Young Kenny, time will tell, and by then you'll have pleased your bank manager by securing some extremely large calipers for extremely large sums of cash!
The deed is done. All fitted (and working) now. Thought I'd just do a photo run through of before and after and the fitting of the bits. Those who are less experienced amongst us but capable may undertake the job yourself, it ain't so hard!
This shows the original brake disc, 30k miles plus, car had red stuff pads fitted here(not shown).
Forgive dirty and corroded wheels(see other thread for this problem/dilemma)
And another
These are the brake pads, nestling in their protective box, no wonder given the price of them. You can see that the anti squeal shim is poorly fitted where shown. I had to rectify this as the brake pad retaining pin would never have got through. Pretty poor given the price and claimed quality but not likely to cause any problems! When you see them you think they don't have much pad thickness but this is the max that will fit in the brembos!
This is the disc, it is a floating type disc and the bell(black centre section) suits pre and post 05 STi as it is drilled with holes for both PCDs. This is the O/S disc as the dimples which can be seen have to rotate in a particular direction. The disc part(shiny with dimples) is called a rotor. When worn out this will be able to be changed independently of the bell thus saving money
The two discs side by side showing the difference between O/S and N/S dimples/rotation requirement
Here you can see the floating mounting of the rotor to the bell. I've got to say when you have them in your hand they seem extremely well engineered, looking and feeling very much a quality product
This is the caliper before removal of old pads, you can see they are red stuff pads as they are um, well, red!
To remove pads, first remove the r clips as indicated, try not to bend these as they are spring steel and need to be kept in good shape for refitting.
You can then use a punch to remove the brake pad retaining pins. I use a large punch for the initial hit(s) to make sure the pin gets moving then a small diameter one to drive pins through. Don't want to be damaging those lovely brembos (eh Kenny?). The pins should be able to be pulled fully from the caliper, mines weren't too tight and once the first is pulled out, the large anti rattle shim or clip whatever you want to call it, will ping out a bit and go loose, making the second pin easier to remove. Once the pins are out, you need push the pads outwards and away from the discs, this pushes the caliper pistons back in too. I was able to do this quite easily with my fingers but you may need to use a suitable srewdriver or small lever. Once the pads have been pushed back, a little bit of persuasion will remove them straight out towards you.
Pads removed, push each of the four pistons back into the caliper, don't damage the rubber seals. If you look into the gap between the caliper and disc where the pads sat there are 8 small flats (nearest piston sides) where the pads sat, 4 each side. Give these a gentle scrape to remove built up dust but try not to burst the caliper paint as this will accelerate corrosion and make your pads stick!
To remove the old disc you need to remove the caliper. The mounting bolts are shown here and are tight. They are metal into alloy which is never a good thing in a hostile area such as brakes. The top bolt is partially blocked by the strut bottom bolt also shown. It is better to remove this to allow better access to the top bolt. Suspension won't be affected as you don't need to touch the other bolt holding the strut. Take care when taking out the caliper bolts in case the threads pick up and you waste the calipers. They won't unscrew with your fingers but won't be too hard to turn with a spanner. If they start to go tight then you must work them in and out at the same time as applying some lubricant such as WD40. Mine unscrewed without drama but they were tight to crack. It's also worth noting that the bolts are fitted through some sort of spacer/brace before passing through hub into the caliper, the mounting bolts won't unscrew through this part. If everything was new it'd be easy but as things are a bit rusty and things start to move to the side it all starts to jam up so I found it easier to take the caliper away from the bolts as you unscrew and you must also undo them relatively evenly, can't do one completely then the other. To allow caliper to move away, disc must come off hub too. Mine wasn't seized in the centre, if it is, give it a good chap with a hammer or there are two bolt holes into which you can gently srew bolts which will force the disc off the hub.
Unless you are replacing hoses or caliper do not be tempted to remove the brake hose from the caliper for any reason. Hydraulic systems are best left well alone unless it is necessary to split them. Speaking from experience.
Old disc removed, hub shows slight rust, dirt whatever. It is essential this is cleaned.
I used emery(sp?) paper with my finger, don't need to go mad but it should be clean, if not you will have brake shudder, warping or worse still your wheel will fall off eventually
This is the old red stuff pads showing the original fit anti squeal shims. I refitted these to the new pads as I don't want squealing brakes. May sound cool at the end of a rally stage but not in your high street
Old and new discs side by side. Same dimensions.
All fitted now. Straight forward, use copper grease on all bolts as you assemble. It makes them easier to go in, tighten up properly and you may need to remove them yourself in the future which will be all the easier to do. Don't go mad cleaning the brake retaining pins as I suspect they have a thin coating to stop rust, just rub off the old brake dust and they'll push in with your hands. Make sure all anti rattle squeal shims clips are in place and before you push pins home line up the holes for the r clips. My disc was a little tight to fit hub centre and I had to use the wheel to pull it on. Better cleaning of hub will help this. Just make sure it all seats properly as it'll all go pear shaped very quickly if you don't. Wheels back on, tightened properly then pump your brakes to push pads against discs. It would surprise you the outcome if you don't do this!!!
Pads in, all back as should be, cleaned caliper outside only. Pity about the stone chip damage but the calipers still look good nearly 4 years on. My advice is not to use copper grease around the pads. This is sometimes done to try to eliminate noise or seizing. In my experience it only accelerates seizing as all the sh!t sticks to the grease.
And finally some finished views, again, forgive the wheels. They badly need done.
Job done! Two hours, mainly due to photography and cleaning calipers and one wheel!!
Verdict? Not sure, haven't used them in anger as yet but so far they look good, don't squeal and do in fact stop the car. I did sort of expect it to flip forward onto it's roof the first time I pressed them but it wasn't so. Time will tell if they are better, I just hope it doesn't need a track day to see the benefits. Noone seemed able to answer this question previously.
Hope I've not bored you all to death!
