Techno Duck

Alright, i am just about at the end of my patience with this car for another week. I just cannot get the brake pads to squeeze over the rotor. I am switching over to Hawk HPS. Side by side, they are exactly the same size as the old pads i had in.

So i took the caliper off the hub and took out the old pads. I slid the caliper as far open as possible by hand / with a c-clamp (i am pretty sure its at its full extension.). I compressed the piston as far as i could using the c-clamp and the old brake padover it to avoid any damage. Here are a few questions,

1. The backside of the brake pads has a somewhat rectangular cutout that fits a notch on the outside portion of the caliper. Is the notch supposed to go into the pads cutout flush? With it sitting flush, the holes for the retaining pins do not line up with the calipers holes for the pins. The picture below shows how far off it is.



2. When i line the holes up with the retaining pins in the caliper and the pads, the pad rests on the notch on the caliper side. Is that acceptable? Or better yet, is it supposed to be like that?



3. The inside pad will not squeeze inbetween the caliper and rotor. Nor am i able to squeze the caliper on with the pad already secured in the caliper. I have compressed the piston as far as i can (with the bleed screw open) without it feeling like im about to break something. You can see in the below picture just how far off it is from fitting with the pad inplace.





4. I know its hard to tell from the pictures, but is that piston compressed all the way? What is the best method of doing this? Can anyone tell me exactly where to push, pry, place the c-clamp, rig explosives to that will get the caliper piston compressed and the caliper itself expanded as much as possible?

Its funny, i was so worried about those retaining pins getting stuck, they were the easiest part of the entire job so far!

To think, the only reason i was out earlier and smacked the front end up was to get brake cleaner so i could change these damn pads, and i cant even change them! This car has some bad karma right now.

gratian

You have to move the caliper to right(and the pad too) and the pin holes will be aligned...
Put a metal plate on piston and push it back with a big screwdriver.(you must keep pressure for about 15 seconds)The piston must go inside another 5 mm.Uncover the brake fluid reservoir before that move.
Be shure to remove all that black paint from the pad rectangular hole.

bleucamaro

insert your old pad and put a pry bar(big screwdriver) between it and the rotor and pry to get the piston back into the caliper. If that doesn't work, remove the caliper and put the old pad against the piston and use a C-clamp to squeeze the piston back in. the other side of the C-clamp will go on the other end of the piston (under the bleed valve and hose in the second pic).

Dave in Chicago

Yup, you have to REALLY push the piston back in, almost past flush to fit the thick new pads. I am trying to recall if I put the outter in first, seem to believe that was best.

Either way, the caliper has to kinda rotate up and away from the hub to get them to line up properly. They will when both pads are in. The caliper has a tendency to rotate outward and down toward the hub when there are no pads in place.

So, pull the caliper fully away, insert outter pad. Lift outter side of caliper up away from the hub, hold, press piston WAY in, drop inner pad in. It takes a wee bit of wrangling, but it should come.

Techno Duck

Alright, i managed to squeeze the piston in further, all the while bending the t-handle on my c-clamp. I was able to get the caliper on with the inner pad inplace. However i am still having trouble getting the caliper on with both pads in place. The other pad does not seem to want to line up correctly with the retaining pin holes when inside the notch. Can anyone give me points on the best way to expand the caliper, where should the ends of the c-clamp be placed to do this?

This thing is driving me nuts, im almost ready to buy two rebuilt calipers. Ive about given up for the night and im disgusted with myself and cannot bare to look at the front end of the car any longer. Ill try and finish this up tomorrow.

I might take off the damn brake line, its restricting the movement of the caliper so much. Ill probably have to bolt the caliper back onto the hub first, that brake line nut looked pretty nicely siezed up.

Zero10

I usually bolt the calipers onto the car, then install pads.
Now, if these are so thick that they have recesses cut into the backing plates this technique may not work, I can't recall now whether any of the pads I have used had these cutouts, but I have changed 5 sets of brake pads this way (front and rear) and never had a problem. Then again, I've never used Hawk HPS pads, but I just don't believe they are that different.

