Anybody have any tricks for removing the lower rear caliper bolt?

The genius designers put the emergency brake cable right in the way of the caliper bolt head. I can't get penetrating oil on the bolt. I also can't remove the bolt holding the emergency brake bracket.

Anyone know why these genius' mounted the bolt heads backwards and used torx heads instead of regular bolts? I think that the caliper torx bolt is close to being stripped.

Most caliper bolts are torx or allen. Why, I have no idea... Part of working on a Fiero is removing several sub-assemblies to get to the part you want to remove.

------------------

1984 Fiero SE

A big part of it is that its next to impossble to strip a torx or allen if you use the right size. The bolt head forms a solid circle around the bit, so it cant flex and round, also the bits cant really go on crooked like you can get a wrench on half way or a socket sideways.

As far as getting the caliper off, just unhook the ebrake cable, which you have to do to take the caliper off anyway.

Yup. Unhook the brake cable and remove it from the bracket. Then put in your Torx bit on a ratchet. Happy brake repairs.

quote Originally posted by Synthesis: Yup. Unhook the brake cable and remove it from the bracket. Then put in your Torx bit on a ratchet. Happy brake repairs.

Yup that's the way to do it... ^

Just pull the spring back and slip the cable off the ebrake arm then you can get at it.

If their really tight I put a little heat on the arm at the threaded end of the bolt and have alway got them out.

Depending on how seized it is, you have a few choices. I broke off a few torx bits on my 84, finally I ripped off the little rubber boot and used a pipe wrench and cheater bar with a floor jack. Sometimes ONLY brute strength can defeat the unmoveable!

------------------
carpe diem

Remember, you CAN heat the part where the bolt threads into. Get it very hot around the bolt (Not the bold itself) and it will come loose.

I finally got the caliper off. Since someone said the torx head caliper bolts probably weren't stripped I went and bought a new torx socket. The torx bolts sure looked stripped to me.

I compressed the piston and put the new pads in and couldn't quite get the caliper to fit over the new rotor. So I tried ratcheting the piston down using that square box tool. And it didn't work. Suddenly the piston fully extended out against the opposite side of the caliper. And it wouldn't compress.

Anyone know what happened here?

quote Originally posted by btklassy: I finally got the caliper off. Since someone said the torx head caliper bolts probably weren't stripped I went and bought a new torx socket. The torx bolts sure looked stripped to me. I compressed the piston and put the new pads in and couldn't quite get the caliper to fit over the new rotor. So I tried ratcheting the piston down using that square box tool. And it didn't work. Suddenly the piston fully extended out against the opposite side of the caliper. And it wouldn't compress. Anyone know what happened here?

The torque screws should not strip with the correct tool when used correctly (BTW, most manufacturers (if not all) now use torx screws on the calipers).

The only thing that would cause the piston the extend out is if you turned the ebrake lever on the back (or the brake pedal was pressed). When compressing the piston back in (rears only - fronts do not need to be rotated): the passenger side you turn the piston clockwise and counter-clockwise on the driver's side. It is possible it could be very hard to turn - in this case you could try removeing the e-brake lever, install a socket over it and use a c-clamp to press the piston back in (the socket will allow the shaft to rotate - just be careful with the seal on both the piston and the backside). However, if it fully extended, that could be a problem.