First time doing brake job - calipers?
 

Hey guys, so my brakes are pretty much done.. i noticed the pads are approaching EOL when i was swapping my wheels

I figure this would be a good time to also do rotors (may as well), as well as brake fluid

I like the OEM setup, so i'm going to buy OEM rotors and OEM pads

but my question is the calipers.. ive driven my frs for 3 winters now in the great white north and the calipers are rusting and look terrible behind my wheels

Is there anywhere I can buy new calipers?

Unless you track/drive really hard, the rotors are probably OK. I'd measure them to be certain though.

I assume you mean the caliper pistons are rusted. Strictly speaking rust on the visible part of the piston doesn't actually hurt anything. If the pistons are sticky then all you really need is a rebuild kit. It replace the seals on the pistons.

I've done three winters as well and I might need to rebuild the calipers as well. I'll know for sure when I do my coilover install.

the rotors are seized to the hub.. in pretty bad shape so i figure replacing them would be safe

hmmm ive never heard of a caliper rebuild

how much would a rebuild cost vs just buying a whole new caliper set

If you need to get the rotors off there are two holes that you can put a bolt through that will pop them off. The wheel stud swap DIY has the size of the bolt.

The rebuild kit is around $25 per caliper. A new caliper is about $250.

250 per oem caliper :eyebulge::eyebulge:

may as well just get a BBK... damm

dammm these ugly calipers

Only time ive had to replace a calipar (break shoe) is when the cylinder got stuck. Thats the only time ive ever replaced one

The bolt to pop the rotor off is actually the same as the one holding the underbody panels on, can just take two off the bottom of the car, use them to pop the rotors off than put them back.

For the calipers even though it looks rusty I wouldn't bother buying new, a wire brush and some brake cleaner to blast the crap off should spiff them up. Don't take my word for it do some googling and find a couple DIY's to make sure you're not making any unforeseen (expensive) mistakes. Maybe consider painting them? I know high temp paints are available, mild , just thinking stuff up to save money.

The rebuild kit is dis-assembling the caliper and replacing the seals on the pistons and that's about it. The seals shouldn't degrade significantly this early even in harsh climates if they're not exposed to the extreme heat of track duty. Probably just need replacement dust boots if they're falling apart.

As for the rotors I believe centric is cheaper than OE, built to OE specs, good reputation, when my rotors get worn down that much that's what I'll be buying but these suckers are durable, 47k miles and a handful of track days and I see no reason to replace mine right now. Should be ~$180 for a full set on amazon right now

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Centric-120-47031-Rear-Brake-Rotor/dp/B003TOXT2K"]Amazon.com: Centric 120.47031 Rear Brake Rotor: Automotive[/ame]
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Centric-Parts-120-47021-Premium-E-Coating/dp/B000IY4A0Y"]Amazon.com: Centric Parts 120.47021 Premium Brake Rotor with E-Coating: Automotive[/ame]

+1 for Centric blanks... that's what I replaced my OEM rotors with and they're holding up great to track use with Project mU club racer pads.

I'm sure your calipers are totally fine, just surface rust from brake dust. I would just clean them up with a wire brush, and if it still bugs you paint them with some silver (or whatever colour you like) caliper paint.

yeah

at 250 per caliper it seems like im going to just find a way to paint them and be done with it if they work fine.

also looking into some BBKs ... what would be the cheapest available kit for our car? :D

If the rubber boots that protect the pistons are still completely intact, then the calipers probably don't require a rebuild.


When the brakes overheat the piston seals will harden and not provide the retraction force required to pull the pads back off the rotor.
(You cannot see THOSE seals without extracting the pistons.)
Once the seals lose their elasticity then they cannot retract the pistons and they will overheat badly usually causing noticeable damage to the piston boots/bellows.


If you have ever experienced "brake fade" while just cruising on the freeway, your calipers are probably dragging.

MUCH more expensive than 4 new OEM calipers, that's for sure. Also not something you want to cheap out on.

IMO, just paint them. Clean and prep them properly and they'll come out great.

2 things here. 1: don't go cheap. Cheapest I'd recommend is the RR stuff, which happens to be quite well priced and looks quite well put together. 2: It's very probably going to require more attention over time than factory. Perhaps only marginally so, but... regular maintenance keeps you away from the kind of situation you now find yourself in.

Stock stuff may clean up quite nicely with a wire brush and some high temp paint (and some care.)

well thanks FT86 club. you just saved me a lot of money.

Im convinced i only need to do my brake pads (no rotors or calipers.. will find someone who can paint/refinish the calipers for me)



what brake fluid would you guys recommend? any guide that compares them out there

The CGS guys did a brake fluid comparison. Maybe in the tracking thread?

Anyway, based on that, I run RT700 now. I do a full flush at the beginning of track season and never saw any fade last year. Granted, I'm not as hardcore/fast as others, but so far so good.