I am having trouble with my driver’s side rear caliper on an 86 GT 2.8 auto. I have removed the 2 mounting bolts with no problem, but cannot get the bolt off that holds the e-brake bracket on the caliper. I

I warped the head of it by having it slip too many times on me. I picked up a 9/16", 3/4" bolt extractor at Autozone hoping this will do the trick. Will this work? Any advice on how far in to drill? It seems as though even if it does drill into the bolt, and once the drill is put into reverse, the drill bit will come out without gripping the bolt itself.

Does anyone happen to know the dimensions of this bolt? Autozone told me they didn’t have anything like that, so I’ll probably have to go to a hardware store to pick one up.

Thank you in advance!

That bolt is "notorious" for being hard to remove. Probably cause most folks don't take it off with a rebuild.

As I recall it's a torx bolt? When you say "warped the head", do you mean you can no longer drive it with the torx socket? Sometimes I've had luck with these using an impact driver. One of the kinds you hit with a hammer to loosen tight bolts.

Also, be sure you "soak" the thing good with PB Blaster or Kroil, and clean around it good, particularly the back. (Is this a "thru" bolt?).

Sometimes heat works good as well. As a last resort, if you must drill it, use a left-handed drill. Sometimes the combination of the cutting drill torque, and the heat from the drilling, will back out stuck bolts.

Hope this helps.

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Marc in sunny Titusville, FL

• 84 SE son's car, loaded
  
• 85 Coup w/V6 transplant
  
• 85 GT newly on the road
  
• 86 SE/GT "The Chameleon" - big plans!

quote Originally posted by Brent7088: I am having trouble with my driver’s side rear caliper on an 86 GT 2.8 auto. I have removed the 2 mounting bolts with no problem, but cannot get the bolt off that holds the e-brake bracket on the caliper. Thank you in advance!

If I am following this correctly, you are trying to remove the e-brake lever from the caliper. That is not a bolt, that is a special locking nut that threads onto the threads of the actuator screw. I do not believe that nut can be purchased at your local Ace hardware store, my understanding was that it something special for that specific application.

That was an excellent idea of using an impact driver, that'll break the nut free. Be sure to save the o-ring under the lever and use some brake grease between lever and caliper when reassembling the brake.

Honestly, I really do hate Fiero brakes with a passion.

So would the bolt extractor drill bit that I have work on the removal of this nut, or would I be drilling too far in? I don't have an impact tool at the moment.

If you rounded the nut off you'll need a nut extractor or a very good set of vice grips. I wonder if your local auto parts store could unthread that nut off the caliper for you?

I'm sorry but I just don't understand this bolt extractor drill bit that you've mentioned.

This is a nut extractor, it'll grip tighter on the nut as you apply torque.

Now I'm confused.

Brent 7088 are you talking about the nut that holds the lever the Ebrake cable slips into, and ratchets back and forth to activate your Ebrake (on the back of the caliper on a shaft that goes into the caliper piston).

Or are you talking about the torx bolt that holds the bracket onto the caliper body that the Ebrake cable locks into? I was thinking you meant the torx bolt. I always have trouble removing it to bead blast and repaint the calipers when I rebuild them.

If it's the torx bracket bolt, that doesn't really have to be removed for a rebuild. If it's the shaft nut, that's usually a low torque item? Have you got pictures?

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Marc in sunny Titusville, FL

• 84 SE son's car, loaded
  
• 85 Coup w/V6 transplant
  
• 85 GT newly on the road
  
• 86 SE/GT "The Chameleon" - big plans!

Ok, what I'm trying to remove has a torx head on it (I believe a T-40). It could be a nut, though it seems to be a bolt. I don't believe using vice grips would do me much good, as there wouldn't be much to grip onto, if anything at all. The outside of it is circular - not hexagonal.

It's not something a socket goes over; it's something a torx bit gets inserted into (just as the caliper bolts are). The torx bit I used with a ratched slipped too many times on me, and that's how it got rounded off. Yes, It's confusing to me too. I'll try to get pictures and post them soon.

