers, in some cases, saying they're correct for ghia's... and they (the type 3 calipers), in fact, seems to have at least what a major VW parts seller claims is the correct ghia part number for my application...
and we're saying the 2 pin (say, ghia-specific) single bleeder types are more desireable, 'moderinized' replacement versions of my 'one pinners', and correct for my application, then?
thanks again much :-)