Anyone try to tear apart brembo calipers?

[vwhammer]

I am attempting to take apart a set of four 951 calipers for some custom work, clean up and powder coating.

I got two of them separated but the other two are being a real pain.

They surely used some super duty heat resistant thread locker on the bolts that hold the two halves together so heating them does not work.

Does anyone have any top secret info as to how to loosen the bolts holding them all together?

I have 3 bolts left. (one smaller bolt in one caliper and one big and one small bolt in another caliper)

I am going to be clamping them in the mill tomorrow to machine the heads off, separate the halves and drill the bolts out unless someone can give me a better idea.

[Icey1174]

Try clamping them in a vise and use an 18" pipe on the end of your wrench for extra leverage. Just make sure the wrench is seated well on the bolt. Unless they are welded in, they should unscrew with the longer pipe/brakerbar. Just make sure you have it clamped in the vice well and you have have a good and rigid setup.

You can mill the heads off and drill them out, but that is a fair amount of work.

Let me know if you try the pipe and if it worked for you. I have never had a nut, bolt, or screw that I could not get out with that method, unless the wrench broke. In that case you may be milling and drilling.

[vwhammer]

Yeah I stripped the heads out of the two smaller bolts using a pretty serious impact.

I may try to weld a long bar to the heads of the bolts to see if I can get them out that way first.

If that does not work I will machine the heads off so I can get them apart.
Then I will weld a bar of some sort to what is still sticking out of the other half and twist them out.

I don't think I will drill the whole bolt out.

[Icey1174]

I would suggest welding a bar or another bolt on the top of the bad one. I am a die maker and that's how we get them out. It's much easier than milling and drilling. Just make sure you have a solid weld and it will turn out without a problem.

The only time I have seen issues with this method is when the the hole and screw sustained a couple hundred tons of pressure damage and actually "oblonged" the screw and the hole. Then we had to machine the entire section of tooling right off. I doubt you will have this problem.

[Icey1174]

I would suggest welding a bar or another bolt on the top of the bad one. I am a die maker and that's how we get them out. It's much easier than milling and drilling. Just make sure you have a solid weld and it will turn out without a problem.

The only time I have seen issues with this method is when the the hole and screw sustained a couple hundred tons of pressure damage and actually "oblonged" the screw and the hole. Then we had to machine the entire section of tooling right off. I doubt you will have this problem.

[smokin_944]

+1 Icey1174. 3 or 4 days ago I was about to rebuild a set of rear Brembos and encountered the same problem. After 2 days of calipers soaking in Varsol, The wrench and prybar went to work on the bolts. Noticed one of the bolts was stripped inside. $%^& Went to plan B for that one. Used Icey's strategy (welding a bar to bolt) and snapped the bolt loose after some serious swearing. Got all new hardware for the calipers, from bolts to jumper lines. I could not believe how much strength it took to break the caliper bolts loose!!! All is now well, I just need to figure out what kind of brake pads I should use.

[mharmon]

I did this as well and it worked for me. Now I'm trying to source hardened bolts that are plated so that they won't rust. Where did you guys get your bolts from? McMaster Carr has 10.9 bolts, but I'm not sure that they are hard enough.

Any ideas?

[onZedge]

Try Fasenal for hardware. You can order the exact bolts you need either on-line or at the store. They can get plated Class 12.9 bolts.

[Rasta Monsta]

I am staring at a set of these I have for my 931. Is splitting them really necessary for refurb? I have read that splitting them is discouraged.

Smokin, where did you get your refurb parts?

[smokin_944]

I picked up a 16 pack of plated bolts (black), 8 of each, larger, smaller from Adams Supply for 35$. They carry some of the strangest stuff, like Porsche nuts and bolts, the off the wall kind. Damn!!

[vwhammer]

Well I drilled the heads off and got the halves apart.
The plan now is to simply weld a bar or nut on the rest of the bolts and twist them out using a lot of leverage.

I tore mine apart because I wanted to do some mill work and I needed a good way to clamp them in the mill.

I also will be getting them powder coated but I do not want the the plates in the inside of the caliper or the bolt heads coated.

It just seemed like the thing to do.
let me also add that I could not get the bolts that hold the plates out either so I had to grind off the heads.

I will drill whats left of the bolt later.

In retrospect tearing them apart was not a good idea.
I would advise anyone that if their calipers are in working order just clean them up with them assembled.

I will have to source new fluid crossover tubes as well because I trashed mine trying to get the fittings loose.
I will probably make some stainless one just to be cool.

To be honest I only tore mine apart because I wanted to do some custom work so they are like no other calipers out there.
It's not really worth it but I guess no one will have calipers like mine.

[smokin_944]

Originally Posted by Rasta Monsta

I am staring at a set of these I have for my 931. Is splitting them really necessary for refurb? I have read that splitting them is discouraged.

Smokin, where did you get your refurb parts?

******** Porsche, in Winnipeg. All the parts are OEM Porsche other than the through caliper bolts. The German (mechanic buddy) at ******** told me to buy the caliper bolts from Adams Supply on Wall Street. I am still smilin... Nuthin like a fresh setup...

[Rasta Monsta]

Originally Posted by smokin_944

Nuthin like a fresh setup...

Pics?

[Eric_Oz_S2]

From the FWSM:

[smokin_944]

I didn't pull the calipers apart, just overhauled them to replace old parts. Rasta, I got a digital camera for Christmas so I guess I should start now huh... I'll get to work, post later today...Happy New Year Porscheophiles one and all!!!

[vwhammer]

I am certain that as long as you keep the halves in pairs (as in don't mix one half with a half from another caliper) everything will be just fine.

After having them apart I can tell you there is no good reason that you can not tear them apart.

It is simply two flat surfaces that mate together and the bolts and plates line everything up.

Unless someone from Brembo can give me a reason that they should not be separated then I am going to carry on.
Well I guess it's a little late any how since I already have them apart.

On another note, I assumed that the piston seals and other rebuild parts would be hard to come by so I had no plans of replacing the parts.
However, now that I know otherwise I think I will do a total rebuild.

[smokin_944]

Lets see...

[smokin_944]

[smokin_944]

Ok, not so good without captions,lol... Notice the size of the breaker bar used to snap the bolts loose. Ze Cheman is the man working the bar. I am just getting used to the camera. This explains the somewhat brutal shots.

[Rasta Monsta]

Originally Posted by smokin_944

Ze Cheman is the man working the bar.

Paulie? Paulie Walnuts?