rotor vs. piston

Just need some help as to how to do this.

Rx7carl

Which cable? And is it disc or drum, they are different.

rotor vs. piston

Oh, disc brakes in the rear and both cables.

nimrodTT

Is the tab that holds the cable on the caliper got a slot to slide the whole thing out, or just the wire part? Those tabs came in two flavors - the easy to remove, and the pain in the ***.

Aviator 902S

Scream at it and swear your fool head off!! Actually, there is a way to slide it so that the bare cable will slip off, but I can't recall the exact procedure since it's been 7 years since I last did this. The problem is that they rust up so that nothing cooperates. Hence, the swearing and throwing things (which seems to give me enough physical strength to conquer the bastard...

Keaponlaffen

kinda like this guy...

Aviator 902S

EXACTLY!

Phiber Optik

iTrader: (2)

I finished off a bottle of penitrating oil on the cotter pins on each side of the front cable pins those were a bitch to get out without a channel lock

Jack your car up high enough so you can get under safely and lay under your drivers door and take a look at the cables they are mostly easy to see. The 2-1 cable bracket (which you may need to replace) is right along the drivers side tranny hump wall, 1 foot from the back of the transmission. Follow the cables from that.

I took the bracket from an 80 GS and put it into an 85 GSL

nlc1179

my friend and i just did it last night. it was a pain in the *** on my car. another thing that was a pain in the *** was screwing the caliper back in so the new brakes would fit over the rotor.

Rotary13B1

iTrader: (8)

Even with the brake tool you get at an auto parts store? It attaches to a ratchet and you screw it back in right? Did u take the lid off the brake reservoir, that should help a bit too

85gsl2ndtimearound

I am doing a compleat drake job on my 85 gsl anything i should know about ... do i need a torqu wrench? thanks fo the heads up

Aviator 902S

One thing you'll need to do if you're changing the front brake rotors is remove the two bolts that hold the caliper mounting bracket onto the lower strut assembly. The upper bolt won't be a problem since it's fairly accessible. The lower bolt is a BITCH. It's partially blocked by the steering knuckle so that a socket won't fit, and your 14mm combination wrench can't properly seat on it. When you apply pressure it loses its grip and slips off the bolt. Even if you use the recommended wrench (a 14mm OFFSET box-end, 12-point) it will still slip.
The good news is that this 14mm offset box-end wrench (under $10) can be made to fit snugly onto the bolt by simply gringing a bevel on the upper surface of the perimeter of the box. You only need to grind off about 1/8th of an inch at the largest depth of the bevel (which will be at the very end of the box and sloping back toward the shaft of the wrench), tapering to about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the diameter of the box. (which is about 7 to 10 mm back from the end of the box)

Aviator 902S

Oh yeah, and you don't need a torque wrench. Just be sure all bolts are reasonably tight and smear some Never-Seize or other graphite-based lubricant on the shaft of all bolts so that you'll be able to get them off next time.
Also, (as mentioned in one of the previous answers above) the rear brake calipers will need to have the pistons rotated back into the caliper in order to accomodate the new (thicker) pads. There are two D-shaped patterns machined into the surface of these pistons to allow a custom tool to grip the pistons in order to rotate them (clockwise if I remember correctly) so that they thread back into the caliper. If you can't find one of these tools, a 6-inch long crescent wrench (your garden variety adjustable wrench) can be opened to a distance that will allow you to insert the ends of the jaws into these patterns and rotate the pistons. They won't grip very well and will slip regularly, causing you to turn the air blue with expletives, but eventually it'll get the job done.
One more thing: Before you start, phone around the auto supply outlets in your area to confirm that they stock brake calipers and rotors for your GSL. Since these cars aren't as common as they once were parts are sometimes back-ordered. If one or both of your rear calipers are seized (a distinct possibility) you'll need to replace them. Rebuilding costs more in both $ and time.
The e-brake cables may be rusty and uncooperative, but must be removed to change the calipers on the rear.
Other than that, this brake job isn't any different than any other procedure-wise. (bleed the lines, starting from farthest wheel from master cylinder first, then each other one in descending order, etc.)
Hope this helps.