288mm Brake Caliper Rebuilding

[Jim Bowen 1]

how are you meant to get the pistons back in?, these are front brakes btw

 

do you need a special tool for the fronts? is the rewind tool just for the rears?

 

any tips? can i use brake fluid as a lubricant?

[boost monkey 0]

how are you meant to get the pistons back in?, these are front brakes btw

 

Pistons back in: take the lid off the reservoir (not fully off, the fluid will absorb moisture from the air) so the fluid can be forced back up, brace a decent size (17-19) spanner over the piston and push. Hard. Put the lid of the reservoir back on, it may have overflowed a little depending on how far you pushed the piston back in.

 

do you need a special tool for the fronts?

 

No.

 

is the rewind tool just for the rears?

 

Yes, pretty much. The rear pistons will fit inside the fronts, therefore the rear tool will fit inside the fronts and not do a great deal apart from get stuck.

 

any tips? can i use brake fluid as a lubricant?

 

For a lubricant Try KY Jelly, you're much less likely to need plastic surgery afterwards :nuts: You shouldn't need to lube up the pistons to push them back in unless the calipers are really caked up :salute:

[Jim Bowen 1]

the calipers are all off the car and in pieces, all nicely cleaned up and painted, i was going to put them all back together then put on car, do you need to fix carrier to the caplier then fit to car, or fit carrier to car first?

 

thanks for the reply, think i'll be fitting it all at weekend

[Jim Bowen 1]

[boost monkey 0]

carrier to hubs first my good man, then just slot the guide pins home, easy peasy :salute: although the bolts are normally harbingers of doom and take AGES to get in and need torqueing up to something arm shattering like 98lbft?!

 

nice parts, buy me some if you get bored :nuts:

[andy 0]

Do you have the part no. for the hose kit you've got there? I'm about to get some for my 288s but don't know the ones I need.

[PROVR6 0]

Im going to be doing the same thing, is there a how to with Pics anywhere on this as I know its a popular mod? I know you can get refurb kits with various seals and stuff but not sure what you need or whether you need it at all.

[Jim Bowen 1]

the number on box for hoses is SVW0604-6P and they are for a golf VR6 95on

 

i plan to write a guide, there is a thread somewhere with the pics of calipers in pieces etc and part numbers for the seals

[andy 0]

the number on box for hoses is SVW0604-6P and they are for a golf VR6 95on

Cheers bud

[Jim Bowen 1]

Just some general information i have gathered from replacing all my brakes......Will update this thread as i go along, at this moment i'm just gathering all the bits and pieces i think i need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A popular modification to the corrado is upgrading the front brakes from 280mm to 288mm.

 

You will need:

 

288mm CALIPERS & CARRIERS - These can be from a late golf VR6 95onwards or a Passat VR6. (i'm using golf ones)

 

DISCS - To suit calipers you have chosen..

(i got plain brembo vented discs, again from a 95onwards golf VR6)

 

PADS - To suit calipers you have chosen.

 

HOSES - I am using a set for a mk3 golf VR6 95onwards which have a banjo fitting, the passat calipers use a screw fitting i'm told (same as the corrado calipers)

 

 

 

REBUILDING THE CALIPERS

 

 

When mine arrived they were 2nd hand a bit grubby, they are simple to dismantle into pieces, the pistons just pop out if you connect a foot pump to the calipers and pump them out.

 

You should have all these pieces shown in photo, the old bits of hoses aren't important but useful to connect the foot pump to when getting pistons out.

 

After a wire brush and a bit of elbow grease.

 

here is the lipped egde on the piston bore that the rubber seals fix to, they just pull out.

 

After a bit of dremel action they come up much cleaner, ready for painting, i don't agree with painting over rust or lumpy areas, get them spotless.

 

Caliper painted, just brushed on some hammerite smooth.

 

I ordered my new seals and bits from VW.

 

Caliper Rebuild Kit (For Golf VR6 1997/98) -VW Part no: 3A0698471 - Set of seals = £12.51 inc vat, per side. This includes the Piston Seals & Piston Dust Covers

 

Guide bushes (For Golf VR6 1997/98) -VW Part no: 4D0 698 647 - you need 2 for each side, so order twice.

 

Calipers all reassembled, i left one surface unpainted and just smeared a coating of copper slip over that

 

[PROVR6 0]

Good on ya, thats helped me no end especially the part No's. Ive already started cleaning the calipers/carriers by using a knotted wheel on the angle grinder. Its not come up as shiny as yours though.

[andy 0]

Blimey, I've never seen anyone clean calipers up like that before. Good work.

[Jim Bowen 1]

lol i was tempted to polish them up so they look really bling but couldn't asred with the cleaning

[coullstar 0]

Ive juts got a set and they were from a late golf. The hoses are still attached with what looks like a female thread so will these be correct ones to use for the Corrado?

[Jim Bowen 1]

yeah if they are attached to the caliper, then the other end should be a 10mm female union that fixes to the brake lines

[coullstar 0]

Nice, good job by the way. I took a wire wheel to mine but just to clean all the crap off, there not quite as good as them. What colours your car as Ive sprayed mine Dragon green the same as the car. What other colours do Hamerrite do?

[Jim Bowen 1]

my car is classic green, i just went with black as the brake dust won't make them look too dirty :lol:

 

am sure they do a green hammerite

[The_Dude 0]

I'm gonna paint mine hammerite silver as i've got a dark body and anthracite wheels.

[The_Dude 0]

HELP! I took out my 2nd hand 288mm calipers last night from the box in the cupboard to begin cleaning them up only to discover that they have no pistons in them! Argh...

Is this something I can get from VW (part no pls?) or should I chuck them in the bin and start again?

[Jim Bowen 1]

nah, places sell them still

 

http://www.biggred.co.uk/repairpricing.html

 

^^that site has pretty much all the stuff you need

[The_Dude 0]

nah, places sell them still

 

http://www.biggred.co.uk/repairpricing.html

 

^^that site has pretty much all the stuff you need

 

 

Legend. :notworthy:

This thread has been really useful as you've done everything I was about to, and then put up some nice pictures to show me how. Ta star.

[PROVR6 0]

2nd that

[jamin 0]

Great thread, this should go on the wiki site I think - the 312mm upgrade is there already.

[jamin 0]

Incidently, are the brembo discs zinc plated? I hate my discs in that only the disc surface is nice and clean, the vents etc are all rusted up - the rears are even worse and looks awful :(

[GlosterOx 0]

Jamin,

 

They don't appear to be Zinc Plated from what I can make out in the picture.

 

Ian :D