Except that while I was waiting for the Carrier to arrive I thought I would remove the Rear Springs and Shocks and for two very good reasons, the first one being that I could clean and degrease the Cage before Painting and Secondly to remove the Bolts and put them back with 'Copper Grease;

As when they need replacing, which could be anytime soon, it will be so much easier to undo those Bolts in situ and replace them, where the reason for not doing that now is that they are really not that bad



Those Nuts were really hard to undo so I'll be putting them back with 'Copper Grease'



Possibly getting near the Time to replace them but they'll do for the time being till I get her back on the road



With the Springs removed its easier to Clean and Repaint the Cage



What's in the Box? Hopefully everything I ordered



I'm really impressed with that Packaging, so good it looks as if it came from Harrods!



Isn't She lovely! what an Amazing Finish on that Solid Brake Disc Rotor!

The Two big holes are there in case you've got a Dana Diff (which I have not) so you can put a Socket through those Holes to undo the Calipers, which needs to be done before you remove the Rotors, although not so on the later Diff that is on my Car where the Heads of the Bolts when undone are almost touching the Diff



Long overdue for replacement I think you'll agree



The Small Box inside the Big Box was also beautifully packed, so well done to them



New Caliper Seals and Pistons as well as all the other little bits and pieces that I ordered, where if we have another properly Gorgeous Day like Today one of my first jobs is going to be refurbishing and rebuilding the Rear Calipers

 

Those nutz are nylon on the top shock bolts. My were tocuh as well. When I did my cage I replaced those nutz with new ones.

I didn't replace the springs but did replace the shocks with kybs

 

dont forget to recover the top shocker spacer that goes against the bracket , most peeps throw them out with the old shocks , and which side they are installed

BB

 

Hi BB Cheers!

Those Spacers are all to easily chucked away as you say but I've got all the Nuts and Bolts put away in containers so I don't lose them

 

Hi Rescue

Did you get a 'Shop' to re-spring the dampers, as that sounds such a dangerous job I'd rather leave that to those who know what they're doing

 

The thought of Rebuilding the Caliper used to freak me out so much, that I always bought New ones or Ex Demo ones from a friend who is in the Kit Car Business but with all this lockdown stuff and people saving their money instead of spending it, my supply of Calipers has started to dry up at least for now

Where the only other alternatives are to buy Brand New or get the ones that have been rebuilt from a Motor Factor, although having said that there are a number of Firms who will rebuild and refurbish your existing Calipers for you, which of course is a popular option for Classic Car Owners who want to keep their Cars Original

And so with that thought now in mind, I had a phone around to get some quotes, where talk about talking Telephone Numbers! as the prices I was given Blew my Mind!
with one quote nearly £300 which was quite a lot dearer that OEM Factory New!

So now that I had my 'eyes on the prize' I thought that I would have a try at rebuilding them myself 'I mean how hard can it be?' as after all you can buy a kit including Brand New Pistons for under £25 so seeing as I could make a massive saving, I really felt compelled to have a go and so ordered the parts

Which arrived on time all Shiny and New 'So what could possibly go wrong' How about everything that you could think of, How about waking up in your worst Nightmare! which was so bad I can hardly bear to describe it! except of course a problem shared is a problem halved so I will

Except of course that it didn't start off in that way, as when we drew back the Curtains this Morning, a shaft of red hot Sunshine lit up our Bedroom and so not wanting to waste a second of this very unexpected Weather, we were up and at it and already starting to make the most of it

Where the GF was planning a Morning run, while I was doing the Calipers in the Garden 'Oops' I mean the Grounds of 'Orange Blossom Towers'

'Baby Doll' (GF's new nickname for me) what are we up to this Morning?

Well my little Princess, let me put it this way, cos this time next year we'll be Millionaires!

'How come so?'

We're starting a Caliper Business! This could be the ultimate side hustle! an easy £500 per day! just do the Maths!

It's Math not Maths, I'll be back in a couple of hours to see the results!

So first job was taking the Old Pistons out, which I had pre-loosened with a FBH and Chisel as I was putting in New ones and wouldn't need them again, although I decided to keep them, as I am quite Sentimental like that



Nowhere near as bad as they look and so I could have reused them, though just in the interests of research I decided to clean up the Pistons



Using a Toothbrush to clean up the Crud round the edges before taking out the Pistons



One down and one to go!



