Brakes

When I took my car into Black Forrest for it's 60,000 mile 'turn your head and cough', I was told that I probably should have my brake calipers rebuilt. Although I highly recommend Black Forrest for anyone in the Atlanta area, the only brake work they'll do is to slap in a set of Porsche remanufactured units (liability I think) at $250+ per. Needless to say...

After paying the $30 for the seals and dust boots and $60 for hoses, I headed home for my Christmas vacation (any better wat to spend it than working on my baby?). If your car is ten or more years old, you should replace the brake hoses. It is not expensive and could avert problems like a caliper not fully releasing. Bruce Anderson recommends plain old rubber lines for street or mild performance in his literature, so that is what I went with.

I enlisted my father assistance of my father, an ex-mechanic and shop owner for quite a few years, and a Haynes manual. It went something like this:

1. Set the parking brake and chuck the wheels.
2. Brake the lug nuts free (Dang!, they were tight).
3. Jack up one side of the car (Dang! Forgot to buy a jacking plate).
4. Pull the wheels, and hey; clean them while they are off.
5. Tap out the retaining pins and pull out the pads. At this point, you are dirty.
6. Disconnect the brake lines, drain all fluid into a catch pan.
7. Unbolt and remove the caliper. (Cursing at it helps a little)
8. Place a piece of wood between the pistons.
9. Gently apply a little air pressure to the pressure fitting to get one of the pistons to move.
10. Once one of the pistons moves, put a C clamp on it and gently blow out the other piston. Remove the clamp and blow out the first piston.
11. Remove all rubber parts from the caliper.
12. Polish up the pistons with some fine steel wool. (Now you are covered with carbon)
13. Clean up the caliper's piston seats with some fine grit sandpaper. Be very critical of the metal on either side of the seal seat. If it does not look perfect after cleaning, replace the caliper.
14. Clean up the dust boot sealing area with a screwdriver and some sand paper.
15. Blow out the entire caliper surface with brake cleaner. (Jeeze, you are filthy! so...)
16. Clean your hands.
17. You will need something to press on the dust boots, so now is a good time to take the caliper to the store and purchase a round press-slug that fits properly.
18. Clean all of the brake parts again.
19. Lightly lubricate the seals with brake fluid and insert them into the caliper.
20. Slice up a Gap clothing box to make a 20-degree gauge as per the Haynes instructions.
21. Lightly lubricate the pistons, align them using the gauge, and press them into the caliper.
22. Using the press slug and a C clamp, press the new dust boots onto the caliper. Two of the calipers have press fit boots while the others have a C clip which holds them in.
23. Slip the inside of the dust boots onto the pistons.
24. That's it, repeat three more times...
25. Pull off the old brake lines and discard.
26. Install everything in the reverse process, and torque the lug nuts with a torque wrench.

Bleeding the system took for ever, and plenty of fluid ran through the system, so I got a good flushing. With a firm brake pedal and the smell of brake fluid still permutating the air, I took to the street with a very satisfied grin and the knowledge that it cost me less than $100.