Rear Brake Job... what a PIA!, Any tips or tricks out there. Options

[steuspeed]

So I attempted a rear brake job today with not much luck. First off the metal cover on the inside adjuster was freaking stuck on. After cooking the caliper on my stove with liquid wrench, freezing it in my freezer over night, cooking it again in the morning the thing would not budge with a 4mm hex wrench on a huge crescent wrench. My hex key was twisting under the force. Finally the hex hole stripped. I cut the edges off the round cover with my dremel cut off tool and made a 13mm hex nut out of it. After hitting the thing with my propane torch it came loose only with a long 13mm craftsman pro wrench. The piston was so far out I had to use a C clamp to get it going back in with the adjuster. Next, one of the rotor screws was stuck. I never got it off despite liquid wrench and rust remover gel. I hit my screwdriver with a hammer while trying to turn it. Used my torch too. No luck. Next, I'm looking at my new Porterfield RS4 pads and notice that the holes are the same size unlike the ones on the car that have one big and one small. These won't work unless I hog out one hole. Any comments on this? Since I can't get this ground up rotor off, I decide to grab an old ATE Alfa Romeo pad I had and hog out one hole just to get by for now. After I get the caliper mounted I notice that setting the pad clearance on the inside pad is going to be next to impossible. How do you get a feeler gauge in there with the dust shield in the way? I bought a long T handle 4mm wrench and it's too long to get through the trailing arm hole to adjust. Looks like you need just the right hex wrench and turning it is not going to be real easy regardless. Any tips or tricks on this job would be appreciated.

[steuspeed]

Now that the car is on blocks from last weekends tire slashing, I have easy access to finish the rear brake job. I know it looks super ghetto, but my Alfa is sitting on my jack stands in the garage. Had these concrete chunks left over from busting up a patio in the back. Leaving the new tires off for the long 4 day Memorial weekend in case the jerk offs come back again. Got the rotor screw free with a torch and impact hammer screwdriver. Removed the rotor and caliper without breaking the hydraulic line this time. Decided to hog out one hole bigger on each Porterfield R4-S pad with a rotary file I picked up at Ace Hardware. Found a 5/16 hex wrench that was long enough to adjust the rear pad clearance through the trailing arm hole. While reading through my Pelican Parts instructions I had the a-ha moment that you leave the metal retaining clip off so you can get the feeler gauge straight in where the pads go. After you set the clearance you pull the pins back out and put the cross clip back in there. With the dust shield, there is no way you can set the clearance and the dust shield bolt head are under the rotor which you cannot get to once assembled.

You can see the inside pad was down to the metal and the outside had plenty of pad. This is my adjuster cap I cut to a 13mm head with my dremel cut off tool.