Brake Caliper Installation

I started this day by cleaning and degreasing the brake rotors. I am using Frozen Rotors for my rotors because they rock. They’re on every car I drive. Per the recommendation of the guys over at Diversified Cryogenics (the Frozen Rotor folks) I am painting these with 1500 degree exhaust paint. I masked off the rotor face. I sprayed the paint in a few coats throughout the first part of the day.

And then I moved on. I pulled the car down off the lift (We have a 4 post lift) so that I could pull the wheels off and do some more suspension work.

The first thing I did was pull the front wheels off so that I could swap out the front springs. I had originally purchased 8″ springs from H&R when I had the debacle of the not-fitting front springs from TC Kline. These springs were too tall. With the coils spun all the way to the lowest settings, the front end was still too high. So it was time to put in the 6″ springs.

Now that I’ve swapped these out, I’m happy with how the car sits.  I have enough adjustment to lower or raise the car’s height in front.  We’ll see how the 400# springs feel.

I also just want to say that the E30 M3 Front strut housing design makes it infinitely easier to swap out the springs.  All you have to do is pull four bolts on the bottom of the tie rod lever and three at the strut tower and the whole unit comes out, ready to be worked on.  Much cooler than having to pull the tie rod and control arm off the standard E30 version.

I finished rebuilding the brake calipers with all new seals. I added all new hardware, including the bushings and caliper pins. There’s not much to say about rebuilding calipers, it’s a pretty easy process, but it’s much easier with compressed air. Having these powdercoated makes cleaning them very easy. With just a paper towel wipe, these will clean up pretty good.