About a year ago I sent out for a set of brake calipers for my '92 FD to be powdercoated and returned to me for rebuild. These turned out great and I have had no issues with them whatsoever. Recently, though, I sent out a second set for powdercoating by the same guy and while they came out fine, I've run into a bit of an issue.
In the process of trying to clean up one of the rear calipers before putting everything back together, I stuck my finger in the parking brake actuator hole and started rubbing out the little bit of rust that had begun to build there. The needle bearings within should have started to move shortly thereafter so I could grease them and be on with my day; they didn't. When I looked closer, it appears as though a few of the rollers had fallen out somehow. The gap for the actuator pin to the piston was larger than what it should have been. I (foolhardily) tried to stick a screwdriver in there to get what was left of the bearing moving. This caused a couple more rollers to pop out.
So, I now have one caliper of my four, freshly powdercoated, that I can't use. My question for those more experienced than I is, Are these bearings replaceable? If so, where might I source them? The closest thing I've found is a Mustang rear caliper (where I initially learned to take the thing apart and put it back together), but I don't have many of those where I am. Might it be in my best interest to source a different caliper, have it powdercoated, start from there and eat my mistake?

 

Quite the dilemma. I'd say you're stuck buying a reman and doing another powder coat. Now, if you can get that individual needle bearing, you could always try installing it with my rear caliper rebuild thread. I'd be curious to know if you can find that bearing, though.

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/how-rebuild-rear-brake-calipers-3rd-gen-fd-1099583/