Front Wheel Bearings - Removing Front Calipers

larry47us · 05-18-2005, 05:01 AM

Excuse my dumb questions, but I am in the very early stages of learning how to work on my car. So the first job I'm tackling is replacing the front wheel bearings on Kermit, a 73E Targa.

I have the car up on jacks, and it's stable. I have removed the front tires, and pulled off the grease caps. The next step is removing the front calipers. I have read that I don't need to remove the brake lines, and risk losing brake fluid by just removing the calipers and hanging them up.

I have seen the two big bolts on the rear of the caliper. I guess that they are what is holding the caliper on. No problem removing those.

But when I look behind the wheel, I see a hard brake line going from the caliper through a stand-off, and then connected to the rubber brake line. Doesn't seem to me that I can remove the caliper without first disconnecting the hard brake line. Am I missing something?

Also, can I just use a clamp on the rubber brake line to keep the fluid from leaking out?

tia.

larry

Willem Fick · 05-18-2005, 07:29 AM

Had a look at mine, and you are right -unless of course I am missing something here too! Even if you were to clamp the tube, you will still pick up some air into the system, and ultimately have to bleed it anyhow. Perhaps this a good opportunity to flush out the old fluid?

larry47us · 05-18-2005, 07:40 AM

Willem:

Thanks for confirming what I saw this morning. Looks like I am going to learn a bit about braking systems at the same time I am learning about front bearings.

thanks.

larry

Willem Fick · 05-18-2005, 07:47 AM

Its not a bad thing to learn to work on your own car! It not only saves money, but I find that after a long tedious day at the office, nothing relieves stress better than stripping a couple of nuts on my car!

Once you get to the bearings, be mindfull that the hubs have to be heated in order to remove the outer bearing shells. If you just force them out, you may cause damage to the hub, and that could be costly. The Hanes Manual has a fairly good description of how to do this.

BTW - I've been a long time fan of Kermit!

Dan Owens · 05-18-2005, 07:52 AM

If you take a stick or pole and place it between the brake pedal and the front of the seat so that it presses down on the pedal just slightly and holds it's position you won't drain or suck fluid into the line when you disconnect them from the calipers. you'll still need to bleed the brakes to get the air out of the calipers but it should be much easier. It's also a good time to rebuild the calipers while they're off. The kits are cheap and it's a really easy job. I'd also consider replacing the rubber brake lines as they deteriorate over time and can cause problems. All this adds expense and time obviously but if you're there and already pulling or unhooking things anyway that's most of the trouble. Cost again is minimal. Don't forget to use loctite on the caliper bolts when you put the calipers back on. The bolts can work their way out if you don't and that's a problem you don't want to experience.

Navaros911 · 08:17 AM

Remove the little metal plate where the hard metal line meets the rubber one. This should allow you to rotate the whole assembly a littlebit forward as the rubber brakeline will just bend and flex... Don't move it too much, just enough to remove the rotor.

The meeting point of the hard metal line and the rubber line may be corroded and may not move without some use of WD-40.

Make sure by carefully rotating that it is the rubber brake line moving and tat you are not putting too much stress on the hard metal line.

I can provide some pictures in a few hours, when I get home.

Be careful and good luck.

I know from experience this is possible.

Navaros911 · 05-18-2005, 08:18 AM

The little metal plate I'm referring to sits in the marked location of the picture. With this gone I managed to manouver the caliper away from the rotor.

larry47us · 05-18-2005, 08:28 AM

Willem: Thanks for the comment. Kermit's a great car, and I have never had so much fun on 4 wheels. Sorry that I didn't do this years ago.

Navaros: I think that the setup is different on the very early cars. on my 73, the hard line meets the rubber line in a clip that is attached to some part of the frame. I'll have to take a picture tonight to show you what I mean.

I have thought about pulling the calipers, having them mediablasted and then clear powdercoated so that they have that silvery "new" look to them. But I think that this is a project for the winter. I don't want to lose any driving time this summer.

The bearings, I didn't have a choice. I couldn't wait to get them done.

thanks

larry