Quote:
Originally Posted by Lupin..the..3rd
Jazz, couple Q's:
How did you extract the pistons? Pull them out with pliers? Or compressed air? or?
Did you return the pistons each to their original location? Just wondering if it's acceptable to mix-n-match or if the piston/bore somehow wear together and should remain matched? I'd like to start rebuilding some of the brembos I've acquired - I plan to have the caliper bodies hot-tanked after disassembly; just wondering if I need to number the pistons first...
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For extraction I used compressed air for the initial rebuild at home and brake system pressure at the track. Getting them out at the track was, um, "fun". Mat P deserves credit here. First we pulled the pads and hit the brake until the pistons were fully extended. Then we pumped the brake pedal until one of the 4 pistons popped out. Then we put it just slightly back in the bore so the caliper would hold hydraulic pressure and held it in place with 3 zip ties. We would then move to the next piston. Once all 4 were out, we cut the zip ties and pulled them out by hand.
It's important to note that Brembo pistons are aluminum. They are not rugged steel like ATE pistons, so you need to be gentle with them. Be careful. This is esp true for the scraper ring pistons like I have in the front, as they don't have any lip at the top to use to leverage the piston out of the bore. The dust boot pistons do have a lip at the top you can use to pry the piston out of the bore if you're desperate, but I don't recommend it. Besides, these pistons tend to come out pretty easily (in most cases). Other times, ATE pistons are a PITFA to get out because the caliper develops a rust ring around the top of the bore, locking the piston in. Since everything on the Brembo calipers is aluminum, this is much less of an issue.
I did return them all to their original location. I didn't hot tank them, so I just laid them out on my bench in order and put them back in the same order. If I were sending them off, I'd label the the pistons with a sharpie on the back like this: LI (left inner), LO (left outer), RI, RO. Since the pistons on each side are different sizes (unless you have 930 calipers), there's no need to differentiate top or bottom.