Just rebuilt my first caliper

[rs6er]

Repainted. 20 Degrees. Silicone lube. Does it look about right?

[JSDSKI]

Looks great. Just test them in a flat parking lot with some runoff

[rs6er]

Scott-
Not really possible where I live. Kids use my driveway for sleigh riding. :-) Since you were kind enough to reply, I have another question. I got PBR Deluxe pads for this. They don't have any cushioning material on the backing plates. Can I just put them in naked or do I need shims or anti-squeal spray. I have some Gunk brand stuff made for this, but I'm afraid it will stick to the seals and mess them up. I hate squealing (I ride a lot in my son's WRX with a Big Brake Wilwood setup.)

[Dan in Pasadena]

John, Pictures of the work in progress? Or at least "before" pictures? Whose paint did you use?

[rs6er]

Dan-
I used the Duplicolor kit at my local auto parts store. $20. Comes with cleaner as well. Used silver because I'm just doing the rears now, and I wanted them to match the fronts. Plus it looks more original.

Here's a before:

[rs6er]

I also used the silver paint on the edges of my new rotors, in the hopes that it will keep the unswept part from rusting. We'll have to check that in a month or so.

[Dan in Pasadena]

John,
I asked about the paint because I need to rebuild my rears and mine have significant surface rust. I already bought rebuilt Carrera calipers from another Pelican for the front and the guy painted them black. I planned on painting my rears black too but I like silver better and yours look great. Did you wire wheel them first or just use the cleaner and paint over the rust?

I also wondered about that Duplicolor kit from my local Pep Boys and now I know it will work

[rs6er]

This caliper was originally painted gold. I wirewheeled the gold paint off, but it took me several days to get the pistons out, so it got a bit wet— hence the rust. I used naval jelly on it before cleaning it, and that did the trick. BTW, the Duplicolor caliper paints that they had in the store were silver, gold, yellow, red and black. The stuff is very easy to use and dries quickly. I used 2 coats as suggested.

[sus911]

Looks OK to me.

They won't squeal at all so don't use gunk as long as u got the angle right.

'84 Carrera 3.2 upgrade

[rs6er]

sus911-
Thanks. I just posted that question since I didn't think anyone was going to answer it here.

[sus911]

Feels good eh John?
Don't know how you managed to keep them so clean after the rebuild or did you paint after?
Air compressor and a couple of quick clamps and ply off cuts is the trick for the pistons.
You get much quicker at it after a few times.
I'll need to as the upgrade has twice as many pistons!

Phil

[rs6er]

I painted them before I reinstalled the seals & pistons. One of the pistons was stuck. I had to put the caliper back on and use the hydraulics to get it out. Thanks to someone for that idea in an earlier thread.

[llo2201]

Paint looks great.
I am rebuilding mine also (84 911 fronts), although I am not repainting...

Everything is going well, except I can't get the #@()! ring back on around the rubber boot! one half went OK, got it on with a minimum of fiddling around, but I have been struggling with the other half for a week now! (I try a little each night...).

Any tips or hint on how to get the metal clip back on the outer boot?

I saw a suggestion to use a 1.5" PCV coupler, but that doesn't seem to help much...

What have others done?

Thanks,

Len

[Hendog]

When I did mine I had the same problem and eventually got through with perserverence. Afterwards I read in one of the threads that a Gerber baby food jar lid will sit right on top and can be used to evenly press the whole boot in place. I wish I had read that first.

[llo2201]

A gerber babyfood jar, I will try that...
I can get the boot, it is the metal clip ring I am having problems with.

[sus911]

funny....mine were so easy.
There must be different rebuild kits

[rs6er]

Originally posted by sus911
funny....mine were so easy.
There must be different rebuild kits

Same with mine, but I did the rears. Maybe they are different. The clip I took off was different from the new one. My kit was from FTE.

[der Mond]

I'm about to reinstall calipers and pads and am confused about whether or not to use Lubriplate. Some say to smear it on the pad backing plate that meets the piston, some say on the whole "brake box." New Ate calipers and Jurid pads. Also, in terms of initial piston position, some say to extend the pistons to where it's hard to get the new pads in. Would it work to install the calipers and pads and then blow the pistons out to where they press on the rotors and then start replacing the brake fluid? I currently have the brake pedal help partly down. Before putting the new rubber hoses and small hard lines in should I let off the pedal and drain the old fluid, or just bleed it through with the power bleeder? Hope this adds to the thread - not wanting to highjack it...

[rs6er]

Not at all. I'm curious about this too.

[1985coupe]

I rebuilt my front calipers last winter and did not have a problem at all getting the rings around the boots. Might be because some brake fluid was helping the ring to slip over the boot; I'd imagine that if your boot is super dry as well as the ring, there might be too much friction for the latter to slip over the former. The most difficult part for me was to get the pistons out as there was some corrosion on the pistons (the rubber boots were shot). I managed to get them out using an air compressor and small clamps, as well as a rag between the 2 cylinders to avoid chipping them when one of them got out. For the 2nd piston I put the one already out back [after cleaning and lubricating with some brake fluid], help in place just far enough as to provide a good seal, and pop the other one out. Upon re-installation I used to Lubro Molly anti-seize paste (LM508) on the back of the pads. One thing to be careful about is the orientation of the cylinders: the notch should be facing the center of the disk at a certain angle (like 20 deg., pls check repair manual); I am planning on doing the rear brakes this winter as they squeek a bit when light pressure on the brakes is applied. Obvious problem there is access to this small wheel inside the drum mechanism and I don't have that special Porsche tool
As a side note if anyone has a source for OEM brake pistons for a 1985 911 that'd be great! Best of luck to all!