so my rear right rotor started scraping the rotor the otherday and I went and picked up some new pads

I rip off the pads on the rear left and they are practically brand new still so I leave them and move onto the right

I have a 87 n/a with the single pot and the caliper looks like it was rebuilt wrong by the last owner and the little metal piece on the pad that is supposed to stick into the slot on the caliper isn't able to sit in there so the pad is worn at a perfect angle and scraping the rotor on the top half causing deep scratches due to the angle it sits at

I'm going to go buy a new caliper unless someone else has an idea

I tried to fit it the best I could but was unable

 

I would just replace the new caliper and save the headache. Brace yourslf the rears are like 85$ ech.

 

You could rebuild the rear calipers and have the rear rotors resurfaced for pretty cheap. I think theres a thread in the archive going over the steps to rebuild them.

What little metal piece are you talking about? The spring clip thing that spreads the pads out? Maybe you could get a pic of it.

 

The piston in the caliper should rotate so the notches line up with the pegs on the pads. You can use a pair of needle nose pliers to turn it, or you can rent a “disk brake piston wrench” from autozone.

Does that look like it solves your problem?