Replace emergency Brake Shoes + paint calipers?

[siddharth]

Hi folks,

I just got a replace brake pads light today morning, so a brake check is on the cards. While I've not yet checked it, it is most likely my fronts that needs replacement and not the rears. However as I dug up information I found that the emergency brakes are drum operated (I used to think they clamped the disks!).

Now, my emergency brake lever does feel a little 'loose' and the DIY for the rear pads mention how to tighten the emergency brakes. My question is this : Is there a way of determining whether or not you need to replace the emergency brake shoes?

the 2nd question is on painting brake calipers. I'm thinking of painting my calipers red because I love their looks. I didn't find a DIY for that - so is there any material on this? The calipers will be off the rotors but that apart I'd like to minimize how much I disassemble the calipers since I'm going to deal with them the first time (yeah, I'm a brake pad/rotor virgin!).

The 3rd question is on whether or not I should 'upgrade' anything since I'll be changing the brakes and rotors. I'm thinking of going OEM 996 - is that a wise choice?

[PTEC]

I can almost guarantee you that you dont need new parking brake shoes. If the parking brake holds the car, most likely all you need an adjustment. Since they are drum type you can adjust them at the rear wheels. However since you're saying the lever feels loose you probably just need to adjust the handle. If you remove the panel at the bottom of the rear center console compartment there is an adjustment that can be made for the handle. Porsche calls for 4-5 clicks max at the handle.

Edited July 3, 2007 by PTEC

[Ahsai]

Hi Sid,

I painted my friend's '99 calipers with dupicolor high heat spray paint followed by a high heat clear coat 1 yr ago. I've attached some photos. Basically, you need to roughen up the surface with sand paper and steel brush (not down to the bare metal though). Then clean the calipers throughly with brake cleaner. Then spray 4 to 5 light coats of red (20 minutes apart) followed by two heavier coats, then apply the "Porsche" stencil, then a few coats of clear coat.

We did everything with the calipers on the car so we didnt' mess with the hydraulic. However, you need to mask a everything else since the paint droplets will get EVERYWHERE. If you take off the calipers, it would be very easy to spray paint.

If you take your time, the spray paint will look no different than the real ones! The finsihed surface will be as smooth and glossy. No runs or streaks at all.

The calipers still look like new today.

- Ahsai

[siddharth]

Hi Sid,

I painted my friend's '99 calipers with dupicolor high heat spray paint followed by a high heat clear coat 1 yr ago. I've attached some photos. Basically, you need to roughen up the surface with sand paper and steel brush (not down to the bare metal though). Then clean the calipers throughly with brake cleaner. Then spray 4 to 5 light coats of red (20 minutes apart) followed by two heavier coats, then apply the "Porsche" stencil, then a few coats of clear coat.

We did everything with the calipers on the car so we didnt' mess with the hydraulic. However, you need to mask a everything else since the paint droplets will get EVERYWHERE. If you take off the calipers, it would be very easy to spray paint.

If you take your time, the spray paint will look no different than the real ones! The finsihed surface will be as smooth and glossy. No runs or streaks at all.

The calipers still look like new today.

- Ahsai

Hi Duncan,

That's a great job!! And thanks for the instructions. I'll be doing my pads and rotors when I get them from sunset and thought I'd do the whole caliper repaint thing at the same time. I also noticed that my current caliper's clear coat is peeling, so its a good time! Like you, I too don't want to mess with the hydraulics (too much to do, too little time). I'll be using the G2 caliper kit. Its a brush rather than a spray, so makes it less messy. I'll still use masking take etc.

I also noticed several posts on rennlist on caliper paint jobs. Since my car is black, I'm going with yellow calipers and black "Porsche" lettering. I was thinking red calipers and white letters ... till I saw a photo of a black C2 with yellow calipers. It looked great !

[Ahsai]

Thanks, buddy. The concern I had over the brushing are streaks and runs. I've never seen one in person up close so I can't comment. But I can tell you if you spray, it looks perfect even up close. Anyway, you can try the brush paint first and if you don't like it, you can always redo with spray.

Yea, yellow would be striking on your car!

Good luck!