Brake Calipers Search

tompocz · Post by **tompocz** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:23 pm

Gday All,

Firstly let me say it was some what comforting to find an "Aussie" FTO site, and I take my hat off to all here. I too know what its like to own a web site and run a forum (www.fishsa.com) so I do appreciate this site and its activity and membership base.

Given that my wife is extremely ascertive and wears the pants in the family (dont they all !!), she now has a 1995 FTO GPX which comes with a lead foot (I'm waiting for her to lose her license due to speeding !!). I wish to surprise her by doing up and painting the calipers, but the prob is she uses the damn car all the time.

I thought Id search for some calipers, recondition them myself if need be, and swap them one saturday morning.

Hence my question ......... can anyone provide me with info as to where I can purchase front and rear calipers for the wife's car ? Im not made of money, but I fear that new calipers for such a project do not justify the expenditure.

In anticipation, appreciate any feedback.

Im from Adelaide/Sth Australia as well so local input would be welcomed.

Thanks
Tom

jonowong · Post by **jonowong** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 11:30 pm

a second hand pair shouldnt cost more than $50 - $100

Post by **Bennoz** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:59 am

Did you end up using my old calipers Jono?

SILVERFISH · Post by **SILVERFISH** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:41 am

LITTLE KNOWN FACT -
tompocz is actually former professional wrestler Kevin Nash

FtoSam · Post by **FtoSam** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:55 pm

I would assume it would be easier and quicker to paint the existing calipers than swap over new ones.

Just mask up the surrounding area and spray away... The guys at the local tyre shop did mine for free when they put my new mags on. Took all of 5 minutes..

tompocz · Post by **tompocz** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 8:08 pm

FtoSam wrote:I would assume it would be easier and quicker to paint the existing calipers than swap over new ones.

Just mask up the surrounding area and spray away... The guys at the local tyre shop did mine for free when they put my new mags on. Took all of 5 minutes..

Yep I thought about that FtoSam, but I have an uncanny tendandcy to do the best I can - meaning, I have seen some sites that suggested the same with pictures, and felt that it would be easier to swap the calipers out, allowing me to do the painting at my own pace. It would also give me the opportunity to service the calipers, given that the car is a '95 yr .

By looking at other posts on this matter, a huge emphasis is placed on cleaning calipers prior to painting, and by having them "offline" so to speak, I feel that one can do a better job in cleaning.

I dont think you can do as good a job if the calipers are dangling while attached to the car. It will also save on me having to cover up the wheel arch etc, and Ive seen such spray jobs close to a car, where one thought they had covered up properly, but spray paint got thru onto the car paint work.

Im concious of the fact of doing the best I can, so that I dont get a call from my wife screaming at 2.00am while out with the girls saying "Ive broken down" come and get me !! and then paying $300 for a tow truck.

I have sourced some brakes from a local wrecker today - $75 each for the fronts and $50 each for the back. I even looked at ebay at UK and believe the best I can get for rears is about 35 pounds which is about $70 a pair - sound good, but once you factor in delivery/postage to australia, you could be looking at the $100 mark anyway. Is the above price reasonable, given my new exposure to FTO spare parts ??

Once I get them, Ill do a write up on the process of my investigation, including my attempts in sourcing DBA slotted discs as well. Have not started the investigation on new brake lines.

cheers and thanks to date for your input

PS - and No, Im not Kevin Nash - he has more hair than I do !!

PPS - Avatar taken from my website www.fishsa.com - I believe in putting faces to names, and have not gotten into the fad of using images of my wifes car !!

cheers
Tom

shakey · Post by **shakey** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 8:02 am

Hi Tom,

Glad you got the calipers sorted!

Nice car you got there BTW

shakey

jonowong · Post by **jonowong** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 11:29 am

Bennoz wrote:Did you end up using my old calipers Jono?

nah but i used your pads

tompocz · Post by **tompocz** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:24 pm

shakey wrote:Hi Tom,

Glad you got the calipers sorted!

Nice car you got there BTW

shakey

Gday Shakey dude mate - good you got on this thread. I had fun on ebay and it is good to touch base.

Look out for my write ups on the calipers - I get them tomorrow and look forward to working on them on the weekend.

cheers
Tom

shakey · Post by **shakey** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:53 pm

Tom I've found you another set of rear calipers

PM sent

tompocz · Post by **tompocz** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 3:30 pm

Gday shakey,

I sent you an email to your hotmail account with attached photos of the rear calipers so as to verify type needed. I think the rears are all the same.

Im starting the writeup on the calipers, calling it "Project Consisto" - latin for "stop" - have done some cleaning and boy is it a labour of love. - Im enjoying it, and the parts are looking great as per below - before shot is on the right, and after shot is on the left, and Im pretty certain you didn't need to know that !! LOL.

Doesn't matter what I do on the car, but the dog is always there - she practically lies on top of me when ever I go underneath it to work - bit of a worry !!.

cheers and thanks mate
Tom

shakey · Post by **shakey** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 3:38 pm

Thanks Tom hopefully I should have a reply for you later today.