Well today I planned on putting on new pads and rotors, I've probably done well over 10 brake jobs in my life so I assumed it would be a 45 minute job, WRONG! Started with the drivers side, got the caliper off eaisily and the 2 screws were already missing so I then tried to remove the rotor only to find it's hopelessly seized on. I tried all the tricks, bang it with a hammer from all different directions, then upgraded to a sledge with no luck. Me and 2 friends spent an hour whailing on the brake rotor with the sledge with no luck. The brake rotor itself is bent up, with quarter sized chunks missing from the disk. I searched and tried every thing, no luck, I even tried heating it with my mapp gas torch nothing. My firend's bringing over his oxy acetlylene torch tomarrow, hopefully some thing comes of it. Frustrated I went over to the other side to find the 2 screws were there, and they both stripped out at the first twist of the screw driver. I'm just had to rant, a 45 minute brake job turned into a total day of fail and I havent even started on the rear brakes yet! my FB sat for years and those brakes were cake! If worst comes to worse I'll take out the hubs and see what a machine shop can do.

 

Drill out the screws that are stripped and still in there. Just use a drill-bit that's a tiny bit larger diameter than the shaft of the screws. Don't worry about ruining the screw "holes", there should be a couple extra in the hub that you can use. Just rotate the rotor to line up with the new set of "holes". Then again, those screws don't really matter. So yeah, doubly don't worry.

Also, there should be several other offset "holes" on the face of the rotor as well. If you can find a screw with the same thread/pitch as the "stripped" one's, you're supposed to be able to thread a screw into those "blank" holes (with just the hub behind the hole), and then as you tighten the screw *INTO* the hub, it will actually force the rotor and hub to seperate.

If you can't get that done, then a torch, WD-40 and a hammer will be your only friends.

 

Also, on the rears brakes, which you might know already, you will need to retract the piston clockwise in order for the piston to compress and make room for the new brake pads

 

since your changing them out anyways, hit the rotors on the edge of the rotor, Better yet, go behind it and hit it outwards direction. rotate the hits across from each other like installing a 4 lug wheel. ALl else fails, get a bigger hammer

 

Maybe a beefy gear puller. That's how I unstuck some damaged drums once (after cutting slots in them for the puller to grab).

 

This tool WILL remove the screw if you use it correctly.

 

you may have to beat the rotors until they break, I've done a few brake jobs where we hammered it brutally and broke the rotors off in sections...sounds like a bad idea, but it works. I've done probably 50 brake jobs and some are definately a pain!

 

The FC uses aluminum hubs and steel rotors, so corrosion sets in after a few years and locks them together.

If a BFH doesn't do it then the only choice is heat. Get a good oxy/gas torch and heat them cherry red. Wearing safety goggles, pound them off. If one heat cycle doesn't do it then a few certainly will.

In the off chance that heat doesn't do the job then you will need to remove the hubs and have the rotors pressed off.

Another choice is to use a cutting wheel and slice the rotor into pie sections. If you do this you have to be very careful not to damage the hub.

To prevent this in the future, coat the hub with high temp anti-seize.

 

fixed

 

Not always, sometimes drilling is the only thing that will get it done.
I speak from experience.

That is definitely a helpful tool for the job though, and it works most of the time.

 

Tried a gear puller, no luck, oxy acetlylene torch didn't work. So my friends and I went back to good old fasihoned beating combined with the angle grinder and managed to get a few chunks out, however I wrecked the wheel bearing and deformed the hub. I officially give up, here's my desperate WTB thread: https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...91#post8094291

 

Look up one of my Previous posts..I go into detail about getting the rotors off with a Grinder,and a sledge.

 

Too late I guess, but from experience, always take the hub off. I also use/borrow a press.

 

switch to a 5 lug setup.

 

Why? So he has to buy all new wheels and a different brake setup? Seems like a lot of expense...

 

I had the same problem. I bought an extractor set from my local hardware store, saved my ***! As far as getting the rotors off, I just used a wrench to pry off the rotors, popped off with no problems. I figured that out after pounding the crap out of my rear rotor and bending it to ****. I also didn't have a bolt with the same thread pitch as the rotor so that option was ruled out.

 

Anti/never seize is the ****. Did you try a torch?

 

tried an air hammer? might screw ur wheel bearings or some **** but..

dude if all else fails, drop everything relax n buy a pair of front hubs or spindles whatever ya wanna call em' lol

 

+1 Air Hammer

The wheel bearing is most likely toast anyways if you heated the hub red hot, their probably 15+ years old anyways.

Take the hub off the car and use a gear puller to press the flange (part that spins and contains the wheel studs) out of the hub. The outer wheel bearing race will come out with it, but you should be able to press the rotor off.

If it still won't come off, find a better press or start cutting.

 

when i did my brakes i had similar issues.
i could get the rear off, but the fronts were a different story.
so i took both the rotors off with the hubs, and went to a shop. they tried using a 10 ton press, and that didn't work.

eventually i think they cut the rotor in half with a plasma torch, haha.

anyways, after that experience the backside of my new rotors got gobs and gobs of high temp anti-seize.

 

Any updates?

 

I wound up buying a set of hubs from a local guy, and both front brakes went together very smoothly. Then I started on the back brakes, I was surprised when the 2 rotor screws came right out, then I snapped off the the caliper bolt

THERE'S A LESSON HERE, USE ANTI SIEZE!!!

If the last guy that did the brakes bothered to invest $2 on a tube of anti sieze my life would be alot easier and I wouldn't have had to take the bus to work for the past few days

 

just a forewarning dont put new screws in when you put it back together they are assembly screws and are just a headache. If you insist on putting them in then i do suggest getting the impact driver go48 suggested. i have now done three break jobs on FC's and the first two involved drills and angle grinders to replace the rotors because of those screws. the third took me five minutes with the impact driver to get em off. they can be had at harbor and freight for $15 be warned.

 

i had this exact same problem when doing my brakes... ended up having them pressed off...

 

I finally finished, this was defenantly a brake job I wont soon forget. That caliper bolt I snapped turned into a huge pita. I only snapped off the head, so I assumed it would be the simple operation of removing a stud from the caliper, WRONG! the bolt was not siezed in the threaded part of the caliper, but the hole it runs through in the caliper bracket. When I removed the lower bolt the caliper could swing upwards, but it wouldn't come out. After pounding and pulling I got nowhere, so I cut a chunk out of the rotor with the angle grinder big enough to clear the caliper, then had to use the gear puller to get it off. Then I drilled out the remainder of the bolt and once I drilled far enough to point it was seized it came right out. It's finally done, it took alot of work but now my brake job is finally over!