How easy is it to remove calipers?

[WhyOne?]

Hi,

In anticipation for some better weather I an preparing to perform my long overdue refurb. of Y1's calipers.

Could someone (Paul?!) tell me how easy it is to 'release' the calipers, as shown in the photo below (shamelessly stolen from Paul's excellent brake / caliper refurb. thread).

I am hoping that it is possible (& easy!) to release the calipers / remove the pads without disconnecting the hoses, so I can get the calipers far enough away from the disks / car to mask & spay paint?

Any words of wisdom and advice will be much appreciated.

[WhyOne?]

Picture below!

[simonprelude]

It should just be a matter of undoing 2 bolts.

How easy it is will depend on the maintenance that has been carried out on the brakes previously, the bolts are usually covered in copper slip by Honda so come out easily enough.

[WhyOne?]

Thanks Simon.

Ritchie fitted braded hoses / new pads to Y1 about 2 yr's ago, so (fingers crossed) things shouldn't have siezed too badly?

[simonprelude]

Just hope the braided hoses have enough movement to allow the calipers to be held away from the hub. They could well be zip tied on anyway so you will have extra movement from that.

[Senninha]

Hi Ian,

Yep, just a couple of bolts and all will come free. As in the photo, the caliper can then be pulled far enough away to allow for cleaning and spraying.

I used a high temperature satin black paint bought from fleabay for around £5 a tin. I also painted the back of the pads too :). In both cases the paint was appplied in several thin layers to build up depth of finish and to avoid any runs. The mounting brackets can be fully removed from the car by two additional bolts. I hung these in the shed for ease of painting and drying.

I then left everything to dry fully overnight before re-assembly.

I've done around 5k miles with no noticeable wear to the finish.

regards, Paul

[WhyOne?]

Excellent - thanks Paul.

Your calipers certainly do look good.

How many cans of paint did you get through?

I will get a paint order in and await a convenient day which looks warm & dry.

[Senninha]

I ordered 2 black and 1 red but didn't even get through the first can of black! Its also a good excuse to give those lovely chassis parts a good clean before you start the painting.

See you soon

regards, Paul

[WhyOne?]

Its also a good excuse to give those lovely chassis parts a good clean before you start the painting.


Yes - I'm looking forward to that bit.