Changing front discs?!

[Jaseb]

Does anyone have an ijot guide to changing the discs, just standard set up from a 1995 Supersprint?

 

Cheers in advance

[stephen grant]

 

There is indeed one somewhere in the archives, but since i'm doing it at the moment, here's my version;

 

1. Up on stands, wheels off

 

2. Take off the domed metal cover that's between the four wheel studs ; this is probably the hardest bit! You can either put something strong through the hole in the middle and try to get purchase on that, or get a flat screwdriver and a light hammer and start tapping on both sides, but basically it's a tight fit and you want to be applying presure on one side, then the other, then back to the first, etc., until it starts to loosen up and then it'll come. Personally I suggest you buy a couple of new ones from CC and then it doesn't matter how much you dent the old ones getting them off. Just be patient anyway and don't start doing anything too violent. It will free up, I promise you. It's just a pressure fit.

 

3. Probably best to take the caliper off now; Firstly take the pads out. Looking at the back of the caliper you can see two small R-clips, one at the top of the caliper, one at the bottom. Pull them both out (easy) and then pull out the two long pins that run across the back of the pads. Myles has some excellent pictures of all of this on his website if it's not clear. You probably need to push back the caliper pistons now to get the pads out, so just use a pair of long-nose pliers and open them up to push on each of the pads. It should be easy - if it's not, you might have a stuck piston (as I have). Push the pads right back and then take them out. Now locate the two bolts behind the caliper that hold the caliper on to the hub and undo them. They should be quite tough. Now lift the caliper out, away from the disc and suspend it off the wing stay with a piece of string or something like that. Or just suspend it off the braided hose I suppose.

 

4. Now look at where the domed cap was that you took off in 2. You can see a castellated nut and a split pin going through it. Take out the split pin and throw it away. Remove the nut which should be not much more than finger tight. You are now going to take the hub and disc off the stub axle, but the front bearings are going to come out first, so make sure you catch them and put them somewhere clean. You might want to consider replacing or repacking them.

 

5. Now you have the hub and disc, you need to split them. There are four bolts joining them and they might be very tight. Either way, drop the hub/disc back into an upside down wheel and sit on the wheel. You might want a breaker bar, but by sitting on the wheel you'll be able to apply more pressure. Some people end up struggling to free these - they were fine for me. Once they are off, you can split the hub and disc.

 

6. Might be worth cleaning up the hub now, on the surfaces that are going to mate with the new disc. I did a little gentle rubbing with emery cloth and a light file. Then I wiped it down with a bit of white spirit. Don't go mad, but just try to get any crud off.

 

7. I've read somewhere that new discs have a protective coating on and that you should give them a clean with petrol or brake cleaner. I didn't do this, but maybe you should? Just remember, anything that touches the disc - make sure it leaves no residue and make sure you don't wipe it with an oily rag or anything like that.

 

8. Bolt the hub and new disc back together again but remember to use loctite on these bolts. They tighten to something like 25 ft lb, which really is suprisingly little in my opinion. You'll probably want to do the hub-in-the-wheel trick again here. Then put the hub/disc back on the stub axle and put the bearings back on in front. Put the castellated nut back on. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN IT. Strong finger tight it says somewhere in the archives. New split pin. Put the caliper back on (60 NM torque on the two bolts) and pads back in and the bars back on behind the pads and the R-clips back into the bars. If you are happy with everything at this point (rotate the disc and be happy it's running free), pop the domed cap on (I used a very light hammer and a piece of wood to drift it back on, or whatever the phrase is).

 

Take it for a nice gentle test run :-)

 

stephen

 

[CageyH]

Remove wheels after jacking and placing car on axle stands

Remove caliper assembly from hub and suspend securely

Remove dust caps from front hubs - carefully if you want to re-use them

Remove split pin

Undo nut

Remove wheel bearing

Remove disc

 

Assembly is the reverse.

 

Check the felt seals, and pay special attention to torquing up the nut, so as not to damage the bearing.

 

[CageyH]

D'oh!

[stephen grant]

 

I think I preferred your version

[Myles]

Some helpful pics here

 

Project Scope-Creep is live...

 

Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™

 

Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com

---

[jono]

Re domed cover,

 

I found that some mole grips lightly pre-loaded with some kitchen roll between the jaws and rocked gently removed them dead easily and left no marks. Then tap back on with a soft face mallet .

 

Re-pack wheel bearings while they're off

 

Oh, and replace that felt seal at same time or you'll have grease all over your new discs after a few miles

[Jaseb]

Many thanks chaps, very detailed and reassuring, I got as far as the domed cover and wondered how to get that off so put the wheels back on and went out for a blat 😬

 

Myles, I used your site to suss out the rears