Brakes

[PhilKent]

Hurrah! The forum is back, with a lengthy legal disclaimer to get through first...boy I hope I'm not infringing rules by saying that....
Hope you're all doing well, I've been trying to figure out my old tipec login details to use that forum instead. I joined the club this summer as a second club and will probably start using it a bit more now, but I've not figured out the forum just yet... Anyway, back on topic...
Finally got round to servicing my brakes which was on the list this time last year. Looking forward to refitting these bad boys soon...lovely job done by Pro-calipers. I preferred the personal touch from Thomas as opposed to BCS which everyone talks about at the moment. I had plate lift issues and struggled to get them off the front calipers myself (rears were a breeze) so sent them to Thomas who got them off no problem and has done a fantastic job at servicing them and powder coating them for me.

 

[dlknight]

@PhilKent - yes bit of a lengthy one that []

Looking good - I see you went for blue? - will be getting mine refurbed next year, I was looking at sending them to the guy that everyone recommends, I'm sure he does a great job but for 4 x calipers it is around £500...

 

[blade7]

Waylander?

 

[PhilKent]

Yes I went blue as I've got a bit of a theme going on since fitting the Bilstein B6's.

Sending them away was not cheap, but to be honest I chickened out of doing it myself when I couldn't get the plates off (I'd lined up a local guy to paint the calipers for me). I've been there before with broken bolts and didn't fancy the hassle of completely dismantling the caliper to drill out the stub.

You can get seals and pistons from Frentech at very decent prices, so if you are more brave than me, or don't have stuck plate bolts then it's not too bad of a job. Strangely my rear calipers had torx bolts which came out no bother, but the fronts were allen head and rounded off instantly. Now all torx fitted.

 

[924Srr27l]

@PhilKent - yes bit of a lengthy one that [] I'm sure he does a great job but for 4 x calipers it is around £500...

As Phil found Calipers really can be & are a very time consuming job to strip them down and get out the plates and even the Bolts can shear etc...

I've done 2 pairs recently and they really were a pig to do, lots of Heat (LPG Torch) and swearing was the way!

Rather than Paint them, I wanted / needed better Heat dissipation for a Race car application so I had a very thin (Less than 0.1 mm) etch plating (Silver anodised)

R

 

[vitesse]

[h2]Standard method is to MIG weld M10 nuts onto the bolts ,heat helps to "crack the threads (which have threadlock on them),apply plenty of GT85 or whatever you have & then I found they unscrewed without snapping,etc.Used SS buttonheads with threadlock to lock & act as isolation-this was on 964 calipers.[/h2]

 

[dlknight]

Like the etch finish on those [8D]

I hope the plate bolts come out easily - Promax replaced the plates last time and I cleaned the calipers up a couple of months ago when changing the brake pads and they still looked great.

 

[Waylander]

That’s what I do, mig a M6 (13mm) nut on the top, 10 mins to mig 8 nuts, 10 mins to get the bolts out, does not matter much what you replace them with, stainless, M12 high tensile or whatever, as the casings are alloy the dissimilar metals problem will still happen,

I don’t use Torx bolts as most folks have cheap Torx tools, and they strip quicker than Allen heads,

I buy the Boxster sets of seals from eBay, axle set is £24, some bits you don’t use

I used to buy all my parts from Mode Performance, they appear to be a victim of the pandemic and no longer trading

i can rebuild the callipers but I don’t paint them, I don’t have the facilities

 

[PhilKent]

Good to know Waylander, too late for me but maybe others. I did try welding a nut on my allen heads, but I only have an arc welder and it's too brutal for the available space. I think I need to get myself a mig welder for the future...

 

[PSH]

i should ask my son how he did mine a few months back, that was the first time that the bolts had been removed during my ownership and perhaps the first time ever, that's 34 years of grim and steel on alloy corrosion.

Mind you he has a knack for making things look easy....

Proof that he did do the plates, he supplied photo's for all 4 calibres... here's one with the bolts removed.

and another with the plate itself also removed

Pete

 

[924Srr27l]

quote=PSH]

i should ask my son how he did mine a few months back, that was the first time that the bolts had been removed during my ownership and perhaps the first time ever, that's 34 years of grim and steel on alloy corrosion.

Pete

[/quote]

They don't look too corroded! is your car the early offset up 1986.5 with the smaller Front caliper piston sizes (36 & 38mm) as opposed to the later (36 & 40mm) ?

R

 

[PSH]

Afraid that I have no idea of the piston sizes Roger, but yes my car is the early offset 86 turbo.

Pete

 

[PhilKent]

Wow Pete, he got the bolts out with the calipers still on the car. That's a feet in itself I recon. Access is a real pain.

As you know our cars are the same age and possibly the first time the plates have been off since new as well (I've owned it for over 16 years now). Strangely the rears (which are the original calipers) were no bother, but the fronts (which are no longer the original calipers, but the larger late model) where the real pain.

 

[924Srr27l]

Afraid that I have no idea of the piston sizes Roger, but yes my car is the early offset 86 turbo.

Pete

Ok, then Yes I hadn't researched deep enough and bought some early 944 Turbo front calipers to then only learn they had a smaller

2nd piston (38mm) compared to the later Turbo all S2's and 968#s @ (40mm)

This affects my bias and the power so I've had to source the bigger versions, so will restore and sell these early ones on...

R

 

[PSH]

Well Phil, when you think about it, it's not a bad idea as you then have plenty of leverage. Looking at his photo's there seems to be plenty of access, especially with his large, no massive range of snapon tools. I'm not even sure if he used any heat?....I'll try to remember to ask him next time I see him.

Pete