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[yen]

Hello neighbour,
In a few days time I'll be doing some work on the brakes of the Capri.
At first it started as replacing worn discs but then I spoke to the brake shop and they said that I'll also need to do the pads (which is a given) and might have to replace the rear caliper.
He was a bit reluctant to book me in (mainly because they only open for 4 hrs on a saturday) so I figured I'd look into the matter and do it myself.
So what started out as a simple brake job has turned into a brake overhaul adventure.
So far I've bought 4 new rotors.
I'll be picking up :
a set of pads
4x brake seal kits
2x brake fluid
2x used calipers (from wrecker)
maybe wheel bearings (haven't had time to look at thet yet)

My dilemma is that I've never done anything more complicated than an oil change. I've read up about the process and I understand what I have to do but was just wondering how hard is it to replace the seals on a brake caliper? Anyone tackled the task before? Any advice to share?
And are the rear wheel bearings easy to replace?
Just fishing for tips, I've read up about the process over the past week.
Thanks guys

[Gostlrs]

i have done a lot of brakes. make sure you have a rubber mallet to hammer off the rotors. as for the seals they normally pop in and seal right up. i would suggest maybe getting all new clips and springs as well since you got everything else. paint them while you are there too..LOL

[yen]

Rubber mallet? No worries, I'll borrow one off a mate aswell as a G clamp
I didn't know you can change springs and clips aswell. I thought you had to reuse the orginal ones off the caliper.
Need the car on the road by monday morning so may have to forgo painting
Thanks for the tips Gostlrs

[Gus Kelley]

Hey Yen! Oh! WoW!  Get someone with you that has some mechanical knowledge and experience. If the calipers are leaking get others, don't attempt to rebuild them.New bearings and seals should be installed, make sure the bearings are fully packed. The fitting that attaches the brake line to the caliper requires a special wrench known as a flare-nut wrench. With that wrench hopefully you don't round-out the flats on the nuts. The auto parts store should guide you properly. After getting everything together then comes bleeding the system. You almost should do front or back individually at a time, in case you get in over your head. Any procedure is always best done when someone is there to hold your hand the first time through. Wish you luck!  Gus

[Rocketman]

Unfortunately the Capri is not like most other cars. The rotors are bolted to the inside of the hub, so its a fairly complicated job to replace them.

You'll have to unbolt the front axles, remove the hub (exposing the bearings) and unbolt the rotor from behind. These are not floating rotors like most cars where the wheel and lugnuts clamp the rotor into place. You need a heck of a lot more tools than a mallet to remove them.

The front bearings are pressed onto the hub and if you want to change them you'll need a shop press to remove and replace them.

The rear rotors I've never done. I believe the rotor is part of the bearing race, and the bearings should be serviced while you're in there. Again, not a floating rotor design.

Im not trying to be pessimistic but if all you've ever done is change your oil then this probably isnt the best place to start

[Gus Kelley]

Hey Yen! The bearing set up I talked about is for the rear. They are the tapered bearing and race.  The front are pressed on and are sealed and don't require packing or greasing. The hubs will have to be taken to an auto machine shop or parts store to have new bearings pressed on if needed. Again you may want to do the front one day and the back another with guidance. Good Luck  Gus

[yen]

Ohh man, uncool...
Things always turn out more complicated than they seem. Unfortunately there's no one else available to guide me through, I'm still keen to learn and what better way than to turn a spanner and get my hands dirty? =)
What I'm really terrified about is doing more damage than good, because in real life there's no CTRL+Z.
Thank you all for the prompt response, atleast now I have some what of an insight to what challenges lay ahead.
I'll tell you how it all turned out on Monday
Cheers to me not dicking things up!

[Phillip]

Gus, the front bearings definitely will need to be lubed, and yes this should be done by someone that has the equipment and the experience. The front preload is set by the spacer in each of the front hub assy's loose it and it will eat bearings forever, swap it with the other side and you may never get it right again. I bought a tool called the "Hub Shark" it worked great. A hydraulic press is the shop standard, if you have access to one and know how to use it, it will make your life much easier. Under no circumstance should you be hammering anything (no hammer mechanics allowed). Buy all the seals and bearings for the front once it is apart you should replace everything the same is true for the back. The rears are much easier, pull the nut and everything comes apart in your lap. You will need to press in new races for the tapered bearings (everyone always skips this step) but that is pretty standard.

