Hello to all.....here is my next project. After reading every old post I can find about the braking system first, and after driving my car even without another one to compare to, I will agree the brake system is not as solid as it should be. So the search begins. 1. Master cylinder/booster......some threads speak of White Post restorations, both for and against. I know they have been around for decades, since the very first time I picked up a Hemmings Motor News they had an ad in the magazine.....could they be that bad and still be in business ? I asked around the small town I live/work in for a local shop, no luck. I am in contact with f-chtr Al (400iGuy), who has sent his unit out to California for a rebuild, I will wait for his report. 2. Pads......also on advice from prior threads, I have ordered pads from Porterfield Brakes, they are due here tomorrow, nice gal to deal with, they had a "production delay" and bumped my package up to 3 day freight at no charge. 3. Front caliper rebuild kits...... came from my local parts supplier, $41 each plus $7 freight from Miami.....what a deal !! 4. Rear caliper kits.....unable to locate local as of yet, however, I can get the CarDone rebuilt calipers #'s 19236 & 19237 from my local guy, $50 each and I will remove the pistons and rubber bits and rebuild my original calipers. 5. Brake hoses......I see threads about Superformance in GB selling sets of 8 pcs, and customers saying they don't fit......too short.....prduction problem ?....wrong box problem ?......and there is a second source in f-chat that also sells hoses, anyone deal with him ? I retire end of May, I hope to start this project in June......then suspension....I welcome any/all input on a brake rebuild on 85 400i, I hope to make a new thread w/pics. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Gary I bought Porterfield front pads my second winter R&R. First ones sent were BMW pads an a few mm too thick due to different spacers. Yes, woman is nice and she replaced them, If you get them right the first time,thank me, as she made a note in her records that the 400i pad are the thinner ones. I'm not sure which compound you bought but I bought a "street upgrade" and I think it is a bit too hard for normal driving. Ken
( Thanks Ken.....I knew someone out there had got these already)...Pads have arrived.....I ordered a basic street pad, no upgrade.....I told her this it not a track/race car, local street/weekly driver only......see pic for pad type, I will find out when I stomp on the stop pedal ! I don't have the invoice handy, 1 set was $60, the other $70....I think. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm watching your progress as I will be doing most of the same things with my brakes that you are. It's always nice to have current information as suppliers and materials change often. Keep us posted.
My car is 55057, just 15 after yours on the line. 308 GTS QV (euro spec). Guess they might recognize each other. Your 400 is gorgeous.
Wow, Mark, how about that, pretty neat. I do know that mine is one of only 14 1985's built in Jan-Feb before they changed to the 1986 412 model, but I have never thought about how the other model #'s would weave in & out of the serial #'s...these two Ferrari's could have been driven out of the factory door the same day ! Thanks, my first Ferrari, so I also think it is fantastic ! Gary
I personally have these very pads on my 1980 400i, and love them. Porterfield company suggested, that, upon initial drive-off in the morning, to warm them up intermittently for the first block or so. I have done this since installation, and it pays off by the first intersection. I hope that this is of some use to someone. Thank you. Jq.
Thanks, Jacques, good advice......I will need to use the brakes 5-6 times before reaching the main North-South road here, that should do it, and I will be top cutting the rotors and seating the pads in with a few hard stops as well. Rear calipers arrived !..pics soon. Gary
Rear calipers here.....this weekend I will disassemble and remove boots, pistons, seals and bleeder screws to use to rebuild my original calipers. Then return empty castings to get my $70 core deposit back. I believe my pic got "photo-bombed".... Gary Image Unavailable, Please Login
The easy way to push caliper pistons out of a caliper off of the car is to use air power. So, with a blow gun, a short section of hose and a small steel brake line......"may the force be with me". An hour and a half later, we have 2 naked calipers and 3 ziplock bags of parts. And I did have a piece of plywood in between the pistons to keep them from popping out into each other. ( if your calipers are still attached to the brake system, you can use the same process but with your foot on the brake pedal....no power boost though, engine off.....and this way is a lot more of a mess....brake fluid !! ) Gary Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Good day Gary, Congratulations on your retirement! Also, can you provide your source for your front caliper rebuild kits? I am having a hard time finding these. Thanks in advance! Cheers, Sam
