How hard is it to rebuild a caliper?

forceten · 05-24-2007, 12:14 AM

I am getting a spare set of front and rear cailpers powder coated red. The guys that are doing the powder coating tell me after they have been in the 400 degree oven they should be rebuilt.

I'm pretty sure i agree with them, but never rebuilt a caliper. I asked my local dealer and they told me the rear has a kit for $30 but couldn't find any rebuild kits for the fronts, so I guess I have to order the parts seperately.

Difficult to rebuild em? I was maybe gonna let the dealer do em until they said $100 a caliper without parts. So $300 plus parts, I might be doing them myself (damn theives).

Also has anyone powdercoated their calipers? A mechanic at the dealer said I should take the pistons and seals out and plug the hole with a plug so the powedercoating doesn't get inside. But the guys at the powdercoating said just take off the pads and screws and leave the rest and rebuild it after its done (which is right?)

cvc14 · 05-24-2007, 9:57 AM

I did not have caliper's powder coated but I had a lot of other things done and I had to remove everything and the powder coater pluged all the holes so the powder coat did not get in.

If I was you I would break the caliper's down completely your dont want anything melting or what not when they sit in the oven.

Where in NJ are you? Who you using to get your stuff powder coated?

*zfrilly2* · 05-24-2007, 10:20 AM

They aren't hard to rebuild, basicaly you are removing the pistons, you can hone them if you want or use ascotchbrite pad to clean up the cylinders, and installing new seals. I would take them apart before coating and plug the cylinders. clean or hone them after coating.

forceten · 05-24-2007, 10:50 AM

Having johnsons powder coating in Burlington NJ doing the work. They came recommended by a few people around here. CVC, who did you coating?

And thanks, gonna work on my spare calipers this weekend and take them apart.

cvc14 · 05-24-2007, 2:25 PM

I had my stuff done by BKL Powder Coating in Dullen, NJ... Thats a little 2 far North for you. They did a nice job and I got a smoking deal since they had problems with the paint and they had my stuff for like a month and a half. Did not matter to me since it was winter.