Brake Caliper Overhaul/ Repair/ Painting

[davey sprocket 14]

There's a surprising lack of threads or discussion around overhauling calipers having spent far too much time trawling through old posts.

 

I want to start with my front calipers (standard Girling 1.9Gti) I've not tackled anything like this before and would welcome any advice. I've got the luxury of a spare pair of calipers and have got them off the spares car and have started stripping and cleaning one of them down.

 

 

Do I need special brake cleaner?? I guess its designed not to damage the rubber components is it?? I guess if I'm removing all the rubber components anyway, I could use regular cleaners or petrol??

 

I've found one of the slider gaiters is split, so I'l be needing new ones. Old topics pointed me in the direction of biggred and I've found their caliper rebuild kit for my car... clicky but this doesn't seem to come with the slider grease... is this something special or just high melting point grease?

I hadn't thought about removing the pistons but I guess I might as well if I'm getting the seals and all in the kit?

 

Any advice on fitting seals or alternative suppliers I should be looking at??

[swordfish210 20]

There's a surprising lack of threads or discussion around overhauling calipers having spent far too much time trawling through old posts.

 

I want to start with my front calipers (standard Girling 1.9Gti) I've not tackled anything like this before and would welcome any advice. I've got the luxury of a spare pair of calipers and have got them off the spares car and have started stripping and cleaning one of them down.

 

 

Do I need special brake cleaner?? I guess its designed not to damage the rubber components is it?? I guess if I'm removing all the rubber components anyway, I could use regular cleaners or petrol??

 

Brake cleaner is a great liquid for cleaning stubborn dirt, it also has the advantage of being pressurised (in can form) so you can blast it at the dirt. If you're stripping the calipers back completly then i would suggest a rust removal formula such as Deox-C to clean them properly.

 

I've found one of the slider gaiters is split, so I'l be needing new ones. Old topics pointed me in the direction of biggred and I've found their caliper rebuild kit for my car... clicky but this doesn't seem to come with the slider grease... is this something special or just high melting point grease?

I hadn't thought about removing the pistons but I guess I might as well if I'm getting the seals and all in the kit?

 

Any advice on fitting seals or alternative suppliers I should be looking at??

 

I just use multi purpose grease for the sliders, seems to work fine. You can use CV grease if you want something a bit harder wearing and it will last a bit longer. The BigRed kit seems to be pretty good and i've heard no complaints about it.

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Built 2 1.6 Sets with the BigRed kits, they aint bad but then again they arnt the height of quality!

 

Once you strip the caliper down you might find pins pitted and pistons damaged although if you just buy more 1.9 calipers for parts its not expensive.

 

I used multi purpose grease for the sliders, but red rubber grease everywhere else makes fitting the pistons in nice and easy.

[Daviewonder 533 3 Cars]

I would personally use CV grease for the sliders as its designed to be used around rubber, normal grease can sometimes make rubber swell up and loose shape. You can just use brake fluid to lube up the caliper seal.

[MerlinGTI 3]

Built 2 1.6 Sets with the BigRed kits, they aint bad but then again they arnt the height of quality!

 

Quoted for the truth!

[davey sprocket 14]

Quoted for the truth!

 

 

OK, so that's good to know... obviously I'd like to do this properly, so where should I be getting parts from??

 

I can't get any sense out of Servicebox this evening... should I be getting these parts from the main stealer or can someone recommend another supplier known to be better quality than biggred???

[2052006 10]

I rebuilt some 1.9 calipers about 18 months ago, using a kit from Big Red. However, a few weeks ago I noticed them leaking slightly around the seals. Can't say for sure that it's down to the quality, or lack of, of the Big Red seals, but I've rebuilt them using genuine Pug seals and just checked them this afternoon - after 500 odd miles, all's fine. Also, the Pug kit only cost about 5 or 10 quid more - about £30 I think.

