Quick one, at what point do you say it's not worth
continueing trying to refurb rusty calipers? Pistons are
stuck aswell

About half hour with a wire brush so far

 

Blimey they are rusty, I would get a second hand set for £60 and refurb them or maybe get these?

http://www.godspeedbrakes.co.uk/~god...id_product=138

 

Providing theres still plenty material maybe ship them off to godspeed etc see if theyre good enough to rebuild

 

Forget the wire brush and get some hydrochloric acid , soak them in that to remove the rust , you will be there forever with wire brush mate

 

Looks like they have been rough carved out of a lump of coal.

 

Where would I get hydrochloric acid?

Ah, I see it's used for patio cleaning so I guess
B&Q would do it.

 

Find a polishing shop near you or get them shot/bead blasted that will clear them up nicely.

 

Also, how come the inner part of the caliper is rustier than
the outside part?

 

Personally I wouldn't waste money trying to refurb those, you would be better off either buying a better second hand set and doing those, or buy a set already done from one of the traders on here.
You might even get a few quid for yours doing a service exchange.

 

That's probably the route I will go. These ones were on a 2001 bug I bought
just before Xmas and had seized on passenger side within a month.

I replaced them with some decent used ones that came with drilled and
grooved discs so thought I would try my hand at refurbishing them but
I don't think it's possible with my limited tools.

Might save up and get some of the wrx pro jobbies.

 

I thought that was some type of fossil that's just been discovered.

 

Lol, yeah a fossil from 2001.

 

It's a WW2 relic!
I'd get shot of those, peace of mind with brakes etc.

I'd be straight on the phone to Godspeed.

 

You're a brave man for even attempting to refurb those...

 

I have admitted defeat on them for the moment.

Is it worth splitting them and saving the bits that are salvageable?

 

I would say nothing is salvageable on those. The pistons will most certainly all be pitted.
I stripped a much better set than those recently and discovered that only one of all 8 pistons was in good enough condition to re-use. So I decided to get a set of stainless steel pistons and seal kit from GodSpeed. Have stripped everything back as much as I can and this week I will drop them off at company local to me and they will shot blast and powder coat them, all for £25. (mates rates)

Once back I will fit the new seals and pistons and then re-fit to my car. In the mean time, I bought and fitted a set of wrx pro calipers which are bloody good for the money. I'm a bit picky though and want both calipers to have the white Subaru writing!

Honestly mate, sling them in the bin.

 

God speed are AWSOME, recently refurbed mine on a £235 exchange basis. Fantastic quality