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Calipers and alignment

C

captainmark

New member
I'm lucky enough to have a 1997 C4S. Very much my pride and joy but like any car of that age it's not quite perfect... yet ;-)

The big red calipers are begining to show their age and the lacquer has partly peeled off leaving the matt paint beneath. What's the best way to get these back to scratch (I've had specialist advice from "Can't be done" to "Hammerite...")? I don't want to have to touch them up every year (if possible).

Secondly the car pulls gently to the left (on all cambers) so I'd like to get the alignment and geometry checked. Again I've had differing specialist advice from "You have to have all 4 wheels checked starting at the rear" to "Only worth checking the fronts..." What's actually the recommendation and what's a fair price (OPC seems cheaper than some specialists)? I'm also thinking about upgrading the suspension - Bilsteins etc - come the New Year so is it worth waiting till then and doing it all together?

Finally are there any recomendations of where to get the work done in the West London area?

Thanks v much
M
 
If I were you I'd get a full 4-wheel alignment done. I'd recommend Peter Tognola in Datchet, nr Slough, as he isn't a million miles away from West London. I have a feeling it was about £120 when I had mine done a while ago.
 
[FONT=tms rmn"]
Mark
I would also point you at Tognola for the alignment, be wary of OPC's unless recommended and remember to check whether the quoted figure involves all reasonable adjustments, you will also need to do after changing your suspension, if you are going to wait then keep an I eye on your tyre wear and usually the rear shows first due to the width

Hijacked, from 964 titanic courtesy of Andy Glastonbury, you will need to adjust the mechanical aspects accordingly!!

here is what you need.
Wire wool
Brake cleaner/de-greaser
Halfords hightemp paint (red)
Hameritte (Red) Smooth Gloss.
Halfords Clear coat Lacquer
New "Porsche Decals" available on e-bay.
Masking Tape.

Instructions
Remove wheel
remove the rubber nipple caps
Clean caliper with brake cleaning spray - clean it really well - no need to
remove the caliper.
Rub down caliper (I used different gauges to get into all the tricky bits
and to make it nice an smooth.
Clean caplier again - the cleaner it is the better.
Mask up everything you do not want painted red.
Use the high temp paint as a primer - goes on really nice. Allow to dry - it
drys quickl. Apply a couple of coats.
Once dry, apply the hammeritie. Lots of fine coats and allow the paint to
dry.
Painting is a bit of a bugger so make sure the car is jacked quite high,
this will enable you to get round the back, although no-one will ever see
it.
Once dry, apply the decals - make sure you peel off BOTH sides.
Then apply the lacquer - I applied about 4 coats.
Allow to dry over night
CAREFULLY remove the masking tape, and replace the nipple covers and wheel.
Stand back and wonder why you never did it eariler.
Hope this helps.[FONT=verdana,geneva"]
 
If the paint is ok I improved mine by carefully feathering the laquer and then brushed on high temperature clear engine laquer. It worked surprisingly well and they still look good months later. At your own risk of course.
 
Hi Guys

Regarding the Lacquer, Gordon can you just touch up a small area, say the size of a thumb nail, without doing the whole refurbishment, my calipers are still very good but for a small bit on both fronts, also if you were to do all 4 calipers how many tins does it take.
m5.gif


Regards

Dave S
 
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