I needed new pads and discs all round so thought I'd take the opportunity to tidy everything up. I haven't done anything like this before so it took me a full couple of days (with a lot of help from old forum posts - thanks all!). Cue gratuitous before/after shot:
I went with Brembo solid vented discs and Textar ePads:
Annoyingly, the front discs are UV coated and the rear equivalents are impossible to find. So the rears needed masking and painting:
Everything disassembled easily, although the rear discs had me stumped until I remembered to take the handbrake off. :roll:
I have just had a brake service and didn't particularly want to re-bleed everything, so I hung the callipers and painted them in situ:
Looking at the above pic, you will notice the Nurburgring-style graffiti in the arches, which is the result of my terrible skills with a pressure washer.
The carriers and clips were removed and tidied up with a dremel using my professional metalworking booth:
Then I sprayed the carriers with silver Hammerite. I didn't want to finish the clips in the same way, so left them with a "scrubbed" finish and coated them with clear enamel:
Up to this point everything was going ok, but I hit a roadblock during reassembly because I couldn't push back one of the pistons using the C-clamp + block of wood method. I don't think it was stuck, I just made the mistake of pressing the brake pedal with the calliper off the disc! Lots of swearing and banging things followed and I had to abandon the car for a couple of days and borrow mum's car to drive to work. :roll:
Anyways... lesson learned. Halfords had the proper tool (at an extortionate price) and I got back on it:
Here are the completed front and rear assemblies:
And, finally, some pics of my dirty car with shiny brakes:
So... my hands are thoroughly lacerated, I've got tendonitis in one palm (from trying to push back the piston) and a trapped nerve in my leg (from squatting with a phone in my pocket!), but overall I really enjoyed doing this. A mate was recently quoted over £1000 (parts & labour) for a similar job, so it's a money saver as well as a satisfying bit of DIY.
I went with Brembo solid vented discs and Textar ePads:
Annoyingly, the front discs are UV coated and the rear equivalents are impossible to find. So the rears needed masking and painting:
Everything disassembled easily, although the rear discs had me stumped until I remembered to take the handbrake off. :roll:
I have just had a brake service and didn't particularly want to re-bleed everything, so I hung the callipers and painted them in situ:
Looking at the above pic, you will notice the Nurburgring-style graffiti in the arches, which is the result of my terrible skills with a pressure washer.
The carriers and clips were removed and tidied up with a dremel using my professional metalworking booth:
Then I sprayed the carriers with silver Hammerite. I didn't want to finish the clips in the same way, so left them with a "scrubbed" finish and coated them with clear enamel:
Up to this point everything was going ok, but I hit a roadblock during reassembly because I couldn't push back one of the pistons using the C-clamp + block of wood method. I don't think it was stuck, I just made the mistake of pressing the brake pedal with the calliper off the disc! Lots of swearing and banging things followed and I had to abandon the car for a couple of days and borrow mum's car to drive to work. :roll:
Anyways... lesson learned. Halfords had the proper tool (at an extortionate price) and I got back on it:
Here are the completed front and rear assemblies:
And, finally, some pics of my dirty car with shiny brakes:
So... my hands are thoroughly lacerated, I've got tendonitis in one palm (from trying to push back the piston) and a trapped nerve in my leg (from squatting with a phone in my pocket!), but overall I really enjoyed doing this. A mate was recently quoted over £1000 (parts & labour) for a similar job, so it's a money saver as well as a satisfying bit of DIY.