[yen]

Hey Phillip,
After reading that post I'll probably avoid doing the bearings altogether if I can. I'm doing all the work in my front yard and I don't have a hub shark or a press.
1 day to go. I'm re-reading over all the notes I've collected in regards to removing and replacing calipers, swapping rotors (which may be redundant since we don't run floating rotor setups), changing brake pads and bleeding brakes.
1 Q though, what am I supposed to use to plug the brake hose line when I remove the caliper? Guide says not to bend the line. And how does the 'assistant' (brake operator when bleeding) manage to stay in the car, press the brake pedal and keep an eye on brake fluid level in the reservoir? Head out the window Ace Ventura style? Just really small queries that have eluded me.

[Gus Kelley]

Hey Yen! If you haven't noticed a roaring noise coming from the front end or notice a lot of play when you get to the axles then I wouldn't bother with them. In all my Capris I've only changed two of those bearings. Both were on the passenger side. One car I know for a fact that youngsters drove the car a lot because of tire wear patterns. I suspect a lot of hard launches were made and probably a lot of wheel hop occurred. This wheel hop would have pounded the bearings to their death.  And yes Phil, I have a twelve-ton shop press with a multi-tude of press fixtures that enables me to do a lot of things. Years of tool acquires. These Capris are my real first experience with front drive cars, so I'm gaining recent knowledge. I do have some experience with four wheel drive as I've owned three broncos and one lifted short-bed F150 pick-up.  Gus

[yen]

Hey Gus,
No, none of those symptoms yet. I had my wheel bearings done when I installed the shocks about 3 years ago. Although I did have to replace one of my hubs with one I picked up at the wrecker, so realistically I have 3 newish bearings and one old, weathered and worn bearing (passenger rear)
I was thinking while I was under there might aswell change that too, but it seems well beyond what I can do.
Sounds like you have a work shop at your place Gus, were you in the trade at one stage?

[Gus Kelley]

Hey Yen! Unless you see obvious signs of worn bearings then concentrate on the brakes. No! I was never in the trade directly. Growing up, my parents owned a small plumbing service company. We did a lot of our own vehicle maintainence and repairs. My father before the pluming trade was a ship-fitter. He was more specifically a plate welder during WW11, building ships for the Navy. We had a 3000sq ft shop building with almost every imaginable metal fab machine. When I took over the company I grew it from a four truck fleet to a fifteen truck full time fleet with numerous specialty vehicles. Though I'm not certified, I can stick and wire-feed weld with anyone. My youngest son is even better. When I was a lad, I drag raced cars and motor cycles and auto-cross raced cars. I was very fortunate growing up. I could go into it further ,but maybe another time.  Gus

[Gostlrs]

damn why does it need to be so hard? i want to get some slotted/drilled ones soon. i see an all day project ahead of me then

[yen]

Gus,
That's quite an amazing history you have.
My folks owned a clothing store for ten years. First just one, then 2 and now none.
I never had anything to race with but I clocked up thousands of hours on Gran Turismo  =)
Parents always advised against anything labour intensive when I was growing up so only thing I got to build was Lego.
Now I'm a Architectural Drafting Technician with next to no mechanical experience, taking on a seemingly monumental task of changing brakes. Hahaha, not exactly an epic biography but that's as exciting as my life gets.
I quite enjoy listening to other people's stories (just nosey i guess) and I'm looking forward to hearing yours when the time comes.  

[Rocketman]

It seems Mazda/Ford designed it so you'd need to take it into the dealer for brake service.

For what its worth, when I did my brake upgrade I just re-packed the front bearings, I didnt replace them.

Its a good idea to have a torque wrench and a FSM for the torque specs for the bolts. If you need them for this weekend i can grab them, or see www.techcapri.com You're also going to need a very large socket (1 1/8? i dont remember) to remove the axle nut.

I'll be posting some pictures shortly