indigo

muahhhaa the saga continues...

Okay i have new calipers and new rotors and new pads... new new new... but i cant get the pads into the caliper assembly because the pads just seem way to damn thick. I have the piston retracted all the way but things just seem way to damn tight...

87 944 n/a
metalmaster pads from paragon.
no clue...

-matt

indigo

help?

should I remove the caliper, mount the brake pads and then attach it to the steering knuckle instead of inserting the pads with the caliper mounted? Im out of ideas.... ???

83na944

On my 83, the back of the pads have a little indentation in the center. The calipers have a small stud that fits into that indentation. I had to hit the caliper with a hammer to drive the pad onto that stud. Once I had the outer pad set, I could move the caliper and there was plenty of room for the inner pad.

I hope that helps. I don't know if your calipers are the same as my early model, but I'm sure the pads are the same.

Dave in Chicago

On the NA calipers, they want to rotate inward towards the hub from the outside. Assuming the rotors and calipers are on and in place, I usually did this:

Pull the caliper outward and towards you as much as you can.
Insert outboard pad while pulling the caliper up and outward away from the hub.
Gentle tap with rubber mallet to seat the little metal boss into the indentation in the back of the pad backing plate and to slide the caliper in towards the car.
Now, use an old pad and CAREFULLY lever the piston back into the caliper. You will want to lift the outboard side of the caliper up and away from the hub while doing so.
I use the pad long ways with the backing plate pressing the piston back in. Takes two to three trys.
Immediately slide the inboard pad into place. You will note that with both pads in, the caliper no longer has room to rotate in towards the hub from the outside.

Easier to see than to describe, but hope this conveys the idea. Only issue I have had with NA calipers is that tendency of rotation making new pad fitting difficult.

Note that you will get more fluid back in the reservoir as you push these pistons back in and stuff big fat pads into position. Not the end of the world, but watching it as you go will avoid getting that pretty ATE Blue all over the place.

Good luck.

indigo

okay... i pulled the caliper assembly as hard as I could while it was unbolted from the steering knuckle and the caliper came apart...Im currently trying to put back together the caliper :-( Is there any trick to getting the sliding frame to sit back right with the piston frame?

83na944

I don't think there is a trick, just put it back on. Why were you pulling on it? Were you trying to make room to mount the inner pad?

Dave in Chicago

Never done it with caliper loose, but wouldn't recommend it. I've used the above method to change pads on the '88 NA about 20 times. Is is working now?