#1: Caliper refurbishing + pictures Author: Andrew, Location: Black Country Ay IPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 11:48 am ---- I got 2 front brake calipers from a 307 HDi 110 (same as GTi180) on ebay for the grand total of £21 delivered.
They look in need of some tlc though, I'm going to make a little project of refurbishing them. I want to strip all the crap off them and paint them myself and then send them off to have all the parts renewed
I just wanted to know what you would recommend for getting rid of the caked on crap, and do they look within repair? Last edited by Andrew on Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
#2: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Seabook, Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 11:54 am ---- why not just buy a refurbished one then?
#3: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: richpowell91, Location: Melton Mowbray LeicestershirePosted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 11:55 am ---- To get the crap try something like brake cleaner and a wire brush/wire wheel drill bit, screwdriver to help chip off any tougher bits. If you really want to go to town on them you could take them to be sandblasted.
They seem to look in good condition, are the bleed nipples free, that can be the bigest problems with calipers. But if your sending them off to be refurbed they should could back like new.
#4: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Andrew, Location: Black Country Ay IPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:04 pm ---- Thanks for the replies
I bought them because I thought I would never come across another pair so cheap
Bigg Red also do a refurbishing kit for £30 and a new piston is £17, but I wondered if it is easy work for someone who has never done it before, and what tools I would need
Have a read through that and see what you think about trying to do it yourself.
#6: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Lee, Location: EnglandPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:10 pm ---- I could have sold you some working ones for £50
#7: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Edward, Location: In the garagePosted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:17 pm ---- Do they need mechanically refurbishing? I doubt they need it. Just get a wire brush on a drill, sandpaper or partly scrub them in turps or similar.
Then spray them in gold Hammerite. Spray the none friction surfaces of the discs in silver Hammerite. Then they will look as good as mine...
#8: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Seabook, Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:20 pm ----
Andrewxps wrote:
Thanks for the replies
I bought them because I thought I would never come across another pair so cheap
Bigg Red also do a refurbishing kit for £30 and a new piston is £17, but I wondered if it is easy work for someone who has never done it before, and what tools I would need
but you can buy the refurbished pair with 150
also come with the colour of your choices
#9: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Andrew, Location: Black Country Ay IPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:32 pm ---- Well it seems I can do this making use of the paints and tools I already have for a lot less than £150, even including the money I paid buying the calipers
Thats a good guide thanks, I'm not sure what an airline is though
I will be buying brand new disks and pads for when I put them on well into next year, I would be dead pleased if they looked half as nice as Edwards!
Edit: You can see the iside of the pistons look quite rusty, would I be okay to sand them out a bit?
#10: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Edward, Location: In the garagePosted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 1:00 pm ---- You can sand them yes, Or just coat them lightly in copper grease. They won't get any worse.
#11: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Brian, Location: VVT Land, FifePosted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 1:04 pm ---- if you are stripping them, get some bilt hamber deox c. Wire brushing, then put the calipers in a bath of Deox C overnight produces some fantastic results and will give you a great prepared surface to either powdercoat or paint etc and means you're not taking away excessive material too using power tools.
#12: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Andrew, Location: Black Country Ay IPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 2:27 pm ---- Thanks for all your help so far guys Deox-c appears to be quite inexpensive too!
When putting the new seals on, and the pistons back in would it be best to give them a light coat of brake fluid?
#13: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Andrew, Location: Black Country Ay IPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:24 am ---- Ok so after trying brake cleaner and making no difference whatsoever, I've bought a tub of deox-c and the calipers are chilling out in a container of the potion right now, I'll post back to this thread with some progress
There are some really amazing results on detailingworld with this stuff, and even if it doesn't help with the caked on stuff on the caliper body, I'd be happy if it unseized the bolts and cleared the rust inside the piston
#14: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Lecktorious, Location: ScotlandPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:41 am ----
Andrewxps wrote:
Ok so after trying brake cleaner and making no difference whatsoever, I've bought a tub of deox-c and the calipers are chilling out in a container of the potion right now, I'll post back to this thread with some progress
There are some really amazing results on detailingworld with this stuff, and even if it doesn't help with the caked on stuff on the caliper body, I'd be happy if it unseized the bolts and cleared the rust inside the piston
Did you submerge the full caliper in Deox-C?
#15: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Andrew, Location: Black Country Ay IPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:00 am ----
G. wrote:
Did you submerge the full caliper in Deox-C?
Yes it sounds risky I know, but I will be replacing all the seals and in the worst case scenario where the calipers are completely ruined for some reason it's not like they costed a lot and my car isn't off the road as these are only a spare set to have a play with
I did phone up a sandblasters about getting them done that way, but they said they would be hesitant to sandblast calipers
Update: The calipers have been in for around 5 hours now, some of the baked gunk has come off to reveal a nice smooth surface, the rest has softened up and comes off with a bit of work from the wire brush. The water is really dark now because of how bad they were, I'll renew the 'bath' tomorrow morning and leave them till the evening, hopefully with a proper scrub they will be ready for photos to share on here
Yes it sounds risky I know, but I will be replacing all the seals and in the worst case scenario where the calipers are completely ruined for some reason it's not like they costed a lot and my car isn't off the road as these are only a spare set to have a play with
Could waste of a perfectly good set of calipers if the Deox C has got into the bores.
#17: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Andrew, Location: Black Country Ay IPosted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 2:23 pm ---- The pistons have not been retracted and the seals are in place so I assume they will be fine, I'll will check tomorrow thanks for pointing that out
Update Sunday: Left the calipers in the first bath an extra day since I was busy, wirebrushed them and renewed the bath liquid earlier today, I wirebrushed them again and will leave them overnight now. They are making good progress and should be ready to be painted tomorrow. As for any worries about cylinder bores or any damage that I may inflict on the calipers in this procress, I will be getting them tested before fitting and they will be fitted by a garage with the brakes being bled afterwards
#18: Re: Caliper refurbishing Author: Andrew, Location: Black Country Ay IPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:41 pm ---- As promised here is a picture of the progress for those who care
I know its not perfect, but the deox-c has made a vast difference if you compare to the first pictures. I think with a coat of silver hammerite they will be good to go, as everything looks to be in good condition!
#19: Re: Caliper refurbishing + pictures Author: Steve206, Location: UKPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 3:18 pm ---- Where were you going to send them to refurb them? Got a set to do myself.
#20: Re: Caliper refurbishing + pictures Author: Andrew, Location: Black Country Ay IPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 3:50 pm ---- www.biggred.co.uk/
Now all the rust and build up is gone I've been able to look at everything and it all seems fine, I've started to paint them now, and will see if I can find a place that can pressure test them for beer tokens - so far I've spent £35 on 180 calipers, not bad eh?
#21: Re: Caliper refurbishing + pictures Author: Mattie-RS, Location: A Track near you ;)Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 5:23 pm ---- Brembo's FTW
looks a nice job that andy lad
#22: Re: Caliper refurbishing + pictures Author: Andrew, Location: Black Country Ay IPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 5:39 pm ---- Haha, I'll be getting Brembo discs does that count? Just the smooth ones though, I think grooved ones would chew through pads quicker, any recommendation on the pads?
#23: Re: Caliper refurbishing + pictures Author: Mattie-RS, Location: A Track near you ;)Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:10 pm ---- Ferodo pads will be sound
#24: Re: Caliper refurbishing + pictures Author: richpowell91, Location: Melton Mowbray LeicestershirePosted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 4:42 pm ---- Random but any chance you could weigh them?
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Deox-c appears to be quite inexpensive too!
