Rusty discs...

[stevespic]

Hi Guys, Just got the 44 out the garage, havant driven it for about 6 weeks, drove it down the road and didn't realise how rusty the discs had become until i used them... done a few hard stops and drove 2-300 meters with my foot lightly on the brake, when i got back home the fronts had cleaned off ok but the rears were still rusty, should i just drive the car to clean them up or should i remove the rust by hand first... they are standard discs which are only around 5 months old.Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks Steve. []

 

[Dico]

Keep on driving. Only a small amount of braking effort goes to the rear. 24% on my other car. Travel down some twisty roads (with sharp bends so you have to brake []) for a couple of miles at weekend and all will be fine.

 

[Paul Fraser]

Once they have rusted to a certain point, there is no guarentee they will polish up again (ask me how I know). Also the calipers may not be in as good shape as they once were. If you feel there is any binding or stickiness in the pistons I suggest refurbishing the seals and cleaning the piston. Easy-ish job on ATE single piston calipers.

 

[Fred Hindle]

Wouldn't do any harm cleaning them off a bit. Just made sure no loosened bits get trapped in the calipers. Remember where the disc pads came from and don't mix them up. A bit of copper grease applied sparingly on the pad backs etc is also an idea. Treat the exercise as a brake overhaul.

Cheers,

 

[Neil Haughey]

You would be surprised just how much the rear brakes are used. Last year I did a series of brake performance tests (60-0). After fitting the 968 duct kit on the front the rears seem to get as hot as the fronts. I believe this is because the rears maybe are not cooled as effectively, thus if you pull over after a couple or three hard stops from 60 mph the rear disks should be very very hot i.e. even the wheels will burn your fingers.

Note however that I too find that if the car is parked outside and it rains you get rust on the disks, drive for a mile and brake a bit and yes the fronts clean up but the rears don't. You just need to brake harder and for longer in-order to get the rears working hard enough. If you have ABS you can just stand on the peddle at 50 and this will do the job.