Ghengis

Afternoon Folks,

I'm just about to get stuck into a brake overhaul which will hopefully include Repaint and reseal of calipers, new pads and discs. Whilst I normally prefer the stock look of the 964 I find I'm drawn towards a different colour for my calipers. Torn between red, yellow or the standard black. Does anyone have any photo's they would care to share of a red 964 coupe with either red or yellow calipers? Happy to post a pic of my car for anyone who is good at photoshop.

Also there is a massive choice between pads and discs. I'm currently settled on Textar pads and Sebro discs. Is this a good choice? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as there is just so much choice and opinion I'm not sure if this would be best for general road use.

Finally is the removal and refit of calipers a reasonable DIY on a C4 or one best left to an Indy?

Cheers,

Thomas

vagluv

Not sure it will be much help bc they are not installed yet, but I just ordered Adam's Rotors, and Hawk Performance Ceramic pads. I did quite a bit of research before settling on those. Quietness, stopping, and low dust were my big things.

freedman

Front caliper removal and refit is easy, just a 19mm socket and an 11mm brake pipe spanner needed after pulling the pads out

Rears are apparently more difficult as the lower fixing needs a long (10mm?) allen key, but Ive not taken the rears off mine

Ghengis

Adam's are a new brand to me. What made you go for them? I've heard a little about Hawk good stopping and low dust are an excellent combination.

Cheers,
Thomas

vagluv

Lots of good reviews, and a great price.

Laker

Textar are good but dusty, very dusty.

hamah

Refinishing is DIY job and you don't have to remove the callipers to do it. I chose to have them refinished by Fast Forward Wheels in LA (as they have a proprietary merhod of refinishing that involves heat curing) and I'm very happy with the results. I have some pics of the refinished fronts here

As previously stated the front are easy to remove but the rears (even with the correct tool) are very difficult.

alexjc4

You can paint the calipers on the car. But if you want to put new discs on you will definitely need to remove the calipers. The rear calipers aren't too bad with a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar and the proper 10mm long reach allen key socket. The snags will be the hard brake pipes, even with a good flare nut spanner/wrench they will likely break an need replacing, porsche sell these cheap (they are basically a consumable) and they are nice quality. Also the spring plates will have lifted so you may struggle to get the old pads out (i have a pad puller slide hammer type thing which help alot) and to get the new ones in, you can shave down the edges of the new pads which is ok, but to do it right you need to remove the spring plates, which is a real challenge, and then clean up the corosion underneath.

Replacing the seals is fairly easy once you have the calipers off the car. Make sure to clean the gack out from behind the seal before fitting the new one, everything needs lubricating with brake fluid or red brake grease on assembly. But i'd only bother with the seals if you think the brakes are binding or leaking.

Textar and Sebro are good quality and value. Lots of other possibilities out there but those are fine for daily/fast road/light track.

vagluv

can anyone see those pics?

Vandit

^vagluv, that's a spam post.


Here's my personal proprietary caliper paint curing method (1hr @ 200' F). My wife tells me it makes the house smell bad.



I didn't rebuild them, just refinished. Taped off the spring plate and piston area w/ blue tape. Prep was a massive PITA. Brake cleaner, degreaser, chemical paint stripper, about 2hrs of sanding w/ 100grit per caliper, etc. Total labor intensive beatdown.

I used VHT red and clear. eBay decal under the clear. Curing the paint after the red, then added decal + clear, then cured again. We'll see how they hold up.

freedman

Dont want to, its spam

hamah

Vandit I bet those hold up very well. It was the prep that I knew it would take that pushed me into having mine done professionally. Some jobs just aren't worth the effort IMO (now if I had access to media blaster it might be a different story).

Lemass Automotive

Guards red

Silvertarga

I am just completing caliper swap can offer this advicw (culled from members here who assisted me)

The rear caliper bottom bolt can be a bear, you definitely need a good 1/2 inch drive extended 10mm Hex socket, a breaker bar and a MAPP gas torch (the T8000) and PBlast

I had one bolt that was rounded and for the life of me could not free it up.

Got the car on a lift (which I think is the key to getting those stuck bolts off) and was able the free them by pounding the hex key socket in and a using a breaker bar..it did not hurt that I spent a few days alternating soaking with PBlast and heat with the torch but I really think that getting the car on the lift was the key

Whether you do it yourself or have it done make sure you get new hardware for mounting the calipers and use anti sieze on those bolts!

Ghengis

Thanks fellas this is all good advice. Looking forward to getting stuck into this shortly as I definately need to do something to improve the look and feel of my brakes.

I'm not too concerned with the removal of the calipers as they were recently removed to replace the disc covers. My biggest worry is spring plates and the brake fluid bleeding on the C4 system.

I'm keen but not massively experienced with spanners so this is a bit daunting.

Cheers,

Thomas