At first sight they really look a total basket case but miracles can happen as you'll see!



Never ever, ever, use abrasive! as if you scratch the Piston or the Piston holder, It's 'Game Over' where the Weapon of Choice is a 'Scotch Bright Cleaning Pad'



Yass! that's what we're talking about!

Those Caliper Pistons were now clean enough to have been reused but since there were New Ones supplied with the Kit 'Nothings too good for my Baby' (@Greg)



Using a 'Pick' to hook the Old internal Seal Out



Out with the Old seal and then make sure that the Piston Tube is absolutely Spotless and for this I cleaned them with Brake Fluid and soft kitchen paper



New Piston and Internal Seal already to go back in



New Seal in place and ready for the Piston



Coat the outside of the Piston with Special Piston Grease (or whatever it's called) but don't use 'Copper Grease'



Trial Fitting the Rubber Gator which can either be fitted before or after you inset the Piston in the hole



It should look something like this when Telescoped out

So far so good but now the 'Nightmare' begins! because I couldn't get the Piston to go into the hole!

Needless to say the GF was somewhat unimpressed by my lack of progress, as even 4 hours later! it still would not go in OMG!

'This time next year we'll be Millionaires huh! well I can't see that happening unless you charge £1,000 per hour! and anyway you're doing it all wrong!

You're joking! 'No I'm not I've watched them do it, it should only take you about an hour at most to do the whole thing!

'Your supposed to use one of those 'Thingys' to push the Piston into the hole'

I haven't got one!

'Well don't just stand there, make one or use a 'Clamp' or something!'

A Clamp! a Clamp! I never thought of that!

'Stop telling me something I already know!' it didn't take you this long to pull the whole Cage out, so I'm rating you 'P' for pathetic!'

Dang I can't argue with that She was right, so I went down the 'Shed' for a 'G' Clamp



It wasn't the perfect Tool for the job but it was a 'game changer' where after a bit of faffing about The Piston slid straight in!
Note to Self: get a proper Piston Compressor before you ever even think about doing this job again!



Although the Nightmare wasn't over by a long way yet, as having put the Rubber Gator on they had to be held in place by this Retaining Ring which should take about 10 Seconds to fit!

One hour later it still wasn't on and so the last thing I needed was more 'well meaning advice' from the GF!

'You're doing it wrong, You're doing it wrong, You're doing it wrong!

Wipe all that Grease off your hands and then Wash and Dry them, or that Retaining Ring will keep Slipping Round and then use your thumbs on each side so you can expand it and then push it on



OMG! She was right! and then the other Caliper only took an hour!

So this time next year we could still be Millionaires!

 

Hell yes. I don't mess with coilovers. I use to but got wiser. Because of the size of the coils it took me a few places but the dodge dealership I got my van from did all 4 for like 100 bucks in 30 minutes.

If you don't have one near u maybe a Honda dealership might have the right size compressor as well.


I forgot about the dust covers for the pistons. There's a trick, I don't remember exactly, but it's something like put the dust cover over the piston backwards so when u slide the piston it it pulls the dust cover correctly then the retaining clip goes on easily.

There's videos on YouTube


Also did u not lube the piston first before sliding it back into the caliper? You shouldn't have needed the c clamp, which I always used on brakes and never had issues fyi so don't worry about the proper tool lol, to put the pistons back in. Just 2 thumps and squeeze them in..... nvm I just reread your post lol. U did lube them.

 

What with the Weather as nice as it is, with another Gorgeous Day in the offing, this seemed to be the ideal time to Paint the IRS Axle on '50 Shades' My Grey XJS
so leaving the Paint in the Sunshine until they were both up to Temp, I painted as much of the Axle as I could get to

As I wanted that part dry before I put on the Rotors with some Brand New Special Locknuts, which the GF picked up for me this Morning from a Motor Factor that She knows but I'm just gonna put them on loose for now until I've put the Shims back the way that they came out

Then later on when the Paint has dried, I'll then pick it up with my Crane to paint underneath it but rather than having to watch Paint Dry, I'll also clean the Cage down so that I can then Paint that as well






I think that I've found a New Hobby! as I'm really into refurbing this stuff, almost as much as I love driving the Car!

