GTV6 Rear Brake Rebuild

2094 Views 3 Replies 2 Participants Last post by Strega Alfa, Nov 17, 2015

Strega Alfa

Discussion Starter · Nov 13, 2015

Good evening fellow Alfisti,

I am currently progress of doing a rear brake rotor/caliper rebuild on my 1983 GTV6. The previous rotors were horribly scored and the driver side rotor was warped slightly. I ordered replacement rotors from Centerline, the cross drilled/slotted type available, as well as rebuild kits for the calipers.

Right side caliper: Good condition, replaced the boots, o-rings, but was unable to replace the adjuster screw rings as I was unable to get in with my snap ring pliers. I determined they were in good enough condition to pass on, as they had no leaking issues. I got this one back on tonight with the new rotor, everything looking good.

Left side caliper: This one is giving me a bit a of trouble. The outer adjuster screw does not have the little snap ring on it, which I am sure you who are familiar with this type of maintenance know what I am speaking of. It was not on it when I removed the entire caliper. After replacing the bore rings and boots, when I try to retract the outer piston in, the adjuster screw seems to "free-wheel". It seems like the screw does not have enough "pull" or force to retract the piston back into the outer caliper half and just begins to screw into the piston. This is my first time doing this, so I am somewhat learning as I go. With the vise-grip on a socket method and holding the lock-nut on the outer adjuster, it does not help. It will go the opposite way (piston outwards) until the piston is completely pushed out of the caliper, but moves about half an inch inward when I go the other way before it stops and the adjuster screw just begins to spin freely.

Basically, from what I have read on the alfagtv6.com rear brake rebuild guide compared to what I have observed, that little snap ring it what retains the force to hold the adjuster screw in place while also pulling the piston inward. I know it is not a problem with the threading. Has anyone else had this problem? I can provide pictures if need be. I am thinking if this is the issue then I can purchase the snap ring and it will solve this.

Thanks,
Carl

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sportiva

· #2 · Nov 13, 2015

You could try a piece of welding wire or similar to use as a retainer. not to tight it would need to be able move to let the adjuster rotate
Has the adjuster undone itself from the piston you may need to put slight pressure on the piston to allow the adjuster thread to take up' keep slight pressure up until the piston starts to retract. that's the only thing I can think of

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Strega Alfa

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 13, 2015

sportiva said:
You could try a piece of welding wire or similar to use as a retainer. not to tight it would need to be able move to let the adjuster rotate
Has the adjuster undone itself from the piston you may need to put slight pressure on the piston to allow the adjuster thread to take up' keep slight pressure up until the piston starts to retract. that's the only thing I can think of

I have tried applying as much pressure as possible while trying to retract with no luck. I may see if I can find a clip/ring at a local hardware store and install it after putting the screw back into the caliper half, rather than welding something to it. It may have to be removed in the future. Thanks for the suggestion though.