FL2 Rear Brake Caliper Pins Seized

Went to fit new HBrake shoes and clean up the mechanism/adjuster yesterday (first job ever attempted on a car!), I managed to get the off side done without too much trouble, however the near side brake caliper bolts are well seized and are now slightly rounding. Any help on how to try remove them (I have replacement bolts) would be much appreciated!

Many thanks in advance

JOJSloan said:

Any help on how to try remove them (I have replacement bolts) would be much appreciated!

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You need a good quality 6 sided socket.

They're done up silly tight, so a torque wrench is pretty essential to, for refitting them correctly.

Nodge68 said:

You need a good quality 6 sided socket.

They're done up silly tight, so a torque wrench is pretty essential to, for refitting them correctly.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, I've just got a better 6 sided socket to try first. I've got a torque wrench as I managed to do the offside ones without too much trouble

If you get stuck with the bolts rounding, these will get you out of a bind:

They have a 3/8" swuare socket in the back of the hex for a ratchet or extension bat to go in, and they are counterclockwise rifled with sharp splines, hammer it on, and the splines cut into the bolt head. Then as you turn the ratched counter clockwise, the rifling screws onto the bolt head, taking a tighter grip, until the bolt unscrews, or the tool slips. If the tool slips, it suggests you were "gripping" corroded loose metal, simply hammer on a smaller size which will bite deeper into the bolthead, and will thus be more likepy to find solid metal which it will grit and remove the bolt. You can assist the process by tapping the side of the caliper in the vicinity of the pin with a hammer while keeping a reasonable amount of strain on the ratchet. Here's an amazon link to the starter kit of five different sizes of these godsends. I've hunted for an amazon link rather than suggesting something from screw fix or any other retailer where you'd have o collect it incase you find yourself grounded with an immobilised car, at least the amazon delivery service will get the tools t you even if you can't go to get
them.
Amazon product
Amazon product

OK, so the forum seems to be blocking the amazon link, but the title of the listing on amazon was
Irwin 394001 Bolt Grip Fastener Remover Base Set of 5, Multi
Hopefully that hels you find them.

Thanks very much for the replies and advice. I'm hoping to have another go tomorrow morning

AS above great tools to have in your box.
irwin 394001 bolt grip fastener remover | eBay

Thanks everyone for your assistance, a combination of WD40, hammer, breaker bar and better (6 sided) socket finally got them off! The shoes have been replaced and the mechanism cleaned up, the near side didn't work at all I don't think.

It's nice to have a handbrake that somewhat works now

Great and that was your first job too.

Congrats on the successful completion of your "first job on cars".

JOJSloan said:

It's nice to have a handbrake that somewhat works now

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Of course you know you've got to do the same job every couple of years, which is why the go wrong, because people don't bother.