tez162003 Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 I got bored last week so randomly searched ebay, put a bid in on some brakes, got outbid and snipped it at the last second. Guessed the other persons bid spot on and put 50p onto haha. Anyway, I now had a pair of Brembo Gran Turismo Calipers with AP Bells and disks, 350z braided lines and mounts. No doubt I got them cheap as they need a bit of a spruce up. Discs and pads are used but have a little bit of life left yet. Little bit of heat crazing on the discs but nothing anywhere near that 1mm mark (thats when skimming or replacements are required) So time to start minting them up. Split the discs into 2, and went about getting the rust off the bells. Air tolls are awesome... They're now off getting powder coated. So onto those calipers, split them down, pads, spring clips, bleed nipples, brake line from front to back, brake hoses, mounts etc etc. I then set about striping the coating off them and some of it was worn off/chipped or still there. Using a trye fitting machine to hold the caliper... after then i set about getting new parts etc, as Brembo don't supply individual components as they got used to often on other makes apparently. That and Brembo are Italian so they shut for the whole of August.. :o I had to search elsewhere. local engineering shops, motor factors etc, new bleed nipples, new dust cover (on the way) new brake lines for front to rear of caliper, new brembo stickers (in the post from RT) new bolts to fix the 2 parts together, new disc bolts (although i may use the originals here). The colour I have decided to paint them is a custom 3 stage colour, an ice white with a pearl and metallic, so thats primer, base coat, pearl coat, sticker the clear. :o this is where Im up too. just a bit more prep needed then ready to make and paint. will keep updated if anyone's interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Will they fit? Good job, please keep this updated looks good so far. Could you take pictures when rebuilding the caliper as that would be interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 should be able to get all rebuild parts from big redd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Looking forward to updates in this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveRS Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Looking forward to updates in this one +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tez162003 Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 who's big redd? and is that person/company in the uk? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilscorp Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Are the pads the same size as normal brembos? I notice they are 4piston but the discs look huge! Well done for trying a refurb, did you think it would be this much work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tez162003 Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 yes they are indeed 4 pots. I know i know, i'm swapping 4 pot brembos for 4 pot brembos... but I saw them cheap and wanted something to do. After all, if you wanted a 355mm Brembo GT kit for a 350z new you would need to spend £3000. http://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?c=BREMBOGTNISS&s=category Yes I assumed they'd need a fair amount of work. You can make as little or as much work as you like, depends how thorough you want to be. I wanted to do a good job on them, all down to my painting skills now... I know they wont be perfect but I'm hoping they will look reasonable. I will be leaving the seals for now, just going to clean up around the scratch seal/ dust seal. The pistons are bloody tight so they have a good seal still. I will also be using the old pads and discs for now, see if I like the brakes before buying new parts. To be honest, I'm not actaully a fast driver so have no need for bigger brakes, I just fancied a mini project, and I've always wished I had slightly bigger brakes to fill the front wheels. however 380mm kit would have been so much better for behind 19s. Oh well.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrustyCrab Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Excellent work there mate I am thinking about tackling my brakes to refurb and possibly change the colour. I will definately be following your work on this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tez162003 Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 Obviously once i've paint these and fitted them, i need to paint the back too They are in good condition so should only need a light sand and de-grease Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bounty Bar Kid Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Looking forward to updates in this one +1 +2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Like that Keep us posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 who's big redd? and is that person/company in the uk? http://www.biggred.co.uk/ did the decals arrive on time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Me too am looking forward to an update! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tez162003 Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 Okay a little bit done today. Sanded down using various grades of paper, washed, dried and chucked on a little tape. then time to start the painting i guess. Chucked on some white primer this evening, I really wanted it on tonight so it can be solid for tomorrow and a little wet sanding, then hopefully the basecoat if not, more primer. random picture of braided lines. (took the picture to show a girl what i meant by 'braided') Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 random picture of braided lines. (took the picture to show a girl what i meant by 'braided') I am pretty sure SpursMadDave knows what Braided means Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 Very nice, always good to get a bargain and make them looking bling bling again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 That last piccie of them where they were sanded down doesn't look real! It looks like a painting or something! Aces so far though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tez162003 Posted August 12, 2012 Author Share Posted August 12, 2012 So i have spent the weekend working and sleeping, but found some time to paint, decal, and rebuild my calipers. I wont go into all the details, just bung up some pictures with a few notes. My painting station... Base coat on Oh, little bit of a metallic pearl coming on. Let the Brembo'ing begin Outside they go again for the 4th layer of paint, clear coat. Thats primer, base coat, pearl coat and a clear, all just for something you wont see most off... Then off to my rather elaborate workshop (okay its one of my workplaces warehouse/tyre fitting area) The new nuts on the rear were rather tight so a tiny bit needed trimming. New bolts and bleed nipples in, along with the 350z adaptors. Now time to bend and fit the cooper connecting lines. It may seem like a lot of detail gone into these simple brakes, but why would make all this effort painting them too look nice again then put the old hoses on? Wire brushed the pads to clean them up a bit. Copper greased then fitted. And the final product, just the discs to build up. But waiting for the centres to come back from the powder coater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 You gotta strip, clean and re-paint the rear calipers to match the fronts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveRS Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 They look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tez162003 Posted August 12, 2012 Author Share Posted August 12, 2012 I do indeed. made sure i kept enough paint for those, I even have the new brembo stickers ready and all haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilscorp Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I think these will be worth the hassle, dont see many white calipers about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 I think these will be worth the hassle, dont see many white calipers about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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