Rover owners: AP Caliper refurb experiences

I've recently refurbed my AP callipers...not the seals coz they seem to be fine and the callipers worked well..but everything else.

Thought I'd share the edited highlights..

1. I split the callipers so it would be easier to extract the wear plate screws. This is normally not a good thing to do coz most callipers share the brake fluid internally via O ringed sealed passage ways which can be difficult to reseal. That isn't the case with the AP callers. Brake fluid on these is shared using an external pipe which uses normal compression fittings and is easy to remove and replace.

2. The old wear plate screws were sods to remove.. Of the 8 screws only 3 were removed using an allen key...2 had to be removed using a hammer and centre punch and the rest were extracted using a T27 Torx head hammered into the soft mild steel. All the screws seemed to be cemented in using copious amounts of red Loctite which supposedly only softens using heat. I didn't use heat..just a lot of verbal encouragement and the techniques listed above.

3. I replaced the 4mm allen headed mild steal screws with stainless Torx headed security screws. Because they are stainless they aren't quite so deformable as mild steel screws. The Torx head allows more leverage and better location than an allen key.

4. I replaced the calliper bolts, external tube, bleed nipples and pins with new ones from Mike Satur. I couldn't find anywhere that stocked all of the items and Mike posted them so I got them within 2 days.

5. I couldn't find anywhere the official torque figures for the 12.9 calliper bolts. The originals were torqued to EFTight spec. After some research decided to torque to 70 ft lbs.

6. I replaced the Mintex pads with EBC ones...Ultimax 2 for the front and Greenstuff 200 for the rear. These replaced Mintex 1109GF and 1202EE cooking pads which don't IMO give much/enough braking force. I'm expecting the EBC pads to perform better.

7. I spray painted the callipers using Autotek AT0VHTR500 500ml VHT Paint - Red (matt) and Autotek AT0VHTC500 500ml VHT Paint - Clear...1 can of each is sufficient for two calipers. I did 'audition' several paints before arriving at this choice.

Namely: (and I suspect the colour won't display truly on your monitor)

http://www.brake-caliper-painting.com - red brushed..which was thin, didn't cover very well, was streaky, cherry red in colour and didn't adhere to the calliper..it flaked off

Smooth Hammerite - red brushed, covered well but thickly..a bit streaky..again a bit too cherry red

The only paint which gave a colour close to the original, covered well and didn't streak was the Autotek VHT..The matt finish was fine IMO but was even better after applying a clear coat. I'm very happy with both the colour and the finish.