did a quick search thru the forum and the archives and couldnt find anyting. so here goes. car is an 81 GSL. so rear disc brakes.

im getting new rotors, pads, rebuilding the calipers. stainless lines etc.

1. the haynes manual says there is a special wrench needed for removing the rear pads. how necessary is this and could i potentially rent it out from autozone?

2. mazdatrix has a cailper rebuilt kit for almost $40. rockauto has one for $3. what is the difference besides the mazdatrix one services two cailpers? also, should the rock auto caliper rebuild be paired with their disc brake hardware kit?

3. anything else i should replace while im down there? wheel bearings are relatively cheap. the master cylinder would probably be a good idea as well, yeah?

i think that sums up everything,
thanks

Nick

 

1. Havnt replaced the rotors on the rears so there may be more involved in that but for changing the bad the tool you need to retract the piston you can rent/loan/borrow from autozone (example) fairly easily and while you dont need this particular tool you do need a way to spin the caliper so it will retract which it does easily.

2. No clue never had to rebuild a caliper before

3. If the rears are anything like the fronts your basiclly going to have to replace the wheel bearings with the rotors (unless you can manage to get the old race out of the hub w/o damaging it) so might as well throw that in, since youll have half the brake lines out anyways it probbly wouldnt hurt to replace the master as well just make sure you do a good bench bleed of it before you install it.

 

you don't need a special tool to remove the rear pard. the only special tool you need is a cube shaped caliper piston tool. it has different **** for many differnet applications. you can buy them for around $10. you crack the bleeder screw and with a 3/8" wratchet and 3" extension, turn the piston clockwise into the caliper. i can provide a picture of the tool if need be.

the rotors are held on by two screws. heat the area around each screw wit a map gfas torch or equivelant if they are extremely tight. you may have to tap each rotor with a mallet to get it to break free once the screws are removed.

the rear bearings are not wheel bearings but axle bearings per say. they are pressed onto the axle shaft and held in place by a retaining collar. they require PRECISE cutting of the collar and or a press to remove the collar. the wheel bearings are also pressed onto the shaft. a machine shop is almost required when doing this. a friend of mine works at a race shop so i take my shafts in there and do the work myself. there are threads on how to do this at home if you are brave.

 

Its easier to remove the rear disc screw with this:


For the calipers, both front and rear, not just RX

 

guess i will not be replacing bearings then. guess ill just grease them up real nice.

thanks guys. any info on the caliper rebuild versus the disc brake hardware kit rockauto has?

and looking at prices, i will be rebuilding, not replacing, the master cylinder.

thanks for the help guys.

 

the rear calipers are tricky due to the ebrake mechanism. i'd suggest reading the FSM, (www.foxed.ca) the haynes isnt even a good door stop

for $3 i'd buy 3 of the rock auto kits!

 

Wacky has a good idea with that impact screwdriver for those rotor screws, makes the job easier.
The axle bearings are a sealed bearing so you can't grease them. If they aren't making noise I wouldn't touch them. You would have to pull the axle to even see them anyway.
Really shouldn't be too much to the caliper kit other than the seal for the piston so you might as well go with RockAuto, its worth a shot if nothing else.
Good luck!

 

Here's a thread I found when searching about rebuilding my calipers: https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...aliper+rebuilt

 

the FRONT calipers are easy, the REAR have the ebrake stuff in em, and are complex

 

i tried rebuilding my calipers as well, only did one side, wasn't able to get the ebrake pin back in place, tried everything i could think of but no luck, otherwise it was really simple to do, i ended up replacing all calipers later on so i was fine with only one caliper having the ebrake

 

i wont be replacing the calipers any time soon, but im confident in my ability to rebuild them. on the rears, worst case scenario i can take them up to the ME shop at school, im sure someone there can get the ebrake pin back in.

only lingering questions are with the first reply, which said ill break the wheel bearings getting them out on the fronts. the rears sound solid. anyone?

and the disc brake hardware kit. if nothing else, can someone take a look and tell me what they see included in it?

 

i got impatient and ordered. did not order shims or the hardware kit. if i need to i can fairly easily. all i need now is stainless steel lines and im golden

 

From personal experience, the front bearing races come out with a drift pin, hammer, and patience. I have done this to both front hubs in the past. They press in only one way, so you can't drive both races out one side.

I would really just replace the rotors though, as i didn't the first time and regretted not later. (mine had only a small amount of pitting)

 

It will be a good adventure for you , a man made it, a man should be able to fix it .. good luck

 

to do the brakes in the rear, you don't even get to the wheel bearings, you'll see when you have it apart

 

thanks guys. like i said, parts are ordered, ill keep yall updated

-Nick

 

I did pads and rotors on my '83 GSL a couple years ago. In addition to the good advice above, let me add a couple tips:

1a. The impact driver pictured above coupled with a little heat will definitely help. If that doesn't do the trick, you can always take a file to the head of the screw and file it down so you can use a huge flat head screw driver for some better torque. If all else fails, you can always just drill the damn thing out.

1b. ...which leads me to my main bit of advice: DO NOT PUT THE SCREW BACK IN. They are totally superfluous; the wheel is what keeps the rotor in place.

2. Like Drake mentioned above, a hammer and punch is what I used to slowly tap the races out of the rotors. To get them back in, you'll need a press, or this tool:



I was able to rent a set for no charge at my local auto shop. It proved to be absolutely essential when getting the races back in the new rotors.

Good luck!

-Jay

 

bumpity. my first box comes today. but that is not the point of this post.

ive decided to paint my calipers while im down there. they look like crap. so, red or black?

red - somewhat childish/ricey or what have you. will match the interior and other red bits on the car. wont show up anyway due to the factory 4 spokes

black - clean, elegant, more stockish. etc.

im leaning black. but would like opinions anyway.

 

I vote for black, or even silver to give it that "new" look...

 

got my rotors, rears are fine, however i sent 2 different fronts. the part number on each box is the same. makes me think they were just manufactured that far apart. also, this was a wholesaler closeout by rockauto, so, 2 different wholesalers initially. idk. i dont think it will be an issue other than my OCD killing me, knowing that it wont look symmetrical at all.



just making sure. the grain left fron the machining is different, but again, i doubt itll be an issue. just looking for clarifications since brakes are fairly important

thanks,
Nick

 

can we get another pic of the left front? that rotor looks weird

 

that is the rotor in question. like i said before, all the part numbers and such were the same. they are dimensionally the same. the markings between the bolt holes and the grain are different. slight color difference, probly due to machining, same as the grain






side by side again

 

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it too much, after a few miles of wear they'll look basically the same. I do know what you mean about the OCD though lol, little things like that bug the crap out of me...

One thing I would suggest you check though is to make sure the wheels fit over all rotors before installing them. A few years ago I had to get 3 sets (!!!) of rear rotors before I found ones that the wheel would fit over. the hub centric part was machined too large and the wheel wouldn't fit over it. They were from a parts store that carried carquest junk so I guess I should have known better. Rockauto was where I got the rotors that worked so you should be fine, just putting it out there. Wonder if anyone else has had the same problem...

 

awesome thanks for that tip. i would hate to get it all apart and back together to have the wheels not fit. i would be unbelievably pissed

 

lucky me. I own a junkyard lol