Bicycle Mechanics - Noob Brake Change Question

First, thanks so much for the wealth of info I have learned by lurking for the weeks since I found the site...

My question: can I just remove a brake caliper and put on another bike? Does the replacement calipers have to be of the same kind, ie, cantilever, V, or whatever style the originals are?

I am very new to biking and love it. So I found an old Huffy for the sole purpose being learning to wrench on my bikes. Well the brakes are very old, look like nothing I have seen here, so I believe finding parts will be difficult and/or expensive.
This is what is on it now:
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff146/coopdad76/bike/4c7c5bca.jpg

I am thinking I could pick up another old "parts bike" at a yardsale or Goodwill and use those parts of course as long as the brake arms are the same length or can be adjusted.
Thanks all for the advice.
John

Those are called U or centerpull cantilever brakes, and are the only type that will work with those particular bosses. Cheers

So I found an old Huffy for the sole purpose being learning to wrench on my bikes. Well the brakes are very old, look like nothing I have seen here, so I believe finding parts will be difficult and/or expensive.

Using any bike which is not current to learn on, will give you issues with supply adn avalibility of obsolete parts, may be worth looking at a more current bike to learn on, where parts are readily avaliable

Using any bike which is not current to learn on, will give you issues with supply adn avalibility of obsolete parts, may be worth looking at a more current bike to learn on, where parts are readily avaliable

Yes, that is what I am finding out (the hard way). Unfortunately, the bike fell into my lap; my mother-in-law showed up with it. It is a "I'll show you" project as she laughed when she arrived saying "let's see what you can do with piece of junk."


Those are called U or centerpull cantilever brakes, and are the only type that will work with those particular bosses. Cheers

So I need to be finding a whole "new" set of centerpulls or the single missing part and new pads on the old ones. I suppose I could search for both and whichever shows up first will be the approach I take.
Thanks all for the info.
John

It LOOKS from the picture like the caliper fits onto the fork with a single bolt that passes thru the hole in the fork crown. A few more pictures from the side and rear quarter would confirm this. If I'm right and there's a single center screw then you could replace them with some sidepull calipers.

But if you do you need to get calipers that have the correct reach from the mounting hole to the pads. The calipers you have now are definetly what would be called "long reach". So you'll need to find some that are intended for use on cruiser bikes or similar. For an old Huffy I would not even consider the cost of new brakes. Instead take the clunky calipers you have and haunt a few bike shops when they aren't super busy and see what they have in their junk boxes or on sale that work with BMX bikes that often use center pull calipers over fat wheels.