Yesterday afternoon I finally got my hands on the key component to my complete overhaul of the brake system: the OEM Brembo calipers I'd shipped off a few weeks back.
I first contacted
Josh at Detective Coatings a few months ago to begin preparations for this latest tear down. He was more than helpful from beginning to end, and we first began by discussing pricing for his services. For $500 (not including shipping in either direction), all four calipers would be disassembled, stripped, powder coated a color of my choice, and rebuilt with new seals and dust boots. I sent the money, scheduled the time within a few days of when I'd be sending them (he ordered the rebuild kit at this time), and settled on Illusion Red for the color. I hoped the final result would be resemble the same red found on the Blackline taillights.
Fast forward a month and the car was up on stands and I had the old brake system off the car. I quickly packed up the calipers and got them shipped out to Savannah, Georgia from my location in North Carolina the very next morning. Josh confirmed delivery the next day and he began work.
A few days after that I get an email saying we have a problem. As Josh and I soon discovered, these OEM calipers have pistons that have ceramic inserts. The problem is these ceramic inserts warp over time because of heat and use, leaving them unusable when rebuilding.
These
aren't my pictures, but for reference:
Since we hadn't thought to order replacement pistons, now we were left trying to locate a set. After some research and a bit of calling around for pricing comparisons, we located a full replacement set in all aluminum from Stoptech. The only downside -- an additional $355. At this point I was in at $855 plus shipping both ways.
Although this was a bit more than I had budgeted just for the calipers, they were now fully rebuilt with upgraded, brand new parts and when I pulled them out of the box yesterday upon arriving home from work, they certainly put a smile on my face.
I can't wait to bolt these up, bleed the system, mount up my ARC-8s, and get my 1er off jack-stands and on the road again. But until then, let's appreciate the beauty of Josh's work.
