I've got front brakes!

[wrenchnride247]

Hey Guys, I got my front brakes installed today. I powder coated everything on Saturday, but ran out of time to install on bug. Looks like I'm going to change fenders(2 inch wider CCC) or get some spacers. The wheels are still under the fenders too much, about 1.750 of an inch . Will know better what to do once I get the rear done. Anyway, here's some pic's of the brake set-up.

P.S. Please ignore the rest of the car though. It needs some work. The calipers still need the pistons, pads, and retainer clips installed. I just couldn't help my self sticking them on now.

[volkdent]

Looking great! Keep us updated.

Jason

[Racelook]

Nice breaks!!!

[oasis]

Quite impressive!

[wrenchnride247]

Thank's for the support guys. I don't think I will have problems stopping now. Now if I can get that 2.5L typeIV built, I think I can go!

[V.waffe 3]

Very nice.

[Doogie S]

wrenchnride247

I assume by looking at the calipers and spindles that you powdercoated both. Did you have any problems taking the calipers apart and putting them back together again?

I have a set of 944 Turbo calipers that I will be using on my Ghia project and would like to know if you had any problems, etc… with the powdercoating. I understand that it adds a bit of thickness to the surface and that the mating surfaces amy need some work to get everything lined up again.

No point in upgrading the brakes and not showing them off by making them bright yellow or red. n

[jmd]

I as well am sitting on 4- 4pots that I would love to fully rip apart and have media-blasted and then powder-coated. However, I have read many 'postings & articles' that say don't take them apart (split the caliper body into the two primary parts) or they will never 'seal' the same way again.

While I am pretty sure that is not the case, I am still learning about these parts, and am not fully confident in just 'jumping into it and taking them apart'.

I just want to know about any chambers that the two sides may share, if any. I have a single copper hard line that connects the two sides, so wouldn't that handle any and all "sealing"?

As Doogie S had mentioned worries in regards to the additional thickness to the caliper sides as a result of the powder coating. I am not worried about that and had presumed that that would just be the way of the process and the parts would require some finishing. Besides, thats hardly a mm of material.

Simply 'resurface' the mating faces and all is back to dandy.

Sorry for the long post, hope it was clear.
also, details on the parts used and what was done for the install?

Thanks for sharing.

drive safe.

[wrenchnride247]

Before anybody rebuilds Brembos, make sure you can get the seal kits. In the US, the only kits I could find had the pistons and seals about $50 US each piston kit X 8 = . My dust boots were torn on a few pistons, so I changed all. Three suppliers told me Brembo will not sell just the seals. For some reason you have to change the pistons, too . The old pistons are teflon coated and looked as good as the new ones. Maybe there's a heat issue. I don't know. I was told if you remove the inner seals they cannot be reused. So if all your seals and dust boots are good, it might not be a good idea to remove them. I had to remove them to powdercoat calipers, and since some boots were torn, I replaced everything.

If you still want to tear'em apart, read on. Of course, you remove the pads. Then you can take a block of wood or plastic, that fits in where the pads go(about as thick as a pad), and use this to stop the pistons as they come out. You need air pressure to get them out. Just put a blow gun in the brakeline inlet and put a small amount of air in the caliper. Be careful! The pistons can come out with speed and force that will surprise you and your fingers, if they get in the way. Once you get a few out, you need to cover the holes so you have enough pressure to get the other ones out.

The small button head screws that hold the plates inside the caliper on both ends are a PITA to remove. They sit next to the pads and rotors so they get the most heat. If you're lucky, you can heat the bolts and try to remove them. Most of mine came out the hard way because they wanted to stripout. If you can get past that part, it gets easier. After you get the plates out you can remove the crossover line(copper line)and bleed screws.

The bolts holding the caliper halves together need to be heated before removing, as they have a thread locking compound on them. Mine were still hard to remove, but finally came out. Now you should have four halves if all worked out ok.

I used a good paint stripper to get clearcoat off. If your calipers are still factory, all they have is black anodized finish inside and out. Then when halves and hardware were put together they were clear coated. I would not try removing the anodized finish, as the powdercoating works over the top of this. Also, don't coat the caliper halves where the two mate together, or where the pistons and boots go. When you put them back together there are arrows on both halves that should point in the same direction. The halves line back up easily, as the bolt holes are very close tolerance. There are no internal crossover ports, so no worry with leaks jmd.

If you spray the calipers lightly with powder, you will not have too much extra thickness. The powder coating may retain a little more heat during braking, but if your not racing it should'nt matter that much. The spindles are powdercoated, too. The whole suspension will be powdercoated blue except the ali trailing arms(just clear coated). I have another thread in the brakes section titled "Rebuild kits" that has pics before, during, and after.

As long as this post is, it should have been a tech article. Sorry.

[Doogie S]

wrenchnride247,

What you have described is pretty much what I thought I would need to do. Thanks for the detailed “brake” down on the rebuild. I have a complete set of 4-pot Brembo calipers that I’m also sitting on, same as jmd.

I did find is somewhat difficult to locate the re-build kits for them on-line. I assumed they would only contain the seals and that the pistons would be re-used, but if it comes with new pistons, I guess the price is justified.

I will be completely re-building the Ghia, so no point in cheaping out on what is the most important system on the car. Besides, they have to look good behind those custom billet wheels.

Cheers,


Doug

[wrenchnride247]

Oh, there's one thing I forgot to mention about the rebuild kits. There are two different kinds of pistons and dust boots. The shop I ordered my kits from found out after sending me the kit's, there were two different types. Because, the kits they sent looked nothing like my originals. Apparently Brembo decided to change piston and boot styles without telling rebuild kit suppliers . My brakes came off a '89 944 S2. So, I guess if have the newer version. The supplier said He's only sold the kit's that did not work on mine. So, this was kind of new to Him also.

Here's some pic's of the two different piston and boot kits. Mine are the ones with the groove around the pistons. The two pistons you are looking at are both 40mm. You need to know what size pistons you have before ordering kits. The fronts are either 38mm and 36mm, or 40mm and 36mm. The rears are all 30mm and 28mm I think, mine are anyway.

[wrenchnride247]

I just got back a few hours ago from my favorite salvage yard picking up some parts. Oh man! I got to see "the mother load" of Brembo calipers . They have two 4'x4'x4' metal baskets full to the top with Brembo's . They ask me if I was ok because of the look on my face! I wish I had my camera. Maybe next trip I will remember to bring camera.

[Mikey]

Your set up looks Sweet!

I love the blue.

[wrenchnride247]

Thanks Mikey, The more I look at the blue, the more i'm starting to like it. It's my wifes car. I wanted to do a blue car with silver brakes and suspension, and she wanted a silver car. So, I just swithched the color around. I think it looks better than my color choice the more I look at it. I have lots of blue powder to use up from another job I did anyway .