Okay everyone, I've been working on the front end all day. As many of you know, I am replacing bushings, ball joints, tie rods, center link, wheel bearings, rotors, pads, etc., etc.

Today I have accomplished almost everything I'd hoped to, basically getting all the old parts off the car, except I don't have the center link out of the car. Any tips on removing it without pulling the subframe? I can't really hammer it out from above.

Second issue - the bolts at the strut base which should have speed wire - well on the driver's side these have been replaced with non-speedwire bolts. One has a 12mm head and the other two have 13mm heads, but apparently the thread is correct on all three. On the other side all bolts were present without the wire. I did shear one of these, however. There's a little thread protruding so maybe I can weld a nut and try it that way. I did try to get more of these from the dealer before I started but we couldn't find them on the fiche.

Third issue, and a big one. My calipers are shot! I thought they might be okay since I didn't feel any pulling under braking, but the seals are shot on both. The driver's side is particularly bad, with the seals pretty much gone.

I would love some suggestions regarding the calipers. I will not have any money for them until I get paid next Friday. Autohaus AZ has them for $55 each plus $40 core, but they say it's a special order item with limited availability. Anyone here tried to order from them? The price at BMP, BavAuto, etc., is just too much to pay if I can find another way.

Has anybody had their calipers rebuilt by a local shop? Is there a way to tell beforehand whether a caliper can be rebuilt? Anybody done it themselves? I know it's pretty easy but I don't think I have the necessary tools to do it right. I am thinking my left side one may be too far gone but I don't really know how to confirm this. I am going to call around on Monday and see what I can learn. Here's a pic of the caliper. I know it's hard to see. I'll have them off once I figure out how to pinch the brake lines to keep fluid from dripping.



Thanks very much for your help! Overall this set of repairs is going pretty smoothly, and if I'd had more money I would have ordered the calipers in the first place!

Andrew
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1972 BMW 2002 - Sold :-(
1972 Porsche 911T - Sold :-(


Last edited by andrewro on 4-8-06 06:22; edited 1 time in total