[davey sprocket 14]

I rebuilt some 1.9 calipers about 18 months ago, using a kit from Big Red. However, a few weeks ago I noticed them leaking slightly around the seals. Can't say for sure that it's down to the quality, or lack of, of the Big Red seals, but I've rebuilt them using genuine Pug seals and just checked them this afternoon - after 500 odd miles, all's fine. Also, the Pug kit only cost about 5 or 10 quid more - about £30 I think.

 

 

OK, that's great advice, thanks for that, I'll get onto Pug then.

 

I've fancied a go with the Deox-c stuff before so I might invest in some of that too... that isn't going to be cheap is it!

Haven't even thought about what I'm going to paint them with yet.

[richsmells 2]

Only just seen this. I thought the sliders were a bit worn on those calipers. There's a rebuild guide on the 306 forum ( ) http://www.306gti6.com/forum/showthread.ph...3489&page=1

[davey sprocket 14]

Only just seen this. I thought the sliders were a bit worn on those calipers. There's a rebuild guide on the 306 forum ( ) http://www.306gti6.com/forum/showthread.ph...3489&page=1

 

Cheers Rich,

 

I must admit I haven't got very far with this to be honest. To the point that I haven't actually cleaned the grease off the slider pins to have a look at them.

In what way did you think they were worn? Just visually or could you feel play in them? I hadn't intended doing much other than cleaning them up and slapping them on my car but on finding at leat one of the slider gaiter things was split, it kinda snowballed into an overhaul.

 

Might be best if I check this out before I put a lot of time and effort into making them pretty!

[KRISKARRERA 2 1 Cars]

When you consider it's just a few bits of rubber Pug and Bigred have got a bloody nerve with the prices they charge. Yet nowhere else seems to sell them.

[welshpug 1,627]

peugeot do, and charge more.

[Pugnut 9 1 Cars]

i recently rebuilt my 120d rear calipers using parts from Brake parts. Service and quality seemed ok, no complaints. great website too.

 

remember to click 'associated' for rebuilt kits etc when the caliper is listed etc.

 

Al

[richsmells 2]

The last set of pads I changed hadn't worn particularly evenly. Unfortunately I have no idea of the mileage those calipers have covered, other than being known good several years ago. Best pull them apart and check them out.

 

Last time I used them they worked quite well

Edited March 18, 2010 by richsmells

[davey sprocket 14]

Right, due to crap weather, had a bit of time in the garage this afternoon.....

 

One caliper......

 

 

Stripped down ends up like....

 

 

 

Now having stripped both down to this state, the sliders and pistons look good to me, not worn, pitted or scored.... unless someone wants to tell me otherwise from these pics:

 

 

One question.... is there a right way round for the two different types of slider?? The solid one and the one with the rubber section both seem to fit either hole in the caliper.

[davidc 0]

How did you get the allen headed type bolts out ? I presume you need a special tool as the shape is of a pentagon as opposed to a normal hexagon. Is there a special tool you ned to buy ?

 

 

Cheers,

David

[davey sprocket 14]

How did you get the allen headed type bolts out ? I presume you need a special tool as the shape is of a pentagon as opposed to a normal hexagon. Is there a special tool you ned to buy ?

 

 

Cheers,

David

 

Hah, you made me go out and look! You're right, they are pentagonal!

 

I hadn't noticed they were an odd shape.... I didn't see any need to remove them. I guess they would need to come out to split the caliper right down if the bore of the cylinder needed honing or something.

[BusEngineer 7]

I have the sockets to fit the pentagon bolts

 

I think they are Lazer (not sure tho, they're at work)

 

They werent very much tho, 12 quid rings a bell

[davidc 0]

I have the sockets to fit the pentagon bolts

 

I think they are Lazer (not sure tho, they're at work)

 

They werent very much tho, 12 quid rings a bell

 

Whats the correct term for them ?

Edited March 22, 2010 by davidc

[davey sprocket 14]

Whats the correct term for them ?

 

The pic doesn't look right but I guess this must be it??