Rear caliper sliding pin kit

[Nelly]

As part of my rear brake refurb I have purchased a sliding pin kit from SJS for the rear calipers on my S2 Esprit as three of the four rubber gaiters had splits and a couple of pins didn't look that great but may have been salvageable.

I have run into a problem. The rubber gaitors are not wide enough to fit onto the caliper mounting bracket.  I spoke to Steve yesterday, who said he had sold loads of these kits and never had a problem before,  He didn't have a caliper bracket to hand to check, but to be fair to him he did offer me a full refund but thats not what I want really!

Here is a photo showing the size difference between old and new.  I could understand if the new needed a bit of heat to be persuaded to go on but I can't see it stretching anywhere near enough to fit.  New is on the left and old on the right, with the edge which fits to the mounting bracket facing upwards (the fit on the pin itself is fine):

Has anyone purchased one of these kits and had any problems, or come across this issue and solved it?  I can't see as though my brackets are non standard in any way.

Just another small hurdle to try and overcome...

 

 

[910Esprit]

I fitted some last year from SJS, went on no issues.    Have you actually tried to fit them?    Difference in size doesn't seem much to me for thin stretchy rubber

[Nelly]

Yeah I have, I know I am not the greatest on this and having spoken to Steve yesterday it occured to me to see if it was just me.  Steve is no fool after all.

[Andyww]

1 hour ago, 910Esprit said:

  Difference in size doesn't seem much to me for thin stretchy rubber

Getting thin stretchy rubber over very large items is an acquired skill

[Nelly]

Clearly not had enough practice.....I have been critiicised for not using my equipment enough

[Paul Coleman]

On 11/03/2017 at 19:14, Andyww said:

Getting thin stretchy rubber over very large items is an acquired skill

And the bit on the end is to put your foot on when you take it off

[C43]

I have fitted the kit from SJ on two Esprits in the last year. Both needed some persuasion but went on after a bit of work and look good now. 

good luck

Christian

[Nelly]

Thanks Christian,  I was hoping to get a serious answer eventually!

I will have another go this weekend, I was thinking of putting them in hot water to soften them up - unless you have any other tips?

 

[C43]

I did not use hot water. Obviously there is quite a lot of grease around from fitting the sliding pins but that can be a pain.

Just don't use a sharp tool as it will split the rubber.

 

[Rolls]

Mine went on easily late last year.

use lots of break grease on the lip.

[C43]

looks nice in gold. Did them gold on my brothers car and you can see them from the rear, look really cool on an S2.

[Nelly]

Thanks for this, I will be having another go tomorrow.

As it happens I have painted mine gold too, but they don't look anywhere as nice as Rolands.  They do look special.

[Nelly]

Job done this afternoon, I didn't appreciate just how stretchy the rubber actually is.  Was very fiddly, lots of swear words - I think it would be easier doing off of the car rather than on it like I did, the one by the battery box was an absolute pain. Still. another hurdle overcome so thanks for all replies.

[DaveyT]

Did mine in gold, too, and I have this job yet to do, so thanks for the heads up...

what paint /paint system did you use? I went with hammerite, but it's starting to dub off on the edges just with figment handling, so may have to do them again.

 

 

[Nelly]

I used caliper paint for mine.  Roland did a thread in which he mentioned what he did with his calipers, its on here somewhere.