brakes Newbie brake caliper question -- 4 piston and 2 piston

[Tangmere]

Ok, so i have a 75 '02. Nothing fancy, no kewl options, just a standard solex carbed '02. I just purchase this little hot rod and the front calipers are pretty much seized and i need to do a complete brake job. So after pulling off the calipers, i have noticed they are 4 piston. Does this mean someone in the past as put a big brake conversion from a Tii or something else, or was this simply an option on the standard '02 vs the 2 piston caliper?

[c.d.iesel]

4-piston is standard on yer hot rod

fergetabout rebuilding them.

get disks and front wheel bearing kits while your at it.

2-piston caliper was on the very early 02's only

[Tangmere]

Thanks for the response! So is this the same calipers used on the Tii "big brake" units, or is there a larger one to fit over the bigger rotors?

Thanks again!

[Chamonix72]

Read this regarding vented rotor upgrades. http://www.bmw2002faq.com/content/view/44/32/

[TobyB]

Nope, all 2002's after mid- '68 came with 4- pot calipers and unvented

rotors.

If yours are not too bad, you CAN clean them up and put new seals in them-

unlike briddish designs, the ATE brakes have chromed pistons, and it

takes a lot to hurt them. The seals sit in the bores, and ride on the pistons,

so the bores can be pretty bad and the calipers will still work fine.

If yours are truly rubbish, if'n it was me, I'd buy 1977 320i rotors, (vented)

find some 1981-1983 hubs, get some volvo 240 vented calipers

(I get mine at the junkyard, cheep, and put new seals in them, but

you may not have that luxury) and some fender washers (.070" thick)

and put bigger brakes on right now.

No, you don't NEED them.

Yes, they are very nice.

Worth it if you need to do the brake work anyway.

Maybe not so much if you don't, and don't track it.

t

[Tangmere]

This is exactly why forums are the BEST resource for these types of situations. Thanks for the responses, and especially the link to the Big Brake misnomer, that is the meat of the information. My calipers are Sooo bad that even trying the trick of re attaching the brake lines and pumping, only 3 pots even slightly moved. I sucked it up, found my local parts store had the calipers for 60 bucks a side, and just replaced them. Will let you know how the quality is once he's on the road.

Thanks again for all your time to shoot me the info, i do, as well as the other newbies do appreciate it!

[Mike Self]

(nt)

[Tangmere]

O'reillys in Kansas City. Actually was 59.99 plus 30.00 core and 9.00 shipping since it was a special order part. I will post again on this thread when i get them on Friday. Sounded inexpensive to me too, but was willing to give it a try. I can always return them if not correct or look right. They could be bunk, or decent rebuilt calipers, not 100% sure, but i have a good relationship with my auto parts guys.

[Tangmere]

Ok, got the new calipers today, and the look GREAT! Just installed them and work perfectly. Lifetime warranty, 60 bucks a side, 30 bucks core each. Very satisfied. I would have just beat the side of the house in trying to rebuild the old ones. O'Reillys has to special order them, but worth the 4 day wait. Oh, sorry, 9 bucks for shipping.

Thanks for all your responses, it really helped me out.

[TobyB]

oh, I lied- the turbo got vented brakes, standard...

t