 

Yet another really nice day so time to fit the New Rotors and Paint the Calipers after rebuilding them but having said that I don't think I'll be going into the Caliper Refurb Business just yet, as I need a lot more practice and some more equipment before I let myself get to work on anyone else's stuff and besides I don't get the time

There's a definite knack to rebuilding Calipers which I haven't mastered yet but in the future who knows, although I have another set of Calipers to do so as they say practice makes perfect but we will have to see

Anyway back to today, where the first thing I did was to wipe off the protective film of Oil that they put on the Rotors to prevent discoloration



Cleaning the New Rotors with some Solvent

That was the easiest part of the Job but putting them on the Axle was a bit more tricky as the Axle needed to be lifted up quite high, so I would be able to put the Rotors on, where in a moment of madness a couple of years ago, I went out for a Pint of Milk and came back with a Mobile Crane 'As you do'

Which has proved invaluable for all sorts of things, especially as a 'Big Boys Toy' to play with! but today it was just what I needed to lift that Axle up, so that I could put the Rotors on, which also included putting on the Shims in the order that I took them off



Why is there never a Crane around when you need one? 'Oh hang on a minute, there is!'

That Axle looks much better with the New Rotors on, so next I'll be fitting the Calipers which I sprayed Antique Gold



Calipers looking resplendent in one of my Favourite Colours Antique Gold 'aka the only decent Colour that I could find in the Shed!'



Taking Shape quite nicely, so maybe I'll have her back on the road fairly soon although it's not a job I really want to rush, as I would rather take my time and get it right

 

Hi Rescue

Not going into the Caliper Business just yet!

There's definitely a knack to it, so I would need much more practice before I would do any work for anyone else

 

In the process of removing and rebuilding 'The Cage' of my XJS there was quite a lot of Cleaning involved to get rid of a build up of 'Crud' before re-painting and for this I used my trusty Pressure Washer which was connected to one of the Outside Taps at 'Orange Blossom Towers'

Ok so I've only got just one Outside Tap but lets not get too pedantic at this stage, as my Pressure Washer always did a Fantastic Job, or 'So I thought!' except that now I know what better is

As now I have turned it into an absolute Beast! so much so that if I dared to Wash the Car with it, then there is every likely hood it would strip off the Paint although for Cleaning 'Crud' off stuff, it just has to be seen to be believed!

All of which happened by accident, as the Weather was really to Cold and Windy to continue working on the Axle, or do anything else for that matter and so I got bored, where just for 'Giggles' I wondered what would happen if I connected my Pressure Washer to my 1,000 Litre IBC container that was full of Rain Water

That because I don't like Gardening as much as I love Cars just never got used and so in the interests of research, I thought I would give it a try just to see if it made any difference

So after connecting the IBC to the Pressure Washer, I opened the 3in Tap on the IBC and switched it on, where at first results were disappointing as the Pump in the Pressure washer started to cavitate, as it seemed to desperately try and suck up Water

Then all of a Sudden it all 'kicked off' and nearly blew the Pressure Washing Gun out of my hand, as I really wasn't ready for it, though once I'd got over the Shock of what had just happened, I realised my Pressure Washer had now been transformed into an epic 'Bad Boy' that could even cut through grease

And though I'm not a Physicist Yet!

Maybe I should study for a degree in 'Pressure Washology' as I found the IBC provides the Pressure Washer with such a really massive head of Water that many Garden Taps could not supply, that the only way I found this out was because the Water Bounce Back while I was Cleaning the Cage

Left me looking bedraggled and soaked right through to the skin, not sure why I was surprised as looking like something the Cat dragged in is fairly normal for me



I may be Cold and Wet but I'm having a Blast!

 

If this Mornings Weather Forecast was anything to go by perhaps it would have been better just to stay in Bed, as after a very unexpected Mild Spell for this time of year in the UK Wintry conditions would be returning on Sunday, which by sheer coincidence was Today!

Except of course as expected with all their Hi Tech equipment and Weather Satellites, they still somehow managed to get that a little bit wrong, with unbroken Sunshine all day long, so anything other than 'T' Shirts and Shorts would have been unbearable, as all day long it was hotter than a V12 XJS with a broken Fan Belt

And so with no time to lose I just got out there and go stuck in! where the very first jobs on the list were bolting up the Drive Shafts and then fitting the Calipers, where the bolts are inch perfect in length so that the heads of these back into the Diff, so it really a combination of both luck and very slim fingers to try and get those bolts in

Ok it was mostly luck and some help from 'The Jaguar Gods' although I'm pleased to say I got there in the end



Bolting on the Driveshaft with New Locknuts which need to be All Steel because of the Heat that could melt Nylocks

That bit was dead easy, so Calipers on next



With very little clearance you need a lot of patience and a little bit of luck (or is that the other way round?)



