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Some progress on the brakes. It took a couple of hours but all of the calipers and brackets are clean and ready for rebuilding and painting. Here's one of the fronts:
The before photo is several posts above this one. It really did take only a couple of hours. The first hour was the roundtrip to the sandblaster to drop them off. The second hour was the roundtrip to the sandblaster to pick them up. So two hours and $60 is a more complete accounting.
A little background. Last weekend I spent a little time trying to remove 19 years of brake dust with various methods: solvents, scrubbing, wire brushes, swearing, but nothing worked. Or rather, it worked enough to show that it could be done but would take approximately forever. So I started looking for a place that could sandblast them. In our relatively small town, that wasn't easy. I almost gave up and did look at rebuilt calipers online but persistence paid off and I found a place willing to do it. Everything else in their shop was the size of a fire engine or larger so they must have wanted my calipers just for a change of pace. So now I'm ready to finish tearing them down (the pistons and seals were left in place to protect the cylinders during blasting -- they are being replaced) and then begin painting. Then new pistons, seals, and hardware.
WOW!! nice call finding someone to sand blast them! I looked into buying the equipment to do it and it wasn't worth it, and I couldn't find anyone local to do it for a reasonable price, that definitely looks like the way to go though.
I lucked out with that place. They did good work at a reasonable price.
These are the intercooler boot clamp screws. Two coats of primer and three of enamel topcoat. I like making these little pieces look good but I'm anxious for Spring so that I can dig into bigger jobs.
It has been in the 70's here the last 2 days, will get colder by this weekend. The dogwoods are starting to get buds so it won;t be long before everything is in bloom again.
I nstalled the new pedal covers on the R50 and they look fantastic. I like the little details that make a difference too.
I hope the weather has been better for you. It was almost 80 yesterday and was 80 today. Detailed all our cars and did a bunch of yard work. The dogwoods are in full bloom now and the oak trees are starting to bud. Colder and rain almost every day during the week, no rain but cooler for next weekend.
It's been a little warmer but still too cold to spend much time in the garage. The weatherman toyed with us yesterday -- the prediction was for 58. I was excited for some time with the car. Unfortunately, it only got up to 45. I did a few minor things but not nearly as much as I had planned. It's like this every year at this time -- waiting for spring temperatures so that we can end our hibernation.
I now have all of the parts to rebuild the calipers. The plan is to paint and rebuild them the week of March 14. Then I'll order the rotors, pads, and stainless lines. That week I'm also headed to the eastern (much more populated) part of the state to pick up a used front bumper carrier from someone parting out an R53.
As soon as we get a few days in the 50s, I'll get back to diagnosing the idle stumble.
Last Saturday it was 78 degrees, this Saturday the forecast is for it to be in the 20's with snow and 20 to 30 MPH winds. I hope this is the last gasp of old man winter. There is no way I would live up north, I'd freeze to death.
I have some time off next week and by a stroke of good luck, the forecast is for temperatures in the 50s. My plan is to spend as much time in the garage as possible so I hope to make some progress with a few things. Not sure if it will be warm enough to paint the calipers but will am watching the weather app just in case.
Got started today - the rest of the parts should arrive on Monday. Later in the week I plan to read codes and do a smoke test. I it will give me a better idea of what is causing the idle stumble so that I don't have to blindly throw parts at it (O2 sensors, MAP and TMAP sensors, fuel pump, various vacuum lines).
I'm also going to get an oil pressure reading and do a compression test since I haven't had a chance to do either of those things since replacing the head. I had planned to start painting the brake calipers but I'm not sure it will be warm enough for enough of the day to be able to do that outdoors. My wife will have a fit if I do it inside the house.
We woke up to this
It warmed up to a balmy 36 degrees with 30-40 mph wind gusts. Tonight's low is 15 degrees. I do not plan on doing much if anything this weekend.
I am having a 4-car carport installed within the next 2 weeks.
This is why I live in South Florida, hot is uncomfortable cold hurts.
Working on getting a mini split AC unit installed in the garage for this summer
Nice Quattroporte!! I almost pulled the trigger on a Gran Tourismo MC 2 weeks ago and stopped myself. I purchased some more silver instead and I am patiently waiting for the right time to make big buys again, when there is a huge sale going on.
Thats my wife's ride,
I grew up in central Florida and miss the mild winters. I tried to talk the wife into moving there when I retired from the Army but she wasn't having it. We moved to North Georgia instead. The carport is to cover her rides. Those are her 3 vehicles.
Thats my wife's ride,
I grew up in central Florida and miss the mild winters. I tried to talk the wife into moving there when I retired from the Army but she wasn't having it. We moved to North Georgia instead. The carport is to cover her rides. Those are her 3 vehicles.
Sorry OP to go a tad off topic.
What part of North Georgia? I was up in Blue Ridge about a year ago, absolutely love that area.
I used to have a vacation home in Sylva NC. I had a good friend who lived there, on Sunday mornings when I was in town, we would get up early and go on a drive in our old Porsches together. Since we were both heathens that did not go to church and the trip was about 100 miles that we took though 3 states, NC, SC and Ga , we called the drive, the 3 State Revival.
IIRC - we used to drive down to Mountain Rest, then head up to Pine Mountain before coming into Highlands where we would grab some breakfast, then head back to Sylva.
