I just picked up a pair of 944 Turbo calipers that need a bit of work. This is the first of these calipers for me to play with. While the early 911 "S" caliper is aluminum, and I have several of them, they are bare aluminum with no protective finish I have noticed. These Turbo calipers are a lot different. They are painted and plastic dipped. The plastic is peeling off in places. Further, there are plates that fit on either end of the pads that are fastened in place with Allen key bolts. To separate the caliper halves, the 4 main bolts must be removed, plus these bolts and the cross-over brake line. The bolts inside look like they will be very difficult to remove. The plates themselves look like stainless steel.

So, any tips for disassembly?
Any tips for cleaning & refinishing?
What is required to install on a 911 strut (bolt spacing is wider than the 911 "S")?

yup, the plates are SS
those allen bolts are a PITA to remove (be careful not to strip them)
same goes for the x-over brakeline on the caliper, those buggers are stuck pretty bad (again good chance you'll strip the nuts)

if they are in good working order (pistons aren't stuck and seals ok), I wouldn't dis-assemble them
just have them glassblasted and powdercoated
(porsche powdercoats them with the brakeline etc assembeled)

Actually, I'm not even sure they have rebuild kits for these calipers...

Dave,

I recently stripped apart a front set of '78 930 turbo calipers to re-do to go on my 914/6.Everything is currently at the powdercoater.Here's what I can share from my ordeal.


The allen bolts are a pita to remove.You gotta lock the caliper in a vice and calmly and slowly pull on the allen wrench.you may even need to use a cheater bar.Outa 16 bolts to remove,I only had one bolt pull some threads,but not enough to cause concern.I soaked everything down w/penetrating oil while doing this.

One note,Make Sure your allen wrench you use is a Brand name made in USA wrench.If your bolts are really stuck,and you use a cheap Harbor Freight allen wrench,all it'll do is twist,and maybe damage the bolt head.

On the crossover line.One end usually comes off freely,while the other end locks.I always undo the free-end,then twist off the stuck end.Then lock the stuck end in a vice,and use a cheap propane torch on it to heat it up,and slowly wiggle it a bit at a time till that end free's up.

Pistons can pop out with an air hose.

Also,Vertex sells a rebuild kit for the 944t fronts w/pistons for about $200.00

Ron

Is there a good site that has photos of all the different Porsche calipers to aid identification? I'm not sure just which calipers I have yet. I'll have to measure the pistons I'm sure. Heck, I don't even know what brake pads will fit.

I will just offer my method

I get the 1 gallon size coffee can and fill it up with penetrating stuff...last time I used wd40 cause it was all I could find in a 1 gallon container...

I soak the whole caliper for a week.

Nothing gave me a hard time after that...and it was a rusty POS before hand...

Rich

I think there are 3 varieties of the 944 turbo calipers. Its been awhile since I did mine. I think there were 36/40mm 40/44mm and 36/38mm. I dont remember exactly.
But I do remember they are $$$$ for rebuild kits with pistons.

The rebuild lits can be got direct from Brembo.. or through a place like Hoerr Racing.

they sell seals, dust seals, bleed nipples etc, you just need to know which size pistons.

The allens zip right out with an impact and a good allen.

To properly mount them, the calipers should be machined and made radial mount. You can also get away elongating one of the mounting holes

No pictures, all the other info is there
http://www.pelicanparts.com/MotorCity/wmv/brakes.htm

The allens that hold the halves together may come out that way, and I'm not worried about them. It is the little ones inside that hold the stainless plates in place that worry me. Just measured the pistons: 28mm leading and 30mm trailing. Supposedly from a 1988 951 (944 Turbo). Some of the pistons are sticking, but moving. Some of the dust seals are toasted and brittle. I found some places that sell separate parts.

To bad the motor city site doesn't include the wasser-pumpers.

I have some Craftsman Allen key sockets that are decent quality, but I may see my Snap-on guy again. I found some old Snap-on screwdrivers with bad blades; and got new blades for free. The one was so old (40's or 50's) he couldn't get the exact blade for it.

Those Biggun's didn't zip right out for me. They were a royal PITA. I spoke with Brembo USA as well... Porsche only part. They won't sell a rebuild kit. Spoke with Porsche and they only sell the dust covers I believe. They may sell the seal but if so it's seal and dust cover seperate. There is no kit.

I didn't have trouble with the crossover pipes or the plates. The plates were phillips head screws though.

Good luck.

I got complete kits last year for mine. They were a special order. By the looks of my invoice it wasnt an actually kit but parts put together. It did include the seals and pistons.

Part numbers were.
951.351.919.02 4 each
and
951.351.919.01 4 each

The cost was $302 with shipping.

(Sorry... not laughing "at" you. Just hilarious what Porsche can get for a few pieces of rubber that cost about $0.50 each!)

Best parts prices I've found so far are:
$50 per caliper for the 4 seals and dust boots
$25 per piston
$150 for set of 4 pistons, 4 seals, 4 dust boots.

They didn't show the cross-over, the bleeders or the rubber caps though.
They did have a wide selection of sizes (in various combos) for the above kits, all the same price. This was from a Brembo dealer.