[Big Boy Al]

finally pulled my finger out of my behind and started to recon my calipers, i have been wanting to do them now for a long time so now ive got a few days off i thought i would start to do them.

i took the passenger side off about a week ago and started to strip it down, redone the disk while i was at it as well.

still got the drivers side to do but will make a start on that boxing day with a hangover and need to get this one back on and bled too.

anyway here is a little process of pictures that i done hope you think it looks better now.

originally how they were looked ok but up close the paint was so thick from last four years of painting so had about 6 different coats on them.



pistons out, with the help of eldudes block.



disk and caliper off



just the right amount exposed to remove them, you can also see how thick the paint was



i had alot of trouble removing two of the star drive bolts from the pad retainers, when eldude serviced my calipers a year or so ago we could only get two out of four undone as they were rounded off from the previous owner, so i spent over an hour on each to get them out and was so happy when i got them removed. i had to get a hacksaw blade and cut a line through the middle then use a flat head screwdriver and hammer to turn them around and lots of wd40.

i dont think they had ever been removed in 7 years as there was so much build up behind the rails and the corrosion was terrible one of the rails was bent out so much.


a good one



one of the worst with build up and another that had been eaten away.







then to strip the paint off, i used nitromors and a scraper and little screwdrivers to do this.




all the stuff needed to reassemble one caliper



i wanted to remove all 6 bolts an split the caliper but i could only remove 5 in the end as i dont think they had ever been out and one of them the allen key head just rounded off so i will send this away to be drilled out next winter. also the caliper bridge pipe needs cutting so i can get a socket onto the bolts as they have also rounded due to never being taken off, but will buy two new ones and do this next year.

masked up and ready to paint.



sprayed with primer




half sprayed and sprayed, had to strip them down and redo twice as got it wrong twice and the paint run.




all dried with the new stainless bolts in from eldude and new stainless bleed nipples,cleaned pad rails and new stainless bolts




wanted to redo my logos as i like them and had nice comments about them so used a thin tipped artist brush and they actually went on ok.




pistons back in too



this is the paint i used, i really like the colour and its not a million miles off from the original colour looks brighter in the pics.




anyway all done and one more to do. takes bloody ages but well worth it.

This post has been edited by Big Boy Al: 24 December 2007 - 02:01 PM

[PG12]

i had new rails put on on my last calipers - they bent within miles because of the corrosion - had to trash the calipers...

[Big Boy Al]

blimey ive managed to straighten all mine with my vice and a hammer lol, and used some joint compound that we use on lightening protection systems at work that prevents oxidisation and corrosion between two different metals so hopefully it works. i also sanded down all the corrosion area so its flat again.

want to get some new rails and bridge pipes but that will have to wait ill the new year.

This post has been edited by Big Boy Al: 24 December 2007 - 02:36 PM

[eldoodarino]

nice work Al....

well done, getting those torx screws out.... they can be a bugger...

my method is now to clean out the torx head thoroughly with 'pick' tools then a quick blast with airline.... then tap the torx driver in with a small hammer to make sure it fits in nice and deeply...... using this method they come out 9 times out of ten....

[Big Boy Al]

yeah but you are the frp brake god

i dont know how these come out as you remember how rounded they were but with a lot of shouting and swearing they did.

thankyou mate, one more to do now.

[Dogsbody]

I painted where mine had corroded
It seemed obvious to give them a good coat to stop them corroding again.



Didn't look so good, but they are protected

[Big Boy Al]

aluminium is porrous...... if you havent 'protected' the surface with paint air will still get behind the compound & corrode the alloy & bend the rails..... ( the corrosion is due to air & water not indifferent metals - stainless is almost completely inert!)

why does nobody else on here paint the inside of the caliper?


& guys please dont say 'cos alcon didnt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'


il put money on it that the only reason they didnt is because it was easier, ergo cheaper, to paint after full assembly, obviously they dont want paint on the pistons so it was easier to make a big mask to cover all the inside, than to mask just the pistons. therefore theres no paint under the rails, theres paint on the rails ((---) poor performance & design!!!) & they corrode to death...!


like to know how the paint holds up, its not as tough as hammerite but looks nicer & with a good primer it should do well...... i might have a go at it next time, let us know if it fades.....


