Earl Posted January 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 I stopped out at the shop Sunday hoping to do a bit of work but it was way too cold. I grabbed my calipers and front knuckles to pull apart at work this week. I am in the middle of breaking down the knuckles and will be doing the calipers sometime this week. The 46mm nut on the knuckles is going to be a fun one. It is supposed to be on at 221 ft/lbs. I am breaking this all down in preparation for powder and new hubs. I need to find some rebuild kits for the calipers since I am splitting them. Has anyone found a good place? I have been told Autozone and will be calling them after work for pricing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasnt m3 Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 That big ol' nut shouldn't give you too much grief. Breaker bar and a piece of pipe is all it takes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Posted January 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 I got them completely disassembled and sandblasted very easily. Pics to come=) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Posted January 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 I started with the knuckles by removing my Motorsport Hardware studs.As you can see, they have been around the block a few times. I then tapped the safety tab out on the nuts and removed them.The inner race was left behind.I thought it would be hard to remove but I was able to slide it off with two screwdrivers underneath. I removed my ABS sensors next since the ABS is deleted.I also removed the dust shields and threw them in the trash. They were now ready for some cleaning. I taped up the spindles to keep them from being damaged by the sandblasting.I then got them as clean as I could and ready for powder. The next thing to tackle are disassembling and prepping the calipers and carriers. REKIII and DrLeadFoot 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc43089 Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 I like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REKIII Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 What did you find on the Autozone rebuild kits? A bunch of years ago I was looking for rebuild kits for my rear Neon calipers. Autozone had them listed, but couldn't get them.....I thought it was odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 I actually forgot to give them a ring yesterday. I will be shooting them a call as soon as they open today. Edit: Just gave them a call. They cannot get rear kits but they want $8 for each front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc43089 Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Why don't you want to just buy rebuild kits from any BMW parts place, pelican, bavauto, etc? The quality of parts store parts leaves something to be desired in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Posted January 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 I cannot find rear kits that I amn sure will work. Supposedly the compact has model specific rear calipers. I have been told Centric is the way to go. They are OEM quality and used for the rebuilt calipers people purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassboy3313 Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 Have you tried metro auto parts? They seem to have the oddball stuff most the time. I mean, they had rebuild parts for my e21 calipers. Just another thought. Sent from my XT901 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Posted January 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Have you tried metro auto parts? They seem to have the oddball stuff most the time. I mean, they had rebuild parts for my e21 calipers. Just another thought. Sent from my XT901 using Tapatalk Andy looked and they don't look like they carry the seal kits=/ I started yesterday but removing my old front lines, all of the pads, and then the carriers. I will be removing the pistons from the calipers today. Yesterday I couldn't find a rubber tipped air nozzle to be able to blow them out with compressed air. I got the carriers all cleaned up and ready for powder too. I looked into the pricing for the carrier bushings, carrier guides, anti-rattle clips, bleeders, and new mounting bolts and was blown away. It is about $200 to buy sets for both the front and the back. There are brass carrier bushings that end up costing almost $20 less when getting everything else. They take away the side to side give that the rubber bushings have, making the pads wear flatter under hard braking. They aren't really neccessary for me since I won't be pushing my brakes to the limit, but I am not sure if it will hurt upgrading to them to cut down on cost. In my head upgrading sounds like it makes sense instead of paying more for factory bushings. Has anyone ran brass carrier bushings on their calipers? This is turning into an overpriced nightmare=P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc43089 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 I decided against the brass bushings as from my reading it appears they need to be disassembled and lubed frequently, as in a couple times a year. I haven't had any issues with uneven wear using the stock setup, I will be using braided lines when I put mine back together, the pedal should have good feel with ABS delete and braided lines. Also what sort of blaster do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Posted January 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 That's the thing that is swaying me away from them. I wouldn't really mind lubing them regularly since they're easy to quick disassemble. CaTuned is coming out with braided stainless e36 lines and I am getting them for my fronts as soon as they get in next week=) I just looked at RockAuto and my mind was blown yet again. They have the carrier guides and bushings for dirt cheap. They even seem to have rear rebuild kits for over $30 cheaper than anywhere else. I might as well just get it all from them and see how it works out. What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REKIII Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 The lube and relube thing is what initially came to mind....although I didn;t even know they existed. I suppose it's probably what race cars use, which would make sense as everything is rebuilt every race or 2. I think you would want the rubberized ones just for the longevity, even though they are not as high performance. Note: I almost always go for high performance over just about anything else.....but having to relube the brakes a few times a year is enough to make me turn away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REKIII Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 can you find out who makes the cheaper units? They might be an off brand with lower quality standards. Sort of like when you buy from pelican, they have OEM, OEM supplier, but not branded, then offbrand 1 and usually offbrand 2. Gets cheaper each time, but, depending on the part, sometimes it's not worht the money saved on the off brand. This is especially true when looking at suspension, drivetrain, and braking components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc43089 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Just make sure any braided line is DOT approved, some of them aren't. Brakes are no place to cut corners. KaiserRolls 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc43089 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 can you find out who makes the cheaper units? They might be an off brand with lower quality standards. Sort of like when you buy from pelican, they have OEM, OEM supplier, but not branded, then offbrand 1 and usually offbrand 2. Gets cheaper each time, but, depending on the part, sometimes it's not worht the money saved on the off brand. This is especially true when looking at suspension, drivetrain, and braking components.^This, I don't like doing stuff over because of crap parts. Not saying RA is bad, just in general. I bought a cheap replacement radiator support for out Maxima because it was rusted out and not only was the fitment terrible but it was so much thinner than the OEM part that It couldn't even support the engine cradle. I had to make a reinforcement from angle iron and weld in to hold it all together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Posted January 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Centric makes the parts. They are one of the brands people usually recommend for caliper rebuild kits. CaTuned lines should be DOT approved. They are a very legit shop in California=) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc43089 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 I have used Centric brake parts before and they seem good. The rotors I have gotten were from Canada in fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamRod E28 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 I have used Centric brake parts before and they seem good. The rotors I have gotten were from Canada in fact. Canadia parts on a German what has this world come to????!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc43089 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 ^ on my Nissan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Posted January 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 It is better than using chinese parts=) I got the piston faces sandblasted and will be getting rubber plugs tonight so that I can sandblast the caliper bodies tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamRod E28 Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 its just any time you get on the brakes the car probably asks "you sure you wanna stop eh?" jc43089 and YoungCR 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earl Posted January 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 I started yesterday by rounding up a rubber tipped air nozzle. I got the pistons to pop right out. I saw how nasty the face of the pistons were so I figured they could use some cleaning up. Only one has a good bit of corrosion. I think it should be fine since I wasn't having any issues with it before rebuilding these. I dropped the caliper bodies in the parts cleaner yesterday to get all of the brake fluid out of the bore. I then stopped by the hardware store last night and grabbed some rubber plugs to block off the holes for the piston and brake line while they get sandblasted/powdercoated. I should be able to get them nice and clean by the end of today=) DrLeadFoot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B C Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Keep up the good work.You are pretty much obligated to keep this car in a climate controlled garage with a de-humidifier, never drive it in rain or snow, or on days with 80% relative humidity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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