- May 19, 2010
- 22
- 7
- 13
Well I have yet to find a single post on any Mustang forum about taking these puppies apart so I figured I would take some pics and post up. And there is probably a reason for this... they're going to be a bitch to get back together and secondly you can buy new ones for a reasonable price.
BUT my reasoning was that I was going to have the fronts powder coated and I would really like the rears to match. It wasn't going to cost me any more to have the rears PC as well so I figured if worst comes to worst and I can't get them back together then I'll just buy some new replacements. Secondly, I really wanted to see how this crazy integrated parking brake mechanism worked.
I got many mixed reviews about whether or not I could just leave the internals of the parking brake mechanism inside the caliper and just have it PC'd that way. My PC guy said even if the seals were OK he was more worried about the chemicals and grit that would most definitely get up inside the mechanism when dipping/blasting the calipers.
Anyway, I decided to pull them apart and here is how it went:
1) Parts/Assembly Diagram
2) Caliper after removal from car
3) After cycling the parking brake "lever" the piston comes all the way out (no need to unscrew or apply air pressure through the bleed screw hole)
4) I had to give the piston a little twist at the very end and then it came right out
5) Then just pull the dust boot off. And a view down inside the caliper and the back of the piston.
6) Then I removed the bleed screw. It had some corrosion on it and down in the hole of which I cleaned off/out.
7) Then I removed the inner piston seal.
8) Now down inside the piston is a spring with a "cap" over it which is held in place by a snap ring. I could not get my snap ring pliers to fit down inside the piston (hence putting this back together while compressing the spring is going to be a PITA) but I used a small pic and just walked the snap ring around. It was a little difficult but only took a few tries. A warning for anyone that may attempt this... I had one spring/cap that popped out with pretty good force and shot my snap ring into the air, so you might want to wear some safety glasses. My other calipers just made a quick "snap" noise and all pieces stayed inside the caliper. Of course that was the second caliper I did and was prepared for and nothing happened, lol.
9) First set of parts laid out.
10) After you pulled those parts out then follows a small washer followed by a larger gold/silver washer with some idents in it. These two kind of just dumped out when I turned the caliper upside down.
11) Then came time to remove the screw that the piston rides up and down on. At first I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was keeping it in there and I couldn't yet remove the lever mechanism from the back of the caliper (it was obvious the two were "tied" together some how but I couldn't see what was holding them). Finally I got tired of messing with it and just grabbed it with a set of pliers (with a rag on the end as to not scratch the screw) and sure enough it just popped out. It's got a little O-ring around the base of it that keeps it kind of suctioned into a hole (see pics for a clearer idea of what I am talking about). The screw also has a little swivel rod (don't know what else to call it) that just pulls out of the back of it. The other end of the swivel rod sticks into a hole in the parking brake lever (hence keeping it from being pulled out before).
12) Then I just removed the parking brake lever from the back of the caliper.
13) Everything laid out.
14) Then the last step was just removing the rubber seal where the lever came out of and taking off the little O-ring that was around the back of the screw. The caliper rebuild kit comes with both of these O-rings (see pics below) Following that I just sprayed some brake cleaner up inside the caliper to clean everything out.
15) Here's how everything goes when together inside the caliper.
16) And this is kind of what I have in mind from trying to put it back together, except I will probably put an extension on the socket and try and put it in my vise so that the clamp won't be in my way and I'll have more room to try and finagle that snap ring back in there. If anyone has any better ideas please let me know! I have a feeling there will be a few four letter words spoken during this re-assembly process, lol. Or I may contact the manufacturer (if someone still makes these crazy integrated parking brake calipers) and see what they do. My guess is they have some sort of jig that holds everything.
And here are the rebuild kits I bought for the calipers (front set (Cobra) followed by the rear set)...
I'll be sure and update this post after I get the calipers back from powder coating (he was supposed to be done yesterday!!!) and HOPEFULLY back together. And if anyone has done this before please chime in with advice.
Thanks,
Ryan
BUT my reasoning was that I was going to have the fronts powder coated and I would really like the rears to match. It wasn't going to cost me any more to have the rears PC as well so I figured if worst comes to worst and I can't get them back together then I'll just buy some new replacements. Secondly, I really wanted to see how this crazy integrated parking brake mechanism worked.
I got many mixed reviews about whether or not I could just leave the internals of the parking brake mechanism inside the caliper and just have it PC'd that way. My PC guy said even if the seals were OK he was more worried about the chemicals and grit that would most definitely get up inside the mechanism when dipping/blasting the calipers.
Anyway, I decided to pull them apart and here is how it went:
1) Parts/Assembly Diagram
2) Caliper after removal from car
3) After cycling the parking brake "lever" the piston comes all the way out (no need to unscrew or apply air pressure through the bleed screw hole)
4) I had to give the piston a little twist at the very end and then it came right out
5) Then just pull the dust boot off. And a view down inside the caliper and the back of the piston.
6) Then I removed the bleed screw. It had some corrosion on it and down in the hole of which I cleaned off/out.
7) Then I removed the inner piston seal.
8) Now down inside the piston is a spring with a "cap" over it which is held in place by a snap ring. I could not get my snap ring pliers to fit down inside the piston (hence putting this back together while compressing the spring is going to be a PITA) but I used a small pic and just walked the snap ring around. It was a little difficult but only took a few tries. A warning for anyone that may attempt this... I had one spring/cap that popped out with pretty good force and shot my snap ring into the air, so you might want to wear some safety glasses. My other calipers just made a quick "snap" noise and all pieces stayed inside the caliper. Of course that was the second caliper I did and was prepared for and nothing happened, lol.
9) First set of parts laid out.
10) After you pulled those parts out then follows a small washer followed by a larger gold/silver washer with some idents in it. These two kind of just dumped out when I turned the caliper upside down.
11) Then came time to remove the screw that the piston rides up and down on. At first I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was keeping it in there and I couldn't yet remove the lever mechanism from the back of the caliper (it was obvious the two were "tied" together some how but I couldn't see what was holding them). Finally I got tired of messing with it and just grabbed it with a set of pliers (with a rag on the end as to not scratch the screw) and sure enough it just popped out. It's got a little O-ring around the base of it that keeps it kind of suctioned into a hole (see pics for a clearer idea of what I am talking about). The screw also has a little swivel rod (don't know what else to call it) that just pulls out of the back of it. The other end of the swivel rod sticks into a hole in the parking brake lever (hence keeping it from being pulled out before).
12) Then I just removed the parking brake lever from the back of the caliper.
13) Everything laid out.
14) Then the last step was just removing the rubber seal where the lever came out of and taking off the little O-ring that was around the back of the screw. The caliper rebuild kit comes with both of these O-rings (see pics below) Following that I just sprayed some brake cleaner up inside the caliper to clean everything out.
15) Here's how everything goes when together inside the caliper.
16) And this is kind of what I have in mind from trying to put it back together, except I will probably put an extension on the socket and try and put it in my vise so that the clamp won't be in my way and I'll have more room to try and finagle that snap ring back in there. If anyone has any better ideas please let me know! I have a feeling there will be a few four letter words spoken during this re-assembly process, lol. Or I may contact the manufacturer (if someone still makes these crazy integrated parking brake calipers) and see what they do. My guess is they have some sort of jig that holds everything.
And here are the rebuild kits I bought for the calipers (front set (Cobra) followed by the rear set)...
I'll be sure and update this post after I get the calipers back from powder coating (he was supposed to be done yesterday!!!) and HOPEFULLY back together. And if anyone has done this before please chime in with advice.
Thanks,
Ryan