My 4/2 pot FULL rebuild with pics!!!!

[harrymaneuvers]

For those of you who dont know, I bought a set of 4/2 pot calipers off of a 2007 WRX from a no-name german dismantler in SoCal. This was after months of search for the right deal. I will take a moment to mention how much I love statewidelist.com where you can search every Craigslist site within a state at the same time.

This is how they showed up with next day shipping :(

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/09/IMAG0464jpgt1316538824-1.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/IMAG0466jpgt1318885261-2.jpg

After sand blasting them. Note that I taped the piston areas with painters tape. I would use clean release duct tape next time as the painters tape began to come off during sandblasting.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/

Calipers with all pins, clips, pads, pistons, seals and boots removed.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/IMAG0489jpgt1317519087-1.jpg

A few of the pistons had surface rust on the outside of the piston (not the part that seals). That was removed with Evapo-rust.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/062-2.jpg

Split calipers, remove AND SAVE O-Rings, tape mating surfaces.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/066-2.jpg

VHT flameproof Primer. Note I left the old bleeder in as I was replacing them with speedbleeders. I also got a bolt to seal the brake line hole.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/070jpgt1318885835-1.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/079-1.jpg

3 Coats of VHT Real Red Caliper paint:

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/083-2.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/084-1.jpg

I ended up REUSING THE OEM O-rings because they fit the recessed opening much better than the Z1motorsports O-Ring.

OEM notice how the O-ring is nearly perfectly fitted to the opening:

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/101-1.jpg

Z1motorsports Notice the gap between the rounded O-Ring and the recessed area that it fits in:

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/104-1.jpg

Reassembled with touch up coats of Red paint along seams of calipers. FYI I tried two methods of covering the piston area prior to painting. One involved using newspaper to stuff the hole for the piston and use the boots/rings that are going to be replaced anyways to cover the area. The other involved using clean release duct tape. Both worked great but the first method was quicker.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/106jpgt1318886365-1.jpg

Applying Ebay Hi Temp decals from seller SuperGraphicsF1 (website is http://www.supergraphicsf1.com/Brakes-Subaru.htm)

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/108-2.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/120-2.jpg

3 coats of VHT Caliper Clear Coat over the decals then time to start putting the seals and pistons in.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/132-1.jpg

Finished product fully reassembled.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/133-1.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/135-2.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/137-1.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/140-1.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/10/141-2.jpg


A few thoughts on the process:

Splitting the calipers seemed to be the easiest way to cleanly paint under/around the bolts.

The O-Rings in the center seemed completely unaffected by the first 4 years of use. I opted to use the OEM ring instead of the Z1motorsports o-rings.

I would recommend barely rebolting the two sides together prior to touching up any seams or missed spots and baking. If you try to tightly bolt the two sides together before baking the final product, the soft paint will tear or pull up right around the bolt flanges where they make contact with the painted surface. In thinking about it afterwards, the rear 2 pots didnt have this problem because the bolt has a washer and not a flange... adding a washer between the flange bolt and the soft, painted surface might eliminate this issue while the paint is still soft. Then after all touch-up and baking is done (paint is hard), the washers can be removed one at a time to avoid the calipers splitting the painted seam again.

Once you take the calipers out of the oven, DONT TOUCH THEM AT ALL. The paint is hot and INCREDIBALLY easy to peel and tear.

The decals seem to be of REALLY good quality and they were really easy to apply.

Thanks for reading!!!

[httrdd]

Better than new! Great job on them. Now stop working on the womans car and mod the Leggy!

[phi11]

The o-ring will work, it just needs to be 'crushed'.

[harrymaneuvers]

@ httrd hahahaha I know right? My 235k mile leggy is only so modd-able... I am actually REALLY happy with where my leggy is... full JDM front end, solid motor, quicker than it has ever been... Only thing I am still looking for is a new leather back seat. And now that the 4/2 pots are done, I can take her OEM calipers and shave them down to fit under my 15" stock wheels until I need new tires. At that point I will get new tires for the 16" stock WRX wheels in my garage and throw them on the leggy.



@ phi11 - I know for a fact that they would work. I called Z1motorsports to get their opinion considering that they rebuild hundreds of the Nissan 4 pot calipers per year and they are Sumisoto (brand) too. They confirmed that even the Nissan OEM ring is not rounded but that their replacement rings have been used for years in hundreds of rebuilds and they have never had a problem. For me it was just a "not borken" so why fix it mentality. The OEM rings looked good as new and they seemed to fit better. If they would have looked worn AT ALL i would have used the Z1motorsports o-rings.

[Reason]

Great job!

[Cervantes]

Really good job. Glad I saw this thread, I need brakes for my front 4 pots and couldn't remember what year WRX to get the brakes from.

[gfunk-legacy]

i like a lot well done

[Garrison]

Good DIY man. I like the vht choice, used it on my caliper rebuild too; that's no exaggeration about how fragile the paint is either.

[chuckthefuk]

Part #'s? Also those look like 06+ calipers (no raised letters) are the p/n's interchangeable with the JDM GC (raised letters) ?

[harrymaneuvers]

Are you looking for the rebuild kit part numbers?

Yes these are the 06/07 calipers without the raised letters.


I am about 99% sure that parts are interchangeable between the JDM ones with raised letters and the usdm ones without raised letters. The caliper manufacturer is Sumisoto (spelling?)

[Yamazaki]

Sumitomo. And as far as I can tell, they're interchangable. Everything looks exactly like the 4pots I have sitting in the garage....

But I could be wrong, I'm just looking at the pictures and guessing.

[hansvonaxion]

Thanks for the write-up Harry. Great job.

I just pulled apart my 4pots and started cleaning them... the red paint started coming off with brake cleaner and a wire brush so I guess they're actually black. Looks like I'll be painting them after all, depending on how they look after a clean.

[Huffer]

Nice writeup!

I have also seen people apply decals, and then spray them with some clear coat to prevent any peeling.

[harrymaneuvers]

Possibly selling!!!!

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=23584

[chuckthefuk]

whats the story with the rear calipers? do u have the bracket or hub?

[harrymaneuvers]

No bracket yet... I can get the Kartboy ones new for about $200 shipped.


When I started thinking about another brake setup, I didnt really have the motivation to get everything else needed to install these on the wrx.