GlenL

You should be able to do this with the caliper in place. Do to outer pad first and get the rectangular tab into the hole. Tap with a hammer to seat it. Then put in the inner pad. Tap the bracket to make the holes line up. There is some play between the caliper and the slider so it'll go.

Outside, outside chance is that the pads are too thick. Not sure about these but other pads come in multiple thicknesses. Same backing but more/less material.

I love porsche

make sure to scratch the paint out of the pat that has the notch that fits into that plug...otherwise it will have a really hard time fitting...

i just did my rears yesterday... i put the pads in, and thie pins back in, then checked for fittment...

again, be sure to have the caliper fully apart and the piston all the way in, then when you get an inital bite, with the disc inside the caliper, i used a rubber mallet to persuade the rest of the caliper on and it lines up pretty nicely...good luck

Techno Duck

Thank you for all the of suggestions everyone, i really appreciate all the help. One of the reasons im still optimistic about getting this car fixed!

Anyway, i will try bolt the caliper back up tomorrow and seeing if i can squeeze the pads in. I do believe the pads will fit, its just a matter of figuring out why the notch on the caliper and the hole in the pads dont match up correctly.

What is the best way to expand the caliper? That is one area i am having alot of trouble with.

Those Rennbay Big brakes are looking mighty nice to me right now...

Edit -

These are not my pictures, however i figure they get the point across. Where should i be placing my c-clamp to expand the caliper apart? I am mostly having trouble with the clamp slipping off the angled edges...etc. Wheres the best spot to do this?

I love porsche

hopefully this helps

the yellow arrows is where i attached the c clamp to expand the caliper (it doesnt have to be on those points, just that plane

the red arrows is where i used a large set of channel lock pliers to compress the piston

fezz

outside pad in FIRST
push the frame back over, push the piston completely in and insert the inside pad.

if you try with the inside pad first, you will never get the outside pad past the notch that fits into the center slot.

p.s. open the resevouir cap before compressing the piston.

Mighty Shilling

I put the outer pad in first, then bolt the caliper to the steering knuckle. from there, use a pry bar somewhere between the piston and rotor (on the inside towards the hub) to pry it out. Then I put it halfway in, remove the prybar, and push it in the rest of the way...

I just did it with a set of Mintex C-tech pads... it was a wrestling match for sure, but I'm victorious. it always seems higher performance pads have some difficulty fitting in, as they are thicker than normal street pads from new (it seems)

austin944

Yes, the notch of the caliper is supposed to fit all the way into cutout of the brake pad. It has to stay all the way in throughout the process or you'll never get the inside pad in place. Take a plastic hammer and bang on the outside of the caliper until it goes all the way in.

Don't worry about that yet. You want to get the pads in place, and then line up the holes.

Once you get the outside pad in the notch, hammer on the outside of the caliper frame and move the caliper frame inwards and backwards such that it pushes the pad flat against the rotor. Then try inserting the inside pad, at the same time wiggling the caliper frame to get the inside pad in place.

No. If the notch is not all the way in the cutout, it will never work.

You have to move the caliper frame inward more, and make sure the outside pad is lying flat against the rotor. There should be no space between the outside pad and the rotor.

Also make sure the caliper body (the thing that holds the caliper piston) is knocked back all the way into the frame. Take a hammer and drift and knock it back on the two "ears". Don't hammer on the caliper piston. That will give you more room to insert the inner pad.

jeeper31

Jon - I had a lot of trouble getting the pads in when I did the brakes. As others have stated here I used a hammer to slide the calliper out and in and used channel locks to compress the piston. I too thought it wasn't going to work but after some fenageling (sp?) i got them in. Good luck, you'll get it.

KuHL 951

I've found that I have to use a little help from light taps with a hammer for the NA. Even then I had totap on the caliper frame. Some pads are pretty thick if the have the anti-squeal paint sprayed on the back. It's just a matter of tweaking the inside pad in; it's even harder with new rotors.