Howdy,
Had the braking power seriously diminish on my 82 westy. What a bummer, we
were headed to San Luis Obisbo county, to bring the dog up to a beach (and
ourselves)

Had to turn back to L.A. at Thousand Oaks.

The brake pedal felt tall in the morning when we started out. 50 miles into
the drive, I felt the pedal bottoming. A couple pumps with my foot would do
the job, but I knew I was losing pressure.

I got the wheel off, and am looking at the caliper. The flexible brake line
is attached to a bracket, that's under huge nut for the main big suspension
piece whose name alludes me. The one that's under spring tension.

I'm thinking I have to open up the brake line and drain before I can even
get the pads out. Haven't come across a caliper like this before. Don't
like it.

I'm wondering if I shouldn't rebuild calipers now. I'm seeing lots of pics
of nasty old ones. Brakes are important. Does this ring true to experienced
owners? Bit the bullet and rebuild the caliper? Or is that going overboard?