Changing front caliper w pics

[Kurt B]

Old caliper


two retaining bolts, behind caliper



19mm wrench required


Corroded old caliper


New pelican parts Caliper only 218$!


old fluid liked more like oil than brake fluid.


New caliper installed



Bleeding lines



Lines not completely bled yet. Whole process takes only a couple of hours. Straightfoward for the most part.
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Kurt B
1984 Carrera Cabriolet
911 Page
carrera_cabriolet@yahoo.com

[This message has been edited by Kurt B (edited 07-21-2001).]

[Early_S_Man]

Kurt,

I think you just showed the world ... The DEFINITIVE Neglected Caliper! It belongs in a MUSEUM!

Congrats ... on getting it changed without collapsing the front end, or breaking a strut!

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

[dtw]

You're not doing it right, Kurt. First you go in for a routine brake bleed...wife brings you beer and kisses you on the cheek, appreciating your DIY enthusiasm.
-then notice corroded caliper
-purchase new caliper, then decide to do brake upgrade instead.
-purchase new set of big reds. Wife questions economy of decision but supports hobby.
-perform install; replace lines, master cylinder, pads, wheels, tires, rotors, and all wheel bearings while you're at it.
-notice rusting front pan while under car replacing master cylinder. Wife not pleased as you fail to pick up kids from soccer practice as you poke about with icepick under car.
-replace front pan, seam weld front clip, and weld in triangulated strut bar.
-decide now that you have such a stiff front end, you might as well throw on some turbo tie rods, heavy torsion bars, and Bilstein rallye sports. You have plenty of room to work in the garage now that wife's car is gone- she's been at her parents with the kids for 2 weeks.
-notice that new paint from pan job inside boot doesn't match old paint, though it will soon be back under a carpet. Unacceptable!
-strip car for repaint
-complete reassembly of freshly painted and built car just in time to give a test drive to classified-ad respondent- as you are forced to sell car in divorce settlement.

And you thought it would just cost 10 bucks for a fresh can of super blue!

-d

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Dave
1972 911T (E motor) RSR replica project
http://members.nbci.com/dtwinters/garage/

[82SC]

well this thread answers my questions about rebuilding my calipers...

Mine look just like yours...are the unrebuildable? getting 4 calipers is ~800 all around...which is a bit pricey...can I rebuild them...and with some elbow grease fix them up??? Or is it hopeless?

If they need to be replaced...is this a good time to upgrade...no not the way suggested in the above post?

And cheap-ish upgrades to improve brakes?

I've heard going with 944's etc...

Thanks

MJ

[This message has been edited by 82SC (edited 07-22-2001).]

[pwd72s]

Great job Kurt! It's nice to have a car that goes, but stopping important too. MJ..
price? Oh, it could be worse...to see the price of new aluminum "S" calipers:
http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/911E/por_911E_brakes_main.htm OUCH!

[Kurt B]

yeah, i was giving performance a bad rap...they're carrera calipers are 229$, around 10$ more than pelican, not the 750$ or whatever I thought...those were 930 calipers...poor 930 guys...why are they so much more?

At 218 a pop, I'm happy to buy new ones...it isn't that bad. Buy em now new before they go through the roof. They will, trust me. once the manufacturing numbers drop too low, you'll be lookinga t 650$ a pop.
Buy one a month. As long as you can put new pads on em, you're probably okay to do that. I couldn't get new pads on this one without using a c-clamp to compress it. Car pulled to the right badly. Now it pulls a little to the left. I'll probably replace the other 3 in turn.


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Kurt B
1984 Carrera Cabriolet
911 Page
carrera_cabriolet@yahoo.com

[This message has been edited by Kurt B (edited 07-22-2001).]

[GIBSON]

My 86 Targa needs some brake help as well. I suspect a frozen caliper. If mine is the type that can be rebuilt (i.e. piston bore is not heavily pitted or rusted) I'll go the rebuild route and post photos. Not all bad calipers have to be replaced, it depends on the bore condition. New pistons are available, hopefully that's all it needs.
If not, good to know Pelicans got calipers at the right price.

Bruce Herrmann