Hey Guys, I am in the process of upgrading the pads on the 944 S2 track car. I ran into a problem though, the brake pad guide plates in the caliper have bowed in and so the pads don't fit. I ran into this earlier and at the time just shaved the backing plat to allow the street pads to fit. What seems to be the problem is that brake dust has compounded into a solid behind these guide plates thus not letting them flex back. To make matters worse the screws that hold these guide plates in are basically stripped.

So what do you guys recommend I do:
1) Just trim the backing plate like I did previously. I'm not a huge fan of this just because it doesn't seem "right".
2) Remove the stripped screws by slotting for a flat head or grinding off, so that I can clean up the calipers and fix the guide plates. My concern is that I can't get the screw out if I grind the head off and then I cannot mount the guide plates meaning I have to get new calipers.
3) Other ideas?

Here are some pics of what the front left looks like, all of the calipers have this same issue to some degree.

 

It's a known and common problem and in most cases you have to grind those bolts off, clean everything behind there and fit new bolts. At least that's how I do them. The bolts are angled in a way that makes it almost impossible to get a tool in there to provide any leverage and you need some to get those out. I've never had a problem getting the remainder of the bolt out afterwards, heat and grips.

 

MAGK944, were you able to do without splitting the calipers in half?

My biggest concern is definitely not being able to get the rest of the screw out after I grind the heads off. I think I have enough dremel bits to get them out.

 

You don't have to split the calipers.

 

Rather than grind the bolts off, it is possible to unthread them. Start by applying very local heat to the bolt heads, if possible, to break down the thread locker that's part of why they are hard to remove. If you're unable to unthread them using a 4 mm allen socket (and a stubby version is helpful), walk them out using a chisel, tapping with it to turn the bolt.

With the plate removed, you'll find corrosion under it. Clean the corrosion away with a steel toothbrush, then solvent, then a good sealing paint such as Wurth Rust Guard. You should be all set; good luck!

 

there have been a few threads about the plates recently and I noticed the picture paragons website showed green Loctite. a few clicks showed the holding strength between red and blue.

some had suggested to replace them with stainless hardware, which seemed like a future nightmare trying to remove soft stainless bedded down in red Loctite.

another thread, on the 928 side, kinda enlightened me to the fact that the alloy caliper is going to expand with heat above and beyond the breakaway temperature of the 'dressing'.

I assumed that the microencapsulation in this instance is double duty and the coating is to actually cut down on corrosion between the three dissimilar metals. so...shoot for complete coverage of the threads upon reinstallation.

 

Thanks for that information about the loctite.

So far I have had success getting 3 screws out of the front left caliper after grinding the heads off. A lot of grip on a pair of needle nose pliers seems to do the trick.