So, You wanna buy some Brembos, Eh?
 

Since Lanner just posted up and helped me so quick just now,
it made me realize how valuable this knowledge is we all share here.

So, I figured I would share a (hard) lesson I am re-learning about buying junk off of e-bay.

So here goes, the story of my 4-pot Brembos.

After perusing Lanner's site for the umpteenth time, I decided on the 944T setup and went shopping.
After a few over-priced (seemingly) sets coming and going,
I finally bought a set from Toronto for about $275 a couple of years ago.
They looked just dandy on the pictures, and the seller said they were tip-top.

The first thing I noticed is that one was from a different car.
luckily, it was the right caliper, but it was crusty, and a brownish color that the others weren't.
No big deal.

Then, it came time to get them apart...
It took almost a whole day, and a helper.
First, I bought a couple of the right metric Allen sockets from the tool truck.
The ones from my local hardware store weren't hard enough.
It took some soft-jaws in a big vise, a cheater bar, propane torch, a friend and some fancy language to get them apart.
The soft jaws on the vise were the most important part, because you need so much pressure, that holding them would chew them up.

Even so, I broke a couple caliper half bolts.
Plus, a couple heads snapped off the little screws that hold the pad guide plates in place.
Luckily again, there is a prototype machine shop in the area that will do little jobs, and they saved my sorry ass on that one.
Using an EDM 'disintegrator'...

Another little trick I used, which came in real handy, is buying a bunch of little NPT brass pipe plugs at the hardware store.
You have to be gentle with them, and not screw them in tight _at_all_ because they are an NPT thread, not the correct metric thread, and can mess things up, but they work for this purpose.
One use was to plug the holes off from getting paint stripper inside, when it was used to remove the clear coat.
Again it was handy when removing the pistons with compressed air.
Also had an NPT blow nozzle which allowed the nozzle to thread tight.
These crusty pistons never would have come out with hand pressure just sealing the nozzle in...
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1143399.jpg

Another thing was, the calipers had been banged around pretty good, some of them.
I spent a while with different files getting them smoother.
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1143400.jpg

When the things were finally blasted, the corrosive nature of the Toronto winters showed it's ugly head.
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1143402.jpg
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1143401.jpg
Now, the damage here sucks and blows for sure, but the calipers are still use-able, so used they will get.
The powder-coater will fill a lot of this.
Can't turn back at this point, right??

Another not fun thing was the pistons got some corrosion too...
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1143403.jpg
unlike the calipers, these are not useable, but, luckily, I found a place to get them for a good price.
This place rocks...
http://store.zeckhausen.com/catalog/...roducts_id=510
They also have the rebuild kits at less than half of what the dealer would charge, plus their service _rocks_. I love Zeckhausen Racing. They made this whole project possible for a poor fool like me.

The cross-over pipes were damaged, and/or crusty/ugly, so they are to be sourced next.

The broken bolts from the caliper halves were almost $50 ea.:shocked:

And, I sent all of the hardware out to be white cad coated, because it was crusty, but save-able.

So, long story short, inspect your used Brembos very, very carefully.
Get them in your hand and pull them apart right away if you can.
My mistake in not getting to them for a couple of years.
They looked OK at first, honest....
Be ready to dump some cake in them,
Watch out for east coast corrosion,
And never look lightly at a nice set of them suckers again...
:D

Oh man. That's why I don't buy parts from Shady Toronto characters :)

The caliper bodies aren't too bad, the pad wear plates will hide all sins. Are you sure the pistons are no good? You can polish and get them hard anodized again for fair cost. And for the bolts, whats the thread/length? I can see if I can get you some.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Cheers
Lanner

Yikes!

http://www.germanlook.net/forums/sho...wrenchnride247

I went through this in '06. Do the pistons come with the two seals? I got my kits from 944 online about $45 each kit! Do the math on that one for four calipers :eek:

oh, Yeah...
 

So, I got a call from the coater, finally.
The day that took years to arrive is here...
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1148599.jpg
I dug around in the bottom of one of the carts here.
There's some parts left under here, I think..
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1148598.jpg
Ah, yeah, there the stuff is...
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1148597.jpg
Had to lay it all out to make sure it was all here...
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1148596.jpg
Had to shine up some bolts.
Precision Metal Finishing in Canby OR did a fabulous job for me.
Shining them up per their recommendations.
Fine steel wool.
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1148594.jpg
It makes more of a difference than it looks like in the pics here.
The stuff shines almost like chrome afterward.
This is a 'White Cad' finish.
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1148595.jpg
Cleaned some scunge out of the bores.
Also scraped away a few places the masking missed.
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1148593.jpg
Time to polish the faces of the lettering.
I had it done to a certain degree,
but,
Should have been completely polished if it was going to be done right.
Set-back, had to mask. No big deal.
Blue tape to keep from sticking, and foil tape to resist burn-thru.
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1148603.jpg
Support your local polisher.
This is Santa Cruz Metal Polishing.
Ian is my hero...
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1148602.jpg
Unmasked, cleaning the grit out between the letters with a toothbrush. Fun work.
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1148601.jpg
Sanded the halves flat on some wet-dry glued to plate.
Can't really see the shine, but it's way better than it was.
Bling Bling Wooka Wooka
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1148600.jpg

So, here's a question...
Is this stuff for lubing piston seals, or is it backing anti-squeal stuff for pads?
http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1148605.jpg
Was taught to use clean fluid to lube seals, but this looks like a better way to go.
Another guy I talked to.
(and he's a real pro, too) said to use a bit of grease(!)

So, what brake fluid would be right for these and a stock Ate master for type 3?
Dot 4?
Got a favorite brand?

Also,
What to put on the caliper half bolt threads?
The cad is supposed to have lubricative/anti-seize properties,
But my inclination is to use anti-seize or even blue lock-tite...

Does anybody know the correct torque for the caliper halves?
You can look up torque values for these size fasteners,
But doesn't the grade 12 factor come into play?

Anyhow,
Here is my contribution to the Brembo conversion.
Please don't hesitate to school me on anything you see me doing wrong here, or anything to add to the conversation is totally welcome.

Thanks to all of you guys for the inspiration.

I used red ATE grease for my caliper rebuild, often referred to as red rubber grease. Its brake system friendly and designed for the job as per here http://www.redrubbergrease.com/tips-...build-kit.html