Hello, Sam....I walked in to my local "O'Reilly Auto Parts" store with a screen print from a f-chat thread which listed the ATE & BMW part numbers for the kits, the fellow behind the counter punched keys for several minutes and announced he had located 2 original number kits in Miami, I said " I'll take them....how much ?". You should have "auto parts" stores up there where you are...I don't know who, we have Advanced Auto Parts, AutoZone Auto Parts, Bennett Auto, and so on.....most all of these type are supplied by warehouses/distributors that are all linked by computer, so they are able to sell out of several different supply chains. Do some phone calling or face to face with any & all of this type of supplier, leave a copy of the part numbers, (state that you will accept a "cross-over" part number from another brand as long as it will fit), and let them know you are not in a rush, they will take time to look deep when they know they have the time to spend looking. I have been in the car parts business for 40 years, I have spent hours this past week working/making deals to find over 2k $ worth of parts for a 2004 Dodge Viper, including the very last known l/h door inner trim panel in the U.S. which arrived today from Texas. Keep looking, there HAS to be another set of kits out there somewhere ! Gary
Good day Gary, Thanks for your response! Sadly, up here the auto parts places are not as plentiful as on your side of the border. There are only a handful of places with 2-3 of them actually owned by the same company with a different name. This in itself is not a really bad issue (except prices are not overly competitive), however, finding parts is. In these local parts places the only way you can find a part is via the vehicle's year, make, and model... Bringing in an actual part number is fruitless unless the parts person is seasoned enough to know how to look...This weekend it took around 30 minutes to get a simple car battery for my Boxer, as the parts computer did not have it in the system (surprise?) and the fellow did not not know how to match up the battery's group number. In the end I simply went to the shelf and matched up the battery myself. As for the ATE numbers... I looked before and ran into dead ends. I could not find a local or Canadian distributor who could find the actual ATE parts. I know that they exist, but their systems simply could not search based upon the ATE numbers. Ultimately I found the ATE parts via Ebay. When you were able to find ATE locally I was amazed and thus my question as to the place, as they obviously could use the ATE numbers. Cheers, Sam
Hi Sam, Have you tried rockauto.com? I've not tried looking for these specific parts, but I've had luck finding ATE caliper kits for my 69 MB 280SL. They seem to have a good selection (and prices) for some old brake applications, so hopefully that would be the case for these BMW cross reference parts? Best of luck! Ruben
Good day Ruben, I have used Rockauto's search before and it is quite impressive. At one time they did not ship to Canada, but I think they do now. As for the brake parts... They can be found on Ebay (which is where I ordered them from before), however, you have to use the "short" ATE part number which is not always known. Given Gary's original post I just assumed that the vendor was a ATE parts supplier specialist and did not realize that the vendor was a mainstream parts supplier... which is good too, as it is encouraging that the mainstream guys can get some of these parts too. Cheers, Sam
The calipers started as BMW 2002 calipers and Ferrari and others added spaces to fit thicker discs. You will not believe how thin the 2002 discs are! So any BMW will get them for you at a bit higher price than Rock Auto and others. They are likely not at dealer but they have regional warehouses and I have source several 400 parts from them and they arrive the next day. (e.g. mirror switch) Ken
Sam......this is your lucky day......I went back to my parts place to return/refund the empty rear caliper cores......and asked if they could find another set of front caliper kits. Yes.....there were available again......I ordered a pair for you if you still want them.....same deal as the ones I got for myself. If you don't need them...ok.....I will offer them up to any of our group in need. Let me know. Gary
Good day Gary, You are too kind! Thank you very much! Indeed, I will buy them from you! PM or direct e-mail me your details and I can promptly paypal you the $$$ along with any other additional costs. Thanks again! Cheers, Sam
Sam.....rebuild kits are here....PM me with where to send them. Hope you are not in the fire area, it is major news down here. Gary
Good day Gary, Thankfully, I am not very close to the fire... about 5-1/2 hours South. That being said the scope of the Fort McMurray fire is difficult to imagine. For example we have around 18000 to 20000 people making their way to our City for safety, lodging, etc. A lot of them have lost everything and so a lot of people are donating to the Red Cross and other relief agencies in order to help. Sadly, the fire is not yet over, as the fire is still out of control with parts of the town still burning...and it is still unclear how much of the town will survive. About five years ago another Northern Community (Slave Lake) suffered a similar fate where a lot of the town simply burned.... and this Fort McMurray fire is significantly larger in scope. It certainly puts the difficulty of finding parts in perspective... Anyway, thank you once again for your help! I will PM you with my details. Thank you once again for your concern and your help! Cheers, Sam Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Just a quick update, Sam has recieved his new front caliper kits, all is well. I work until May 31st and then take June off to work in and around the house, and I have 2 Sundays in June of firearms class to teach. I will at some point begin the brake overhaul on 55027 also and will begin posting the process, see you then ! Gary
