I have now received my calipers and carriers from the ebay link I posted a while back,

They are fully reconditioned, clean as a whistle VW/Audi ATE calipers, In natural finish ready

for painting to match rears which I'll start on today all going well.

I 'll take plenty of pics along the way and post them in this thread as I progress.

Hammerite smooth green at the ready.

I have read that there are longer brake hoses available to

make the fitting of these a little easier and wondered if anybody could link me

to a set of these so I can renew them at the same time as the brakes are fitted.

I'm not after anything fancy just OE spec in the longer length.

I realise the ones on the car wil reach the calipers but would rather have the longer ones

for ease of maintenance/service going forwards.

I've found these but am not sure if they are right?

Any help appreciated.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GOLF-BORA-A3-LEON-OCTAVIA-OE-FRONT-BRAKE-HOSE-1J0611701-/170545953986?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item27b554bcc2

I had longer hoses arrive with my set way back when but didn't bother to put them on.

Never had any problems with not fitting them.

They are currently loitering in a box, with the 288 calipers and a 95% full tin of Smooth Green

I didn't bother with the longer hoses and never had any problems when fitting mine.

Wow! quick replies

Cliff, how has the smooth green held up against the heat

and brakedust etc since you painted yours?

I was a little dubious of using the hammerite as theres no mention on the tin of how

much heat it can take.

However I can only find lairy bright green caliper paint anywhere on the web.

Also did you use primer?

Wow! quick replies

Cliff, how has the smooth green held up against the heat

and brakedust etc since you painted yours?

I was a little dubious of using the hammerite as theres no mention on the tin of how

much heat it can take.

However I can only find lairy bright green caliper paint anywhere on the web.

Also did you use primer?

Mine have been on almost a year, and still look fresh when cleaned with the pressure washer.

I didn't bother with primer, just a good wirebrush and wet and dry (I bought mine 2nd hand), then a wipe down with some isopropanol to get rid of any grease, then brushed straight on.

To be honest it's survived better than i expected.

I too was dubious that it'd stand up to the heat but just slapped it on anyway assuming I could touch it up at a later date.

3 years down the line though and while I don't think they are perfect anymore they must still be 95%.

There was a bit of flaking on the first couple washes but possibly cos I was scrubbing them too much, or had a too aggressive wheel brush, or possibly from areas where i'd over/under applied paint in the first place.

The bits that don't always get cleaned are a dull with brake dust but I reckon it's only superficial and a proper clean would have them green again.

Here is a pretty good picture although i think i'd done a poo job (or no job at all) of cleaning them!

I couldn't be arsed with primer so I just brushed the hammerite straight onto the grey of the calipers

Mine have been on almost a year, and still look fresh when cleaned with the pressure washer.

I didn't bother with primer, just a good wirebrush and wet and dry (I bought mine 2nd hand), then a wipe down with some isopropanol to get rid of any grease, then brushed straight on.

Mine don't really need any brushing sanding or cleaning, but I'll just give them a wipe with some aerosol

brake cleaner to degrease then and then crack on with the paint then.

I'll get a good 2 or 3 coats on there. They won't be going on for a few weeks.

Great stuff.

Mine don't really need any brushing sanding or cleaning, but I'll just give them a wipe with some aerosol

brake cleaner to degrease then and then crack on with the paint then.

I'll get a good 2 or 3 coats on there. They won't be going on for a few weeks.

Great stuff.

A few coats will be fine. You're a bit more handy than me, but I found that the paint runs a fair bit (even when applied lightly), so needed a little monitoring as it was intially drying

I fitted the Octy hoses when I fitted mine - as you say, makes maintenance a tad easier. IIRC Frigerpants was selling some longer TT hoses on here a while back for £10ish

IIRC Frigerpants was selling some longer TT hoses on here a while back for £10ish

Garry you can have mine for that figure if you want them

Garry you can have mine for that figure if you want them

Woah woah, first Dibbs........he's my customer ;-)

Woah woah, first Dibbs........he's my customer ;-)

lol sorry Mr Frigger I took the "was" in Gareth's comment to mean you'd sold them already

Don't shot the messenger - 'was', 'is' they're just words....

Due to an unexpected call back on a job (Largely down to two very determined ducks :wonder: )

I haven't begun to paint my calipers yet. Heres a couple of shots of them as supplied.

Just need a few spare hours and I'm ready to go.

nice to see a set in 'as new' condition

Have fun painting...

Im so jealous they are mint! cant wait to see them when all gleamed up. Let us know if they make a real good difference will have to be my next mod!

would these calipers and carriers fit yes?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VW-AUDI-312mm-calipers-and-carriers-MK4-GOLF-TT-S3-/280693462224?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item415aa254d0

would these calipers and carriers fit yes?

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item415aa254d0

Yes they are the right ones

Cheers bud

would these calipers and carriers fit yes?

Those are the ones I bought and that are pictured in this thread

Arrived within 48hours of ordering them. One happy customer here :yes:

Finally had time to make some progress on the painting today.

As Gareth said the paint is quite runny so I have decided to use

lots of coats using a stiff trimmed paintbrush rather than a

couple of good thick ones using a softer brush.

It didn't take as long as I thought so I'll be doing at least one

coat a day all week this week. They won't be going on the car for a little

while so time isn't an issue.

Very happy with the finish so far, you'd struggle to tell it had been

painted by brush even if I do say so myself. I'll post more photos

when they are finished.

Obviously this means the rears will have to be

repainted at some point to match the fronts.

But that will have to be done on the car so it may turn out to be trickier. :wonder:

It's easy painting them on a workbench.

Nice to catch up with Gareth on Saturday,

Shame we couldn't chat for longer, big plans for the old

banger over the next few months.

Cheers again mate

I've also relieved Mr Friggerpants of his TT brake lines

so they'll be going on the car too when the brakes and

other stuff are eventually fitted.

Comments/tips welcome as always.

Fair play Gary spot on Job

Karl

Looking good. You'll have to let us know how they feel to the 288's when there fitted.

So tempted to buy a set, shame im saving for leather interior.

Looking good Garry. Defo an idea to do one coat a day - that what I was doing with my 256mm rears last week. The Mrs thought I was crazy coming home each day from work and heading straight out to the shed for a painting session.

Was good to catch up briefly on Sat too. I hope that the discs & pads are fine - i'd advise perhaps painting the housing of the discs in a silver hammerite to prevent / delay the rusting issues...

Look forward to seeing pics of the finished setup on the car

Looking good. You'll have to let us know how they feel to the 288's when there fitted.

I'd highly recommend them - they really are so much better than the standard setup

Out of interest, does the 54 on the face of the caliper relate to the size/diameter of the piston?

They're looking good though, just about to start painting up some myself - lost the will a bit after dropping one onto my toe! :(

Out of interest, does the 54 on the face of the caliper relate to the size/diameter of the piston?

Never actually noticed this before, but yes you are correct 54mm/38mm on Octy vRS fronts/rears