BiggRed

[Guest]

Has anyone dealt with these guys? http://www.biggred.co.uk/

They have quoted me £220 to recondition a PAIR of 4 pot Brembo calipers? So at £110 a corner I am very impressed!

 

[jackregan]

thats sounds like a good price, given how much the guide plates and seals etc are - what do they include for that price?

 

[dlknight]

ORIGINAL: mattpone

Has anyone dealt with these guys? http://www.biggred.co.uk/

They have quoted me £220 to recondition a PAIR of 4 pot Brembo calipers? So at £110 a corner I am very impressed!

Haven't dealt with them but they are just down the road from me

EDIT: My colleague has had his Reliant Scimitar brake calipers refurbed and they did a first class job. Sprayed them red as well

Dave K.

 

[Diver944]

Also try RPM at www.rpmporsche.co.uk

They do a straightforward refurb for circa £80 a corner or a delux version with fresh colour of your choice and new decals for £110 IIRC

 

[jackregan]

ORIGINAL: Diver944

Also try RPM at www.rpmporsche.co.uk

They do a straightforward refurb for circa £80 a corner or a delux version with fresh colour of your choice and new decals for £110 IIRC

thats cheaper still, but does anyone know what is actually included? the reason i ask is that mine need doing on the fronts! There seem to be places doing the rfurb with varying degrees of new parts included!

 

[zcacogp]

Full job would be new spring plates (remove old ones and clean the calipers and fit new plates), and new pistons and seals, and new dust seals as well.

It's a difficult job to do at home even with a half-decent workshop (I did my rears myself, and it was a bit of a fight.)

If this includes the cost of the parts it's probably a billy bargain.


Oli.

 

[andymorris]

Oli at RPM overhauled my calipers. For all four the cost was £351 inc vat which included 3 piston kits and 3 new pistons. With If I remember correctly another £20 each for powder coating. Hope that helps. I would add that my calipers were in a bad way at the time and i do feel they are excellent value for money.
Andy

 

[RUMS944]

Hi, as your on the subject I have bought some second hand front calipers form a 250 turbo. I want to take the metal plates on the inside off so a can clean behind or replace them as one has started to lift. Im having trouble undoing the hexi screws as they are old. I've had wd40 on them for a couple of days but they won't shift.
Anyone know the size of the hexi screws, and any magical technique to move them.
Thanks

 

[zcacogp]

Can't remember the size of the allan head, think it's around 5mm.

Getting them out? Ahhh ... there was a thread on here about them a while back, with different people swearing by everything from ultrasonic cleaning to freezing to heating. Popular techniques seemed to be to heat the heads up with a small blowtorch (or oxy-acet flame, if you have one), or cutting a slot in the head to use a large screwdriver. I have tried both - cutting the slot was a pain, but did work as a last resort. A Dremel (or similar) would make it much easier.

It's a do-able job at home, if you have a decent workshop and are fairly gung-ho. Top tip from me (having done it) is to replace the bolts with something with a decent sized head. I used M6 stainless bolts, with nice big heads, to make it easier next time 'round. (You need to grind the heads slightly to allow the pads to travel freely, but it's worth the effort.)


Oli.

ETA: If you do heat the bolt heads, take care not to toast the seals or dust-covers. Or, indeed, to mangle the dust covers when you take the spring plates out.

 

[John Sims]

I've even heard of people welding a bolt to the top of the other bolt to get it out.

I like the sound of the stainless steel bolts but wonder if it will help as it is the aluminium of the calliper oxidising due to a bi metal reaction. I wonder what would happen if we used aluminium bolts?

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: John Sims

I like the sound of the stainless steel bolts but wonder if it will help as it is the aluminium of the calliper oxidising due to a bi metal reaction. I wonder what would happen if we used aluminium bolts?

It's a good question. The original bolts were hard-ish steel, so would changing from hard-ish steel:aluminium to stainless:aluminium make things worse or better? My Chemistry is too long past for me to give a reliable answer ...

However, I also have a plan to use a sacrifical anode on the caliper as well. The world of boating uses "zincs" - lumps of zinc, which they bolt to anything likely to corrode. I want to investigate using something similar on the calipers, to see if I can extend the life. It's one of those things that is possible in theory, but in practice may not work, but I think it would be a cheap experiment. I live in Central London, but when I go on hols to the seaside, I'll drop into a yacht chandler and see what sort of thing they sell. The plan is probably to mount a small lump of zinc somewhere on the suspension leg close to the caliper, and connect it with a copper wire to the caliper itself, probably with some electrical terminals at each end.

Part of the problem is that I will only be able to tell the results of this experiment several years down the line, when it has either corroded or not ... what is the usual lifespan of a caliper - how long before rebuilds, typically? (I have only owned the car a year.)


Oli.