Back on the road!!!

I went full-on Brotherhood Stooge and figured out a way to make the Brembo seals work on my ATE brake calipers. I had to hand grind the inside lip to enlarge them enough to fit. I will post pics of this later. It took all day to do this but it was worth it. I finished up reassembling the brake calipers and installing them on the car around 4 am this morning. I just got back from a 2 hour joy ride. After 18 months, it was so SWEET!!! I seated in the new brake pads and everything was fine. She ran so strong. I forgot how much fun she is to drive. Now I need to go crash so I can get up and go again! More to come. Later!

 

Haha, yes, I thought about that later. But at the time, it was the best description of what I was about to do. After working through the night and capping it off with a 2 hour joy ride, I was cashed out. But it was such a wonderful tiredness.

Update to my op: The Brembo seals were too thick to use so I had to use the old seals for now. I inspected each one and they looked good so I decided to use them for now until I can get the correct seals. The old dust seals were unusable. So in order to use the old seals, I had to figure out a way to use the Brembo dust seals. But they were slightly smaller in dia. so I had to hand grind the inside of them so they would fit.

 

No, I had to grind the inside lip of the dust seal to fit onto the caliper. Here are a couple of pics to show what I am talking about.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

It is also called "bedding in" the brake pads as well. This is to make sure you get the best grip from your new brake pads. Here is a copy of a post from Daniel's brake pad change write up. He took it from Dave's recommendation.

"The following is from Dave Zeckhausen of Zeckhausen Racing:
Caution: When you've just installed new pads/rotors or a big brake kit, the first few applications of the brake pedal will result in almost no braking power. Gently apply the brakes a few times at low speed in order to build up some grip before blasting down the road at high speed. Otherwise, you may be in for a nasty surprise the first time you hit the brakes at 60 mph.
When following these instructions, please avoid doing it in the presence of other vehicles. Breaking in your new pads and rotors is often best done very early in the morning, since other drivers will have no idea what you are up to and will respond in a variety of ways ranging from fear to curiosity to aggression. And an officer of the law will probably not understand when you try to explain why you were driving erratically! Zeckhausen Racing does not endorse speeding on public roads and takes no responsibility for any injuries or tickets you may receive while following these instructions.


1. From a speed of about 60mph, gently apply the brakes to slow the car down to about 45mph, then accelerate back up to 60mph and repeat. Do this about four or five times to bring the brakes up to operating temperature. This prevents you from thermally shocking the rotors and pads in the next steps.


2. Make a series of eight near-stops from 60 to about 10 mph. Do it HARD by pressing on the brakes firmly, just shy of locking the wheels or engaging ABS. At the end of each slowdown, immediately accelerate back to 60mph. DO NOT COME TO A COMPLETE STOP! (Note: With less aggressive street pads and/or stock brake calipers, you may need to do this fewer times. If your pedal gets soft or you feel the brakes going away, then you've done enough. Proceed to the next step.)

3. During this process, you must not come to a complete stop because you will transfer (imprint) pad material onto the hot rotors, which can lead to vibration, uneven braking, and could even ruin the rotors.


4. Depending on the pads you are using, the brakes may begin to fade
slightly after the 7th or 8th near-stop. This fade will stabilize, but not completely go away until the brakes have fully cooled. A bad smell from the brakes, and even some smoke, is normal.


5. After the 8th near-stop, accelerate back up to speed and drive around for as long as possible without using the brakes. The brakes will need at least 10 minutes to cool down. Obviously, it's OK to use the brakes to avoid an accident, but try to minimize their use until they have cooled.


6. If club race pads, such as Pagid Orange or Porterfield R4, are being used, add four near-stops from 80 to 10mph. If full race pads, such as Pagid Black, are being used, add four near-stops from 100 to 10 mph.

7. After the break-in cycle, there should be a blue tint and a light gray film on the rotor face. The blue tint tells you the rotor has reached break-in temperature and the gray film is pad material starting to transfer onto the rotor face. This is what you are looking for. The best braking occurs when there is an even layer of of pad material deposited across the face of the rotors. This minimizes squealing, increases braking torque, and maximizes pad and rotor life.

8. After the first break in cycle shown above, the brakes may still not be fully broken in. A second bed-in cycle, AFTER the brakes have cooled down fully from the first cycle, may be necessary before the brakes really start to perform well."

 

I now have many many pics of my whole project. I will now sit down and try to put everything together so that it makes sense.

 

Well, I am back down again. As I was just finishing up an evening drive tonight, my clutch pedal dropped to the floor. Thankfully, I was only a few miles from my house. I was in 1st but I dared not try and shift so I crepped home in 1st. I had to do a flyby on my house to get the garage door opened with the remote. Then I looped around my neighborhood and coasted into the garage. After a quick look under the car, I saw hydraulic fluid dripping out of the clutch pumpkin. So the clutch slave unit is out. I will did into her tomorrow. So close!

 

Does anyone know if the throwout bearing that Hill Engineering lists for the 355 works for the 348? Thanks

 

Yes, Daniel just verified this. It will work but unless the shaft has been undated, I will need the new one as well.

 

Unfortunately, you didn't read through the whole post. Back down again until I get the clutch sorted out. I will tear it down tonight to see what happened in there.

 

Pulling the exhaust and clutch housing off was a quick breeze. I think it took me about 30 min. It looks like the guide pin on the top of the throwout bearing snapped off. Then the back lip of the bearing housing (where the seal is) blew out. Since I just put in a lot of money (for me) into new brake rotors, pads and caliper powder coating/rebuilds, I don't have the cash at the moment to go toward the Hill Eng. bearing unit. I do not know yet if you can get just the seals for the throwout bearing but if so, I am going to see if I can repair the bearing housing. If it doesn't work, I have not lost anything. If I can get the seals, I will document my progress. If the seals are not available, then I may just have to wait a bit and order the Hill unit. Thanks

 

Hey Mike, I have been emailing Daniel since this started. He has been more than helpful. I sent him some pics of my throwout bearing and he was able to verify it was the updated style. So I would not need the $600 flange in order to use the Hill Eng. bearing unit. Because of this, I decided to go ahead and get the Hill unit. Daniel got it shipped out today for me and I will have it Thursday. Another example of the awesome customer service from Daniel and Ricambi. Thanks Daniel!!


P.S. I took a look through your thread. Looks familiar. When I opened mine up, the problem was very obvious. The back side of the TO bearing housing had blown out as has been described by others. But I am just glad it had the updated flange already so I could just pop the new Hill TO unit on. Weekend here we come!