al - if a bolt gets stuck again try soaking it in coca cola!!! i havent tried it yet but its supposed to be brilliant.... ( dont think itl do the paint much good tho)

hi jacko mate

thanks for the lesson about the corrosion ive managed to keep it away on my other caliper for over a year now since eldude first had the rails off so i reckon the stuff i use is pretty cool, it should be it costs my work enough

i used to have imperial blue spray paint on these calipers originally and that lasted brilliantly so im hoping this paint will last just as well, i didnt laquer it as it made it too thick and looked funny, i tried on the first attempt and it didnt look nice.

the paint should last well as i suppose at the end of the day its used on the car bodywork but then again that has layers of laquer on it.

ill let you know in six months but im sure it will be fine

i didnt go for hammerite this time as they only do the 2 shades of blue.

the smooth blue is too bright for me and i didnt like it the first time i tried, then for the last year ive had the dark blue which i liked more but still too dark, so ill settle for this for now until i get bored.

im really struggling hard to resist not doing them white, dont know why but i want them white with my logos painted, might try in a few months for the fun of it

cheers for the tip about coke, that will be one to try for the drivers side ones

[Big Boy Al]

yeah very true mine have paint behind the rails now anyway as i forgot to mask them off the last time makes sense to me that it will stop the reaction.

it is strange the paint as i dont think really it has to be high temp stuff as i have felt my calipers after two lap of the ring, thats 24 miles of hard braking and the calipers are not really that hot i think the break disk is the only thing that gets super hot as they were almost glowing.

i think the originals fade as just a general mix of road salt and dirt etc, as i say i hope these should last as i clean them up on the outside every time i have my wheels off which is usually once a month. i definately think laquer would have protected them more but then again that makes a hard skin which might just chip even worse


i would love to know which paint alcon used as its so hard and must have been well baked on as three layers of nitromors would not even move even a little bit of it.

might send a few emails as id love to know the original colour.

[Big Boy Al]

well onto stage two today had three hours too spare so thought id have a play with 241 for the afternoon.

got the other caliper back on and re bled.

got the drivers side caliper off, disk resprayed, caliper de-pistoned,railed etc and then got the paint all off down to original so im happy and gonna mask it up in a bit and start the primer tomorrow to leave for a day then spray and leave for another day.

hopefully this one will go a bit quicker and easier now i sort of now what to do lol.

also getting my wheel refurbed as well for the 3rd time :-( after wanting to get it done since last april when i hit one of the red and white curbs on the nurburgring and it took a chip out of the wheel, only about 10mm long but you know me lol.

caliper back on the car and i think they look lovely, i just hope it doesnt chip too bad not being laquered but ive got a horrible feeling its going to. oh well will just have to have them off again before summer.









progress with caliper 2:

seems to be more paint on this one :?








all stripped off





also managed to get a picture of how i got the pad rail bolts off, had two on the last caliper and one on this one that just rounded off and would not come undone.

i used a hacksaw blade to make a line through the middle of the screw then used a big flat head driver and a hammer to knock it around, used lots of wd40 too but it worked everytime.

it would be easier if you could take the caliper apart but this one was the same again one caliper bolt that just will not undo and it will snap if i keep trying and also the bridge pipe will not come undone as its never been removed in 7 years, but the same again ill buy a new one and cut this one out later in the year.



thanks for looking alan.

This post has been edited by Big Boy Al: 26 December 2007 - 09:41 PM

[happy-kat]

stainless is almost completely inert

on my research in to stainless steel for some window furniture and corrosion this is not strictly true and depends on the grade of stainless steel too

[PG12]

is it the photos or is the paint 'glossy'?

personally prefer the 'worn' caliper look

[Big Boy Al]

not really glossy its actually quite flat.

i dont i think the brakes look nice when shown to their best, worn calipers to me says they havent been looked after and people may think the same for the car even if it is well looked after like your own.

[Big Boy Al]

this drivers side caliper i dont think will last more than another two years as its really badly been eaten away. 3 out of the 4 pad rail mounts are very bad and even somehow the parts where the main support bolts go through have started to be eaten away.

who bloody used aluminium calipers lol.

[Big Boy Al]

drivers side is now all done and back on the car im happy :-)

same bolt didnt come undone again and managed to snap 2 6mm allen key bits trying to get it undone, nevermind.

just hope the paint doesnt come straight off on the first drive.







:-) :-)

[Big Boy Al]

these are the ones i snapped 2 of, them bottom bolts are so tight due to all the crap off the road going into the hole behind. i almost cried i was trying with all my strength but just would not budge, soaked it in wd40 for a day too

i wont be giving away spare parts i like to collect things as well