Paulgeorge01

Hi All,

Thought I would share this as it may help others receive a first class repair due to the common problem with galvanic corrosion on brembo brake caliper threads. Also very competitive complete caliper refurbishment costs using the powder coat method which is better than the wet paint service.

Recently changed the brake fluid on my Wr1. On completion of this I tried to tighten up all 8 bleed screws to the recommended torque for the M10 by 1.0 mm pitch being 20 Nm. The back 4 bleed screws took the torque but 3 out of the 4 front calliper bleed screws wouldn’t take the torque due to galvanic corrosion . The threads were completely stripped/galled out & a seal could not be obtained.

Contacted a few local precision machine shops & quite afew online brake refurbishers & asked if they could fit the time-sert system to all 4 bleed screw chambers on my front calipers but they all came back with the same answer being that it would be impossible to install a time-sert as the shortest time-sert in the M10 by 1.0 mm pitch size was the same length as the internal bore from the face of the caliper to the bottom of the tapered seat that the bleed screw seals on. So while carrying out the part of the preparation work that requires you to drill out the old thread to the required depth to accept the time-sert the tapered part on the drill bit would come into contact with the tapered bleed screw seat within the caliper bore rendering the caliper scrap as you would never be able to gain a seal when you install the new bleed screw, also the space out would be altered.

What I was offered from the various places I contacted was a helicoil repair, as you know basically a coil spring thread which is nowhere as good as the time-sert system repair which is a complete bush which is much stronger & more importantly is a repair that will last as long as the caliper will . I was also offered a kit to drill it out to 12 mm & install a 12 mm bleed screw but what do you do when the galvanic corrosion does it thing a few years further down the road as there is not enough meat left of the caliper to drill it out again to a larger size? The last thing you want is to scrap your brembo calipers as even a second hand front pair will cost you around £700 or around £1500 for a new set.

Eventually by luck I found a guy called Thomas who owns pro-calipers & addiction motorsport. He only works on Brembo calipers. Thomas guaranteed me that he had time-serted hundreds of brembo bleed screws & he had never had to scrap a set yet unless someone without the necessary skills had a go before him & botched it up beyond repair. He was actually touching the seats & re-dressing them as part of the process using a milling machine (some do this by hand ) which gives 100% accuracy making sure the point of the tapered seat on the bleed screw is 100% true to the centre of the tapered seat in the caliper bore with the added benefit of a newly dressed seat. I can’t recommend Pro-calipers enough . The guy is a 1 man band as he likes to keep the good name he has achieved for excellence in the caliper refurb business; he is the only one that I spoke to that could make a success of time-serting the brembo bleed screws. He is also using the powder coating method as part of the refurb process he offers rather than wet paint process. Check out the other services he provides at http://pro-calipers.co.uk/

He also has info on what he is up to on Facebook. I was £28 plus vat per bleed screw to install the far superior time-sert system which I was more than happy to pay to prolong the life of my calipers. Hope this helps others get a first class repair or complete calliper refurbishment as I have certainly done.


Cheers Paul .

yabbadoo4

iTrader: (8)

great service by the sound of things. will check him out thanks for sharing

Paulgeorge01

For sure Yabbadoo. Good range of services available including the dreaded Brembo caliper mounting bolt M12 x 1.5 mm pitch which has a misprint in the Subaru manual stating a torque of 155 Nm 114.3 ft-lb when the true torque confirmed by Brembo America is actually 114.3 Nm!! minus any coefficient factor for thread lubricant/anit-seize ect. As if galvanic corrosion wasn’t enough to deal with without having the wrong torque in the manual ! You need that like you need a hole in the head, how many STI Brembos have been stripped with that one I wonder?


Little bit more expensive to time-sert caliper mounts but these are a bigger time-sert. Thomas is a gentlemen to deal with too, he is working on a lot of high end expensive Brembos from Ferrari, Porsche etc. Check out the website, definitely worth alook.


Cheers Paul.

yabbadoo4

iTrader: (8)

yeah they are a pain. i had to get 2 threads helicoiled last time my bug was in. if i ever need it done again i will def check this guy out.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Hmmmm, so Brembo's are about as hyped as MoMo and Recaro then?

Thought so.

yabbadoo4

iTrader: (8)

not hyped they are damn good brakes just spoiled by the galvanic corrosion issue.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Which, given their hype and price, you'd think would have been solved by now? It's not like it's not a known issue...

yabbadoo4

iTrader: (8)

yep have to agree its something brembo should have rectified.

TheAngryFerret

I would have thought that they would drill the thread out with an endmill so as to not machine the taper in the bottom. Im guessing the places that said the stuff about the drill point marking the bottom just didnt want to be held accountable for any future failure.