CarCare101: Project Miata: Removing the Brakes

[Bruce Nunnally]

So now that we’ve got the brake rotors painted it’s time to get our old brakes off the car so we can get them cleaned up painted and ready to install some new pads and stainless steel brake lines!

Removing the Brakes: Step 1 – Unbolting the Calipers: First things first, take a moment to realize just how nasty the undercarriage of a 20 year old car can be. Then grab your trusty set of sockets and get to pulling the top caliper mounting bolt.

Removing the Brakes: Step 2 - Finish Unbolting the Front Caliper: By removing the lower caliper bolt

Removing the Brakes: Step 3 – Remove the Front Brake Caliper: Once both caliper mounting bolts are removed, pull the caliper off the rotor…and then promptly remember that you should have removed the brake line from the caliper before you unbolted it. DOH!

Removing the Brakes: Step 4 – Removing the Front Brake Line:  Remove the brake line caliper fitting and allow the brake line to drain into a catch pan. You do have a catch pan right? Now we can remove the the front caliper.

Removing the Brakes: Step 5 – Disconnecting the Flex Line from the Hard Line: using a FLARE NUT WRENCH break loose the hard line fitting. At this point, I switch to a standard box end wrench to continue removing the fitting. You may want to use a little penetrating lube like Liquid Wrench to help as well. Whatever you do, you MUST use a FLARE NUT WRENCH to break the fitting loose. The fittings are typically brass and will round off if you use a typical box end wrench to break them loose.

Once you have removed the fitting use a pair of pliers or the claw end of a hammer to remove the retainer clip.The soft line should fall free at this time.

Removing the Brakes: Step 6 – Removing the Rear Brake Line: In an effort to avoid looking like a total idiot we’ll pull the rear brake line first this time around and let it drain in to the catch pan.
Removing the Brakes: Step 7 – Time to Pull the Rear Caliper: Unlike the front calipers, the rears are not self adjusting, so they are a bit more challenging to remove. However we’ll still start the same way as the fronts, by unbolting the calipers from their mounting brackets.

Removing the Brakes: Step 8 – Remove the Bottom Rear Caliper Bolt: Now you can pull the bottom bolt as well. At this point the caliper may or may not detach from the rotor.

Removing the Brakes: Step 9 – Retracting the Rear Caliper: Remove this bolt located behind the e-brake cable. It serves as a cap screw for a 4mm hex bolt that is used to retract the caliper. Back off on the hex bolt located under the cap screw. This should allow you to remove the rear brake from the rotor.

Removing the Brakes: Step 10 – Disconnecting the E-Brake Cable: Loosen the two nuts that sandwich the bracket the e-brake cable passes though, then pull the cable along with the nuts out of the bracket. Then disconnect the e-brake cable from the movable arm used to engage the brake caliper mechanically.

Removing the Brakes: Step 11 –  Disconnecting the Flex Line from the Rear Hard Line: Grab your flare nut wrench. You do have a FLARE NUT WRENCH don’t you? Use your flare nut wrench to disconnect the brass fitting located on the hardline side of this bracket located at the top of the fender well.

*Note you may need to use a penetrating lube like Liquid Wrench to help break the hardline fitting loose.

Once the fitting is disconnected grab you pliers and slide out the metal retaining clip holding the softline in place. (Keep this retaining clip. You WILL need it later.) Remove the soft line and set it aside.

Removing the Brakes: Step 12 – Talk About Filthy: These things are NASTY! But we’ll take care of that in a minute. First off it’s time to pull the pads and hardware out of the caliper. There are alot of little pieces so keep track of them!

Removing the Brakes: Step 13 – Inspecting the Brake Hardware and Pads: Now that we have all the bits and pieces it’s time to give things the once over. All the brake hardware for one front caliper is shown here. Keep an eye out for an uneven pad wear, as it may indicate a sticking slider pin.

You also want to check over the hardware and springs to make sure there are not cracks and odd wear patterns. You can reuse your brake hardware, but it’s super cheap to replace, so I’d recommend you replace everything when you swap pads. Keep your old parts though as you may need them if you loose something.

Removing the Brakes: Step 14 – Getting Jiggy with the Brake Cleaner: So break out that trusty can of brake cleaner, grab a couple of wire brushes, an old shop rag and go to town. You’ll be scrubbing for awhile especially if your calipers are as dirty as mine were. Just take your time and get them sqeaky clean otherwise the caliper paint won’t stick.

Removing the Brakes: Step 15 – Cleaning and Expecting the Rear Caliper - The rear caliper is completely different from the front. There is only 2 brake shims in the hardware pack and one spring. As you can see the M spring is missing.

Again take your time with the cleaning and remove all of the dirt and grim to insure the caliper paint will stick.

Removing the Brakes: Step 16 – New Caliper? Looks like it. It seems this caliper was replaced at some point as it looked to be a bit newer than the front caliper once it was all cleaned up.

Removing the Brakes: Step 17 – Liquid Wrench. Magic in a Can: Grab that can of Liquid Wrench off the shelf because you’re going to need it for the next step.

Removing the Brakes: Step 18 - Braking the Rotors Loose: More than likely the rotors will be stuck fast to the hubs with rust and corrosion. That’s not a problem because there’s a fix for that. Soak the back of the rotor with Liquid Wrench. Let the rotor soak. Then grab a bolt that fits in the threaded hole in the rotor face. As you crank the bolt in to the face of the rotor it will press against the hub and separate the rotor and hub.

Note: Don’t have a spare bolt laying around in the right size? Not a problem. Mazda’s got you covered. The bolt that holds the jack in place in the trunk fits perfectly. It’s almost like they knew you’d need it.

Removing the Brakes: Step 19 – Inspecting the Brake Rotors: As you can see you’ll need to let the Liquid Wrench soak for a good long while. In our case several hours. Once the rotors are off, look for any grooving or uneven wear patterns. If you find any of the above or if your rotors are warped, you’ll either want to have your rotors turned or in the case of the Miata, get new ones since it’s cheaper than having them turned.

That’s it. The calipers and rotors have been removed and cleaned up and they’re ready for painting and reinstallation. Care to hazard a guess what the next installment will be?

So that’s it. We’re all done for now. It’s time for a cold beer, and the we get to do this all again on the other side. Next time we’ll be painting the calipers and stuffing in a new set of Hawk HP+ Pads.

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