oh, i got the rear brake caliper blues..., come, sing with me! Options

[red914]

yep, here is another "shane and his rear brake caliper" threads.

sunday dino and i tried to pop the pistons on my rear calipers, all nice and removed from the car. well, well, well. one piston out of four came out. three did not budge. oh, correct that, one other one moved a teeny bit under c clamp pressure. 100psi got me one piston. tough to do a rebuild with my nice rebuild kits when the pistons are in the caliper.

it makes me wonder if my rear brakes ever worked at all... i have nothing to compare it too, and the 914 is light enough that i imagine fronts only would stop the car under normal conditions.

so, the struggle continues. there would be pictures, but dino's camera battery died as he was taking shots of his hellhole project.

[MattR]

Did you soak it in WD40 or liquid wrench for a long time? That makes a big difference. I went to rebuild my 912 calipers and let it soak for about an hour, came back, and they came out with lots of air pressure.

You can also hook them up to the car and use the fluid and brake line pressure to push out the pistons.

[red914]

i had thought they were well soaked, but i was wrong. next step to to super soak then use the brake system to push 'em out. messy, but at this point i don't care. i do really wonder if they ever worked. what reasonable alternative do we have, without going 5 lug, to upgrade brakes (including rears) and have a balanced system? i haven't heard of any, but there should be a demand out there.

[boxstr]

Shane I am sending a set of rear calipers from a 914-4 off to a new to me rebuilder.
I will let you know how they come out.
CCLINMIDASTOUCH

[red914]

i can't wait to hear how they turn out, Craig. i need to hear a happy ending.

btw, dino and i are trying to figure out how to come to camp this spring. we'll let you know. now if i can raise enough money for that little 912 you showed us the other day...

[dinomium]

shane does have a SOOPER klean shop!

[drgchapman]

Regarding rear calipers, I just spent the weekend replacing the 4 rubber brake lines with the braided steel , replacing pads and all 4 rotors and learning how to adjust the rear clearance. I ran into a bad caliper (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/headbang.gif) that would not adjust on the E-brake side. Guess what? Car wouldn't stop.........The adjuster screw turned, but nothing happened. Eventually.....I robbed the caliper off my a/xer to see if it would work.....Sunday, no way to find one .......and viola! we have brakes!!! I need to find a caliper rebuilder, or just buy a rebuilt one. BTW, the e-brake side adjuster cover comes in two hex sizes, some are 4mm and some are 6mm. My two '73's each have the different size. Best to find this out before trying to reach through (blindly) the trailing arm access hole with the wrong size allen wrench.

Maybe these are just noobie mistakes and I'm dumb.

Craig, got any more calipers to send to the rebuilder?

Gary

[skline]

Has anyone tried this place? That is all they do is rebuild calipers.

Brake shop

They are up in Washington, maybe Craig Laughlin knows about them or one of the members up there.

[dinomium]

I have heard of them but that is all... I have 7 rears that could use a trip to camp! Brake calipers is what we are talking about... no other kind of "rears" (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/dry.gif)
hehe

[skline]

I would hope that is what we are talking about, I dont think Craig is like that.

[DJsRepS]

I just had my drivers side rear calaper apart on Sunday. It was a rebuilt one that leaked out the adj bolt. It has a small Oring on it that I cant find anywhere. But I had trouble with the first piston, I pulled it out with vice grips thinking this should not be this hard on my replacment rebuilt calaper. Found that you need to use the adjuster screw to push the piston out. When I pulled mine it seperated the adjuster from the piston. If your piston is stuck use PB blaster spray then with the vice grips turn it to break it loose once loose use the adjuster bolt to push it out not air.

[red914]

the adjuster screw worked on most, but the outer adjuster screw on both rear calipers seemed to do nothing aside from give me practice turning a hex head wrench. after a while, i tired of the practice. but, based on recommendations here, i will try again.

oh, and goldline is supposedly where a southern california shop sends their rebuilds; was it otto's? i forget, but it was in a previous thread. they are right across the water in south seattle. i would hate to have to resort to that, but it is nice to know they are there.

time to go spray a bit more liquid wrench...

[boxstr]

Guys mine are being sent out today I will let you know as soon as they get back, they are not going to Ottos.
CCLINBRAKEDANCE

[Dave_Darling]

QUOTE (DJsRepS @ Jan 11 2005, 03:47 AM)

It was a rebuilt one that leaked out the adj bolt. It has a small Oring on it that I cant find anywhere.

Try calling GPR for that, or maybe Pelican.

--DD

[rhodyguy]

South Side Brake and Clutch. d.s. in stock $95.59, iirc that includes new pads. if not in stock usually available same day. $75 core, take one with you for trade in.

kevin

[Eric_Shea]

I rebuild rear calipers. I have three sets at the platers right now (2-sets of double bleeders and 1 set of single bleeders). They should be back this afternoon.

Shane, you say one "moved" and you also mentioned that you would use the brake system to get them out. If they "move" then the adjuster screws should screw them out. You "can not" remove the pistons with fluid without first disengaging the adjuster screws.

The pistons are spring loaded but still connected to the screws under normal operating conditions. This is one of the reasons the vening clearance is close. The other reason is the arm activates the inside piston and the travel is limited. Once the piston is set the fluid applies pressure and the spring loaded piston moved the rest of the way to clamp the caliper. If the adjuster screws turn, your pistons should move...

Turn "inside" adjuster screws clockwise. Turn "outside" adjuster screws counter clockwise. If you've turned them the wrong way they will not move. Instead they will probably break the small spring loose on the inner piston mechanism. If you're carefull you can reattach the spring. While turning the (4mm allen) screws "watch the piston". When it stops moving, turn the adjuster screw 1/2 turn further. At that point you should be able to grab the piston with some nylon jawed vise grips or (carefully) with a shop cloth wrapped around the piston. They only have about 1/8" remaining to go. Wiggle up and down with the pliers while pulling.

ATE does sell a rebuild kit for these calipers. It only includes the piston seals and dust boots. Pelican's kit comes complete with the o-rings needed to properly seal your caliper halves and the adjustment screws. If you need "major" surgery, meaning the parking brake arm is leaking, then you'll need to order a separate kit from the Ferrari crowd. They're an additional $50.00 There's an additional step needed to remove the cover and get the arm out and reseal it.

Let me know if you're interested in a pair...

[rhodyguy]

what do you get for a set eric?

kevin

[Eric_Shea]

It looks like they'll be roughly the same price as South Side. I'm not sure if they replate the calipers or not (probably not, but mine won't include the pads). Once all the parts are factored in they come out at $95.00 each or $190.00 for a pair plus core and shipping. If someone's hacked the outer adjustment screws then the margin is basically gone... and outer adjustment screws get hacked "often". Here's what you're paying for:

* Dissassemble Caliper
* Bead Blast Caliper
* Yellow Zinc Plating
* Hone Cylinders
* New Piston and Adjuster Rebuild Kits
* Reassemble Caliper

If the emergency brake arm needs rebuilding then I would charge an additional $100.00 each. I would rather not go that route. Not that it's difficult, it's a matter of economics. If you're going to drop $195.00 into a 4 caliper you can easily buy another core without the emergency brake arm issues for less than the $100.00 it would cost to rebuild that area.

[dinomium]

OK, how bad does a piston has to be until it is time to just say good buy a used one?

[Eric_Shea]

Talk to me... what happened and what's wrong with the piston?