RacinToday

New Zimmerman Z coats and Textar pads are on the rear. The old rotors were lipped and the pads to the nub.

The job was done by the magnificent Dr. Porsche in Kansas City with me standing behind him going "What are you doing now?"

Only problem was a seriously stubborn bolt on back -- the Doc said it is a 964 "innovation" and sucks. He stripped to hex nuts trying to get it off. Had to build a tool from scratch to do it.

Learned a lot, had a great time getting to know my car and when I left, the brakes were incredible.

Did not do fronts as they were close to new. I now feel able to do those myself thanks to this morning of working with a pro.

Rocket Rob

Congrats. Changing brakes is easy, once you collect the proper tools and the confidence to try.

campoj2

How many hours did they charge to do the work? I'm on then fence on whether or not I'm going to do this job. I have done brakes before on other vehicles, but the 964 is not like "other" vehicles.....

boxsey911

They're not too bad with the right tool and if the caliper bolts have been changed at the last rotor change (always worth doing this IMO). However, if yours was still on the original rotors/bolts, I'm not surprised he had trouble with them.

Laker

I am doing the fronts (Zimmerman Z coats and Textar pads) this week, I'm kinda nervous now that I won't be able to get the bolts off the calipers... I will let you know how I make out.

christallon

Loosen the difficult bolt first. I would make sure you have an extension (ie breaker bar) handy as well. I started with this step first just in case I had trouble. This way you can take it to the wrench if the bolt remains stubborn. Take your time with it.

Best of luck...

RacinToday

Laker:
The pesky bolt was on the rears only. The Doc said the fronts will be a breeze compared to that.

And Campoj2, I stress that most work was done by the Doc. He is a former ace mechanic. He has a scissor lift and magic touch. We shorted out the sensor so did not replace. Had we not had the sticky hex bolt on rears and also had to make a run to O'Reilly's for new wrench, rears would have taken half hour, 45 min tops.

The fronts, he said, would be less. My guess if you are as challenged as me, don't have the Doc, but all goes smoothly: 2-3 hours.

And Rob -- nail on the head about tools and confidence.

Guys, I drove away with big smile on face.

Laker

Thanks for the support and tips. I just did the driver's (left) side this morning. (I am working my way around the car with the laundry list, as it's up on jackstands until the salt is cleared) The bottom 19mm bolt was easy, the upper one more stubborn and much less room to work. Also note you are up against the brake line, when working on the top bolt so be careful. After much cursing and few gentle hammer whacks on the other end of the wrench, the top bolt came loose. ( I realized my breaker bar doesn't fit over the 19mm wrench, yeah, I know, I know)

I had to use a small flat bladed screwdriver to pry the dampening pads off the back of the brake pads, so that the pads would slide up and off. I didn't realize this at first, and couldn't figure out why the pads seemed loose but would not slide up. Since I was replacing the rotors and pads, (and didn't care if I scratched either) I got in between the two with a larger flat bladed screwdriver to pry the caliper pistons back in.

On the driver's side at least, there is a convenient A/C line bracket I used to suspend the caliper with zip ties. There is very little play in the metal brake line, so be careful when moving it. I already had the fender guards off to get at the A/C ballast resistor, so not counting that, the total time for that one side was ~ 45 minutes. You don't need to remove the guards at all, but IMHO the A/C line bracket is the ideal place to suspend the caliper from. The rotor's philips holding screws came right off as well as the rotors themselves. I did have the correct bolts needed to coax it off just in case.

I have no idea how anyone could reuse the brake wear sensors since they are plastic that almost seemed fused to the old pads. I disintegrated it while trying to carefully remove it. When looking at new pads ands sensors it make sense how it snaps in, but the used one, not so clear.

btw. the WD40 was for the sway drop connectors, none was needed on this job.
Sorry for the crooked photos... Not sure how to correct, they look fine on my computer???

campoj2

Did you re-use the brake pad vibration dampers? Those are circular pinwheel looking things.

Laker

Yes, those are what kept the loose pads stuck in the calipers until I pried them off. I ordered the wrong ones, so had to re-use. I added a very thin film of Liqui Moly Anti-seize Compound between the (old) dampers and the back of the pad. praying for no squeals.

campoj2

For some reason those dampers are tough parts to order correctly. I will personally have the Pelican rep on the phone when I order them.

Laker

Pelican says two per caliber, my fronts take four each! The ones I ordered, the spikes were folded over in half the ones on the car, the spikes were sticking straight out.... I suggest taking a picture of the old ones and measuring before even calling