front caliper guide spring?

[911tracker85]

I am in the process of rebuilding the front calipers from an 83 944. did some searching but could not find any info on my specific problem. they were badly rusted and the guide springs are just rusted in place. so far I have tried driving them out from the back side, broken drill bits and hardened steel punches. and was trying to drill them out but since spring metal just do not seem to make any progress. so, how important are they? I think my only practical option will be to drill new holes in the bracket as near the existing holes as I can. ordered them, coming from germany so I have a couple weeks to decide what to do. they are the #11 spring clips.

[jcommin]

Have you looked into buying a used caliper?

[jjeffries]

Jim is giving you the best advice; you should be able to find a good used caliper for $50 or so locally or from one of guardian angels like 944ecology, Plyhammer or JustJoshin'. Drilling new holes is a terrible idea.

I just rebuilt the calipers on my 87 924S and felt like a nitwit for messing with that same spring as I disassembled the calipers for cleaning/refinishing; contrary to a thread in this forum that shows removing that spring, there's no need to. I broke one trying to get it out and realized the stupidity of my ways, and found a used caliper rather than buying those springs, which are like $115 EACH (or maybe that was for two...goofy, either way). I still took the two components of each caliper apart to bead blast, then paint them, but I left those springs in place, did the necessary renovation then stretched the springs enough to reassemble each caliper (I'd also popped the pistons out, cleaned them and the bores and fitted new ATE Classic reseal kits). That thread which talks about removing those $&%€!! springs should be edited to remove that step...sorry to see you in the same boat. Luckily, used parts are still plentiful.

Best of luck to you, John/CT

[911tracker85]

yea I am about to get a set of used calipers from plyhammer. in reflection I could have cleaned them without removing the springs. hind site always 20/20

[jjeffries]

Yes, ironic to me we both learned that lesson so close in time! I blasted mine (bores protected) and painted them in epoxy primer then single-stage urethane (gloss black I had kicking around). I was too cheap/impatient to get them yellow-zinc plated...we'll see how they last. Best, John

[djnolan]

one thing you can do is dress the slide rails with a small triangular file

[911tracker85]

dress the slide rails with a small triangular file

yep and a little coat of axle grease.

[911tracker85]

waiting on the calipers and got to wondering what would be the effect of not having that guide spring? I am sure it has a purpose but curious.

[944 Ecology]

I would not try to second guess the Porsche engineers on what is needed for your brakes... Danger, Will Robinson!

[911tracker85]

yea just curious. my suspicion is it prevents some rattling.

[jjeffries]

...and maintains pressure to keep the two halves in alignment on their machined guide surfaces. John

[911tracker85]

well got another set of calipers. guide springs also rusted in place. and thanks to John's post I pried the new set apart to blast / paint that part. they reassembled with the parts from the original calipers.

in the process I am becoming convinced the spring is there mainly to prevent rattling.

maintains pressure to keep the two halves in alignment on their machined guide surfaces.

when trying to reinstall the front calipers I find the spring actually creates pressure that slightly twists the parts. have to force them into alignment to get the pad opposite the piston to fit into the slot so the pads would now be spaced to fit on the rotor.