mpruden

Just exploring rebuilding my 993's calipers as part of preventative maintenance after recently completing this project on my BMW track car.

Looks like seals, dust boots, and bleed screws will be $700-$800 if I source from a discount Porsche retailer like Sunset.
Aftermarket (let's say racingbrake) is less than half that or ~$300.

For those that have done this before:
1) Assuming no visible damage to the originals, is there any reason to replace the retaining clips and spring plates?
2) Is there any performance advantage to going with original Porsche parts here? Aftermarket is significantly cheaper.
3) Anything I'm missing here (assuming the pistons are in good shape)? $300 to rebuild all 4 calipers seems like it's too good to be true.

AOW162435

mpruden

$300 with pistons? Even better. I'll keep looking.

Thanks AOW.

Foxman

1) The retaining clips and spring plates clean up nicely with a drill and wire brush. No need to replace them
2) You get what you pay for - I purchased OEM bleed screws and the like from Sonnen
3) Beer - it's a pig of a job cleaning

Good luck, and have fun with it!

paulkromz

swmic

Can't help you with prices at the moment, but I used EBS to source my caliper parts. I did not replace the pistons, since mine looked perfect. Just went with new seals, boots and bleed screws.

mpruden

IainM

If the brakes have been properly maintained over the years, then there shouldn't be any rust on the pistons or caliper bores and a simple seal swap will restore as new performance.. You never know until you're in there. If you can afford the down time then start with rubbers and buy the other parts as needed. For a guaranteed win, replace everything at once.

I'm a stickler for OEM parts. There's just too many factors involved in compatibility matching and material qualities that I want the peace of mind knowing that many smart Porsche engineers made sure everything will work as intended.

Watch out if you sand blast or media clean the parts. There was an Excellence/Panorama article a while back about a brake job gone wrong. Just like oil journals, they're difficult to properly clean and you can imagine what ground walnut shells in your brake fluid

911PERVY

Porsche only sell the kits with the piston, seal and boot in them, the prices have gone up lots in the last 2 years, for 16 kits & valves $800 is about right

AOW162435

mpruden

Yep, I had wrongly assumed they didn't come with pistons, but you're correct. The Porsche kits definitely come with pistons.

Prices from the usual discount retailer are:
4 x front 36mm kit - 95135191910 - 31.64 each
4 x front 44mm kit - 92835191910 - 37.34 each
4 x rear 34mm kit - 96535291910 - 43.75 each
4 x rear 30mm kit - 95135291911 - 51.06 each
4 x bleed screw set (pair) - 93035191900 - 16.89 each

Total: $722.72. Not bad, but still on the hunt for brembo dust boots + square cut seals. Will follow up if I find some way to get these 32 little pieces of rubber for a reasonable price.

JasonAndreas

The go-no-go for the spring plates is a question of how difficult is it to insert a brand new brake pad? You can getaway with filing down the edges of the pads a few times but eventually you'll want to replace the plates, usually during a repaint. Definitely take a set of dental picks and clean out all the corrosion and pad dust from behind the plates. If you make a point of cleaning behind those once every year or two then the spring plates will never deform enough to prevent the pads from moving.

paulkromz

Does anyone care to mention where they are finding these kits?

(saving for future reference).

Best,

Paul

swmic

EBS = Engine Builder Service Racing. My parts purchased from them were OEM.