part worn S2 brake pads wanted SORTED

[peanut]

can anyone help me out with a part worn front brake pad for a 89 S2 ?

I need to replace a damaged pad to get through the MOT this week .

I can't put a new pad in as the caliper plates have lifted and a new pad will jam just as the existing one has.

I intend to put new discs and pads on when the garage can fit the job in but first I need to source a replacement caliper or get mine refurbed .....

oh and I need a flippin horn too. []

 

[Neil Haughey]

PM your number mate. I have loads of pads in my garage here in Yeovil. Pop round during the week and take your pick from either yellow stuff or these really good american ceramic jobbies I have (used for a long time on my S2 just not up to racing).

 

[peanut]

Neil you're a star mate, thanks.[]

 

[zcacogp]

Nick, About that caliper refurb .... if you are watching the pennies then you can do it yourself. It's not hard, and there have been a couple of good threads on here about it recently. As long as the plate bolts aren't completely corroded away you should be able to get them out yourself, and everything else is easy. Oli.

 

[peanut]

I don't have anywhere to work on the car at the moment Oli. I have been restoring classic cars for over 40 years but this last 12 years or so i have had no garage or space so most jobs get done in a local indie. There is no point in just doing one caliper when they are all in the same state. I also need to replace all the brake discs, pads, master cyclinders and clutch slave cylinder so its a huge amount of work which I'll have to program when the weather is more predictable and I can find somewhere to work on the car

 

[zcacogp]

Fair cop old boy - I should have remembered that you have no workshop. (Losing it must have been a hell of a blow; I don't know what I would do without mine, and mine is just a basement which I can't get the car into.) If you get the car back on the road and fancy a trip to London then I'd be more than happy to have a bash at your calipers, but I suspect the distances and time periods involved may make this offer look a bit daft ... What's the plan? Run old pads from Dr Haughey for a while and then get the calipers professionally refurbished? Oli.

 

[944Turbo]

you will be wanting to file down the pad edges so they slot in without fouling the plates, will work as a temporary fix, but will speed up the plate lift which will allow corrosion to form faster behind the lifted plate - some grease behind the lifted plate might help to slow it. Tony

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: 944Turbo you will be wanting to file down the pad edges so they slot in without fouling the plates, will work as a temporary fix, but will speed up the plate lift which will allow corrosion to form faster behind the lifted plate - some grease behind the lifted plate might help to slow it. Tony

yes I've already done that with one side to get the pad to retract properly but the plate on the other side has lifted so much that I can't even get the pad out without damaging it. I cannot remove the caliper to refurb it at the moment so it will have to wait . In the meantime i'll clean the caliper up and pop in a part worn pad so that both sides will work and get it through the test. If you imagine slotting your car into a free car space at Tescos so that you can just open your door then that is the space I have to work in []

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp Fair cop old boy - I should have remembered that you have no workshop. (Losing it must have been a hell of a blow; I don't know what I would do without mine, and mine is just a basement which I can't get the car into.) If you get the car back on the road and fancy a trip to London then I'd be more than happy to have a bash at your calipers, but I suspect the distances and time periods involved may make this offer look a bit daft ... What's the plan? Run old pads from Dr Haughey for a while and then get the calipers professionally refurbished? Oli.

thanks for the offer Oli but i am a full time carer for my Father so i cannot leave home unless I have a relief carer or he goes into a local care home at £75.00 per night. your lifestyle changes completly when you are a carer . [&o] Unless my circumstances change substantially in the next few months , I'll be getting all the work done in a local garage but first I need to source all the parts. I'll do all the simple stuff that doesn't require a garage space or working under cover

 

[944Turbo]

Calipers are only held on with 2 bolts (and a clip to the strut for the pipe)I thought I got the tight fronts out with a lever between the disc centre and the pad. been quite a while since I had the dodgy front calipers though. Tony

 

[zcacogp]

Tony, It's amazing how tightly the lifted plates grip the pads - when I dismantled the front calipers on my car the degree of lift on the plates was minimal (less than 0.5mm) and yet the pads took a LOT of levering to remove. I wouldn't be surprised if removing pads from calipers with badly-lifted plates was a serious problem. Caliper off the car and a big, big hammer would seem to be the best solution. Taking care, of course, to damage only the pad and not the (comparatively soft) caliper. Oli.