You really need Three pair of hands or something like a breaker bar to hold the bolt in place while you do it up



That looks pretty Centered and so I'll go with that



Next to go on were the Brakes with 'Greg's' Special Brake Pads, with a couple of minor Tweaks like recessing the Bolts but were my Brake Pads Too Big?



As you can see my Homemade Brake Pads were a bit too big, though since they are not in the way I am going to leave them as they are as they will give the Backing Plates a lot more Surface Area with which to grip the Brake Pad Material



Pretty much done and dusted for that part of the Job once I'd adjusted the gap of the Brake Pads

So how hard was it really?

Well I can say in all honesty, it was one of the most enjoyable jobs that I've ever done on the Car and that's because for one thing the pay off is so enormousness compared to the work that you have to put in, where the level of Satisfaction that you get is really off the scale

And I enjoyed doing this so much, that I cannot wait to have the chance to rebuild another one, although of course I'm not finished yet as the story will continue when I bolt the cover back on and then somehow manage to fit it back onto the Car, which I'm sure could be a lot of fun or maybe not we will have to see!

 

Great job OB!

Although those handbrake pads will probably outlast you, keep an eye on them each year, as the overlap of that extended bit, as it wears down, will mean that the two pads eventually touch each other on top and stop the handbrake from working. But that's probably 15 years away!

Cheers

Paul

 

Great job OB - you took something that looked like it had washed up on the beach and now looks good for 15yrs LOL.
You will have your hand brake setup before I do so i will be interested to see how it goes.... I have the second one to sort.. then try and fit them...

 

OB
Very nice looking job. Did you check the tightness of the dog bone nuts? If not yet, now is the time before the cage goes back on.
Those calipers and handbrake parts look like a professional rebuild!
As to the HB pads, I would just grind back the pad, not the backing plate, that part of the pad which is above the outer edge of the disc. If not there would be a danger that, as the pads wear, you create a "step" on the friction material which in time well might prevent the pad from retracting properly.

Just the tiny slice above the disc rim to go.
I am dead impressed with it all though! Good luck with the cage.
Now there will be at least three XJSs with decent handbrakes: France, New Zealand and England!

 

Hi Paul

I think that there is Zero Chance of the Handbrake Pads wearing away, as I have never used the Handbrake on any Automatic Car that I have ever had and so with me its only there to Pass the Annual MOT Test

Although of course I wouldn't rule out the Rolling Road from Ripping them off again, although with 'Greg's' New epic design I am very much hoping that won't happen and the Pads will stay as good as new through lack of use

 

Hi Duke

Cheers!

Setting up the Handbrake shouldn't be too hard to do but so much easier if you drop the Cage which is nowhere as difficult as you think, where the only reason its taking so long is that I'm going a bit OCD to try and make it look as good as I'm hoping its going to work!

 

Hi Greg

A compliment from the Forum Legend is a big deal for me but as I have said many times before if it wasn't for You and 'Grant' my Car would probably still be in the Garage gathering dust or maybe even rust!

And I certainly won't be forgetting to mention all the help I got from (ptjs) Paul who seems to have a Forensic knowledge of all things XJS together with the Teves Braking System, where without that, I wouldn't know where to start or should that be Stop!

P.S. Dogbones are on there really tight and so no worries on that score

But in future I must try harder to rebuild the Calipers in less than Eight Hours! which was a very steep learning curve for me

Too Cold to make much progress today, so I've been doing a lot of Parts Cleaning and prepwork already for the rebuild as soon as the Sun Shines again!

Alex

 

OB one thing I noticed is there is no spring washer under the handbrake pins mounting the hand brake caliper to the main rear caliper.
Originally there was meant to be a tab that are bent, mine have gone and spring washer are in place.

Not sure if it matters but worth mentioning anyways just in case....
Great job..!

 

The locktab is, in principle, important, as it stops the pins vibrating loose; now whether they actually would come loose with out ones, i have no idea! A drop of loctite would be better than spring washers, I believe. New locktabs are available from the usual suppliers.