A couple of pics from a drive, the 928 was a friend of my friends who joined in.
We moved to Wisconsin from Florida. We lived in the far suburbs of Tampa and I worked in Lakeland. We were only there 5 years -- maybe it's different if you're from there -- but I didn't like it at all. From about April through October I found it unbearable. On the other hand, the temperature was 1 when I got up this morning so I guess I should be careful what I wish for.
I live outside of Rome GA. Blue Ridge is about an hour and a half north east from here. My father lived in Vero so I know exactly where Jupiter FL is.
Nice Porsche.
The smoke machine is complete. It's powered by the car battery with air provided by a compressor at very low pressure. The rubber stopper on top serves as a relief, just in case. I plan to put it to use on Thursday.
This afternoon, a few guys from work came over to hang out in the garage, celebrate the day with some Guinness, and try to diagnose the idle stumble. I had connected an oil pressure gauge since I hadn't yet checked it since reassembling the engine in January. So that was the first job. It seems high. It was over 60 at startup (5W30 oil, ambient temperature about 50). It dropped as the car warmed up, ultimately settling at over 15 psi. The oil isn't over full so I'm not sure what's going on with that.
The second task was to do a smoke test to find what I thought was a certain vacuum leak somewhere. My new Youtube-inspired smoke machine worked like a charm but there was no sign of a leak anywhere. Really surprising but good news.
In other good news, the car ran very well. No stumble and no sign go the ticking/tapping that I heard in January. I let it run quite a while, got up to temperature and went through several cycles of the low-speed fan. I shut it down, let it sit a while and then restarted. Again it ran well, even under throttle. The only thing that's changed since the symptoms the last time it ran is the new fuel injectors. I guess it's possible that the injectors were the cause of both the stumble and the ticking -- several go you suggested that the tickings sounded like injectors. So I'm cautiously hopeful that was it.
The only (minor) bad news is that at the end of the day there was an error code for the pre-cat O2 sensor. I already ordered an NTK replacement and hope to install it this weekend.
Between work and weather, I haven't made a lot of progress in a couple of weeks. Today I started putting the calipers back together. The fronts are done; still trying to get the dust boots installed on the rears. I am happy with the painting result. POR-15 caliper paint is difficult to work with. It is very thick which makes it difficult to apply thin coats. As a result, runs and drips are common. I started with the brackets since they are less visible. Then I did the rears. By the time I did the front calipers, I'd learned a little and decided not to use the rust prevention coat because I thought that was contributing to the difficulties. I don't know if I was right but the fronts did seem easier and the result was a little better.
I think they look pretty good and I realize that no one will ever look at them as carefully and critically as I am. I'll post more photos after they are installed with new rotors, pads, and stainless steel lines.
The hesitation issue that you have - is it the 'yoyo' that a lot of people talked about back in the day, or a slight hesitation under acceleration every so often?
Have you replaced the bypass valve? After I rebuilt my head and put the car back together, I did notice a slight hesitation as well. I replaced the bypass valve with one of the stiffer-spung ones from Detroit-tuned, and that did it. I was about to start replacing sensors. I did also replace one of my O2 sensors around that time also, so could have been one or the other, but my recollection is that the BPV really made a difference.
@jcolletteiii I don't know if it's the yo-yo. I'll need to spend some time on road and see if the stutter occurs once the car has re-learned trims etc with all of the changes I've made. The simple manual check of the bypass valve show that the spring seems strong but who knows.
@ChiefM I was wondering where you were. Actually, I saw the long list of work you're performing on the Escalade. I hope it's all going well.
It's going quite well. I had to shift focus for a little bit.
I have replaced everything related to the suspension and braking system. I installed new Upper and lower control arms on the rear end, new pan hard bar, new sway bar bushings and drop links. Dropped the front diff and oil pan and installed a new oil pick up tube O-ring and oil pan gasket. New front, upper and lower control arms, inner and outer tie rod ends. new front sway bar bushings and end links. New front wheel bearings and new brake pads and rotors all the way around. Flushed the brake fluid and changed the power steering fluid. New belt tensioner and idler pulley for the main belt and new tensioner for the AC belt. New shocks all the way around.
It was well worth it because it rides and stops like brand new again. Not taking any chances of it breaking down on the highway on vacation in June. Once it gets back from the body shop, I will do the service on the 05 Cabrio.
It turns out that putting dust boots on R53 rear calipers is easier said than done. Simply pushing them didn't work (though it worked for the fronts). Using trim tools to try to press them on didn't work. Swearing at them didn't work. Fortunately, I came across a blog post (from Australia, I think) that described using a brake caliper piston tool and a plastic sprayt paint cap as a press. Unfortunately, the dust boot simply laughed as the cap collapsed. But I know a good idea when I see one and went in search of a stronger press fitting. A piece of two inch exhaust pipe is a good fit. So I stopped by a local exhaust shop and asked for a piece of scrap. Not only did they give me the scrap, the guy made sure the ends were square and wouldn't accept money. So I'm giving a shout-out to Exhaust Plus in West Salem. All of you in greater La Crosse stop by and throw them some business.
Anyway, a little dremel work to make sure there were no sharp edges on the exhaust-pipe-turned-tool and then I gave it a shot. Worked like a charm. All four calipers are now reassembled and ready for installation. With a little luck, I'll get to that on Sunday.