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: 944Turbo Calipers are only held on with 2 bolts (and a clip to the strut for the pipe)I thought I got the tight fronts out with a lever between the disc centre and the pad. been quite a while since I had the dodgy front calipers though. Tony

yes thats how I removed the outside pad .The problem is..... the inside pad..... you cannot get any access to it to bash or lever it out. If you remove the caliper, you then cannot use any force on it, because there is nothing to lever against. I can remove the inside pad with a bit of ingenuity and brute force but it will destroy the pad leaving the car undrivable !therefore I thought I'd wait until I had a replacement pad before doing the job

 

[944Turbo]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp Tony, It's amazing how tightly the lifted plates grip the pads - when I dismantled the front calipers on my car the degree of lift on the plates was minimal (less than 0.5mm) and yet the pads took a LOT of levering to remove. I wouldn't be surprised if removing pads from calipers with badly-lifted plates was a serious problem. Caliper off the car and a big, big hammer would seem to be the best solution. Taking care, of course, to damage only the pad and not the (comparatively soft) caliper. Oli.

I know and should you file the pads and leave the plates it gets worse the next time - mine are all sorted now though! Tony

 

[peanut]

heres the pad that I removed. its just down to the metal but hadn't damaged the disc fortunately. This is the result of the caliper pistons working on one side only . Whoever fitted new pads previously , neglected to clean up the pistons, plates etc and just jammed the new pads in. grrrr[] The plate lift top and bottom can clearly be seen. The plates are a very poor design. Because the depth of the plates is so shallow there is a tendancy to twist. This is aggravated by heat and the fact that the pads only bear upon approx 1/3 of the plates. Once the plates start to lift all the grit and rubbish from the road and dust from the pads get under the steel plates and oxidation of the aluminium caliper takes places. this results in further lifting of the plates and the brake pads eventually become jammed . Once the pads start to jam on the plates the pistons also start to jam and either do not retract properly or they do not actually press the brake pad onto the disc .(as in this case) It is only a question of time before several things occurr like rusting of the surface of the brake disc, accelerated wear of the remaining working brake pad, and a marked decrease in braking efficiency. If one of the pads do not retract properly the pad binds on the brake disc and the subsequent heat can cause the brake fluid to boil with loss of braking on the effected wheel. The moral of the the story is ...don't force new brake pads into the caliper , make sure that the caliper is cleaned and prepared and the pads are free to move on the plates and the pistons are clean and moving freely.

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: 944Turbo

ORIGINAL: zcacogp Tony, It's amazing how tightly the lifted plates grip the pads - when I dismantled the front calipers on my car the degree of lift on the plates was minimal (less than 0.5mm) and yet the pads took a LOT of levering to remove. I wouldn't be surprised if removing pads from calipers with badly-lifted plates was a serious problem. Caliper off the car and a big, big hammer would seem to be the best solution. Taking care, of course, to damage only the pad and not the (comparatively soft) caliper. Oli.

I know and should you file the pads and leave the plates it gets worse the next time - mine are all sorted now though! Tony

This is an interesting point. I inspected everything closely to see if I could do anything to ease the pads temporaily and I was amazed to find that the brake pad edges are not dressed square at all ! ???? The bottom and top metal pad edges that bear upon the caliper plates are just as they are pressed or stamped. I carefully dressed a file over the edges and couldn't believe how rough the edges were. The pads I have fitted definitely did not receive any finishing or dressing in manufacture. ? I filed my pad edges straight then dressed all the edges lightly to take off the sharp corners.I also put a very slight ramp to the front and back of the pad to make it easier to fit and remove . The difference was surprising.

 

[Neil Haughey]

Sounds good Nick. I did the same dressing on my rear pads, definitely seems like a good idea. BTW the plate lift on my rear calipers on my race car is even worse than in your pictures. Unfortunately I also have corrosion around one or two pistons so those calipers will need replacing in my case.

 

[peanut]

thank you for the pads Neil you are a star. The car has now passed the MOT thanks to you. I can do the brake refurb when convenient and I don't have to worry about driving to the garage untaxed. I'm hoping I can salvage the caliper when I get a chance to refurb it. Hopefully the others will not be as bad. Its quite satisfying cleaning brake calipers up and getting them working well again.[]

 

[944Turbo]

Excellent