Thanks for reading this post. First of all, I am new to 914 repair, but have mechanical experience.

I am rebuilding rear calipers on a friends 1975 914. The pads look like they have a lot of life still and I was planning on reusing them. But something looks wrong to me. This may be due to me not being a "914" guy. Each pad has on the back side a fairly thick shim, probably close to 1/8" thick. The odd part is the pad is only on half of the pad, so it seems to me like the piston would not push squarely on the pad. So my question is: is there a problem with these pads or is it some 914 thing that I don't understand.

My only explanation is that part of the shim has come off of each pad, but that sounds unlikely. I have no way of finding out who installed these pads.

I have attached a picture of the back of the pad. You can see the raised part on the right side and the half circle witness mark on the raised part. This looks really wrong go me. Both pads on the one I have apart look like this. I have not opened up the other side yet.


Help please,

Thank you,

RickClick to view attachment

I suggest that you just replace them with new one.
Not that expensive and it is important since this is a brake.
God bless!

Looks like someone didn't know how to set piston position and tried to compensate with a shim. I agree with the other OC member, go with new, those look a bit greasy...

How does one set the piston position on a 914 rear caliper?

Don't answer that...

The pistons on a 914 rear caliper do not have a notch cut in the tops so this pad was actually made for a 914. The shim should face the bottom of the pad cavities on both sides. This allows the pads to open up more at the top as the rotor drops into the pad cavity.

All that said... Those are some butt-old pads. Probably made from charcoal remnants from a cro-magnun fire pit. They don't make those anymore and that's a good thing. The shim should face the nearest circular file.

P.S. Plate the calipers or they'll rust and bind again in short order.

Was some backyard mechanic trying to compensate for "Pad taper"?

There are plates that come out with the pads that are a little strange (never seen them on any other car), but they are no-where near 1/8" thick.