Rebuild Calipers - DIY? or Buy Rebuilt?

[frankc]

Hi Vern,
Which brand of rotors are those? I like the finish/plating on them.

[Eric_Shea]

Originally Posted by 911euro

Quick embarrassing question: the rear caliper has 2 19'' bolts to the hub, my question is: there is very little space to put in big wrench to remove it. Is there a trick or a special wrench to remove this lower bolt? I just rebuilt the fronts and now I need to rebuild the rears because after releasing the hand brakes, the brake light on the dashboard is still lid up and it makes squeaky noise. I took a peek at the pistons earlier, they look to be rusted on the exposed portion.
Thx

On the rear of the 911 the handbrake cable has a plastic attachment to the control arm. Take a 10 mm wrench and remove that and then put your socket through the hole in the control arm to reach the lower bolt on the caliper.

[rokemester]

Never feel embarrassed to ask a question in this forum. I had a tough time removing those nuts as well! I actually trapped a socket wrench trying to remove them and had to leave the scene to gather myself and figure out what to do. As usual Eric has a great tip to avoid this stick point.

[86 911 Targa]

When I did the brakes/rotors on our '86, I sent the calipers to a local machine shop
who broke them down & rebuilt them for about $85 each.

I though it was money well spent.

Gerry

[frankc]

Originally Posted by Eric_Shea

On the rear of the 911 the handbrake cable has a plastic attachment to the control arm. Take a 10 mm wrench and remove that and then put your socket through the hole in the control arm to reach the lower bolt on the caliper.

Hi Eric,
As I'm sure you know, the plastic piece that you mention is only on the steel trailing arms (that I have seen). The aluminum arms have a hole cast in the arm itself for capturing the handbrake cable. I only mention this because the OP stated he had an 1985 Carrera (aluminum TA).

[Eric_Shea]

Originally Posted by 86 911 Targa

When I did the brakes/rotors on our '86, I sent the calipers to a local machine shop
who broke them down & rebuilt them for about $85 each.

I though it was money well spent.

Gerry

It is, if they replated them.

99.9% of caliper failures are cause by rust... "inside the bore". After roughly 20-30 years, the zinc plating wears off the inside of the bore and, brake fluid being hygroscopic, it attracts water which likes to gather by the rubber seals, of course, right where the wears marks are. This causes rust and causes your pistons to stick.

This is what we always advise people to "NEVER" hone the bores and "ALWAYS" replate the calipers using the factory zinc (not cad).

Otherwise... They'll be sticking again in two years.

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by frankc

Hi Vern,
Which brand of rotors are those? I like the finish/plating on them.

Those are pre-painted Zimmerman rotors. I believe it's about $10 more to get them pre painted but I think it was worth it - no rust. Purchased thru Pelican.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Eric_Shea

Otherwise... They'll be sticking again in two years.

I guess this puts me "on the clock"