This caliper will not be rebuilt... it is getting replaced with one I picked up at Autozone, so the old one has to come off. Once I get this bolt/nut off, I'm home-free.

quote Originally posted by Brent7088: I have removed the 2 mounting bolts with no problem, but cannot get the bolt off that holds the e-brake bracket on the caliper.

If you removed both mounting bolts then the caliper should be easily pulled away from the rotor. This sounds like you removed two bolts but not nesessarily both of the mounting bolts/ aka the slider pin bolts.

For some unknown reason I usually have trouble on the upper slider pin bolt. Tough to get a good shot at it. The slider pin bolt goes through the caliper and threads into a steel plate, you can see where it threads into by looking just over the rotor. Some folks have sprayed PB Blaster on the thread hole, others have used heat to help break the bond of rust, then try to extract the slider pin bolt.

On the head of the slider pin bolt head there is a rubber dust shield, you can use a pick and needle nose pliers to carefully pull the shield out of the caliper, this will afford you more area to get a grip with some vice grips on the round portion of the head of the slider pin bolt. I had to use a stout pair of vice grips and a BF hammer to break loose the slider pin bolt on my 86. I really do hate Fiero brakes, at least the pre 88 brakes.

Post a picture when you get a chance, ok?

Jetman it's the torqs head bolt he's talking about I think. I would try the PB blaster around the head, then put it in a vise. Then you have room and can get a death grip with a NEW pair of Vice Grips with good sharp teeth. It should break it loose. You are gonna have to install a new bolt now anyway.
Good luck
Joe Crawford
Texas

quote Originally posted by josef644: Jetman it's the torqs head bolt he's talking about I think. I would try the PB blaster around the head, then put it in a vise. Then you have room and can get a death grip with a NEW pair of Vice Grips with good sharp teeth. It should break it loose. You are gonna have to install a new bolt now anyway. Good luck Joe Crawford Texas

Yes, you're right, I believe that he is talking about the torx bolt / slider pin that holds the caliper on the car. Since he mention that he is replacing the caliper anyways, I say just rip the rubber dust shield off, and get a pair on vice grips on it and a BF hammer to unthread it from the car. Yes, a NEW pair of vice grips, don't matter what happens to the torx bolt/ slider pin, he needs to replace that anyways.

Ok Brent, talk to us, did you get that caliper off the car yet?

quote Posted by Brent7088 on 07-10-2008 I have removed the 2 mounting bolts with no problem, but cannot get the bolt off that holds the e-brake bracket on the caliper.

I understood he already had the slider bolts out and was trying to remove the bolt (torx head) that holds the metal bracket onto the caliper that the Ebrake cable mounts to?



I thought he meant this bolt here?

If so, I go back to what I initially said, impact driver (the type you hammer), lot's of PB Blaster or Kroil. Heat if necessary. Last resort, left-handed drill to drill it out

------------------
Marc in sunny Titusville, FL

• 84 SE son's car, loaded
  
• 85 Coup w/V6 transplant
  
• 85 GT newly on the road
  
• 86 SE/GT "The Chameleon" - big plans!

[This message has been edited by Gwain (edited 07-12-2008).]

Yes Gwain, you have it right; that is the bolt. The photo is much appreciated! I was just getting ready to go out to take the exact same picture.

I actually tried using vice grips on it yesterday, but as you may be able to tell from the photo, I could not get enough bite or torque on it; especially at the angle I was positioned.

Here is a string which I believe mentions this particular bolt, and according to another member, it is a Torx T-40 head measuring 8mm x 1.25mm x 20mm. Does this sound right?

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/F.../HTML/092689.html#p7

Once it is out, I’ll probably just take it to a hardware store for comparison, because Autozone couldn’t seem to locate this. I’m not even sure what the correct name for it is.

My dad’s friend down the road is a retired mechanic who happened to have kept all his tools (lucky for me), so I will have the car driven down to him to take care of it with his impact driver, heat, etc. I just won’t be able to drive very fast since I have no dr. side rear brakes or brake line hooked to the caliper (someone will be following me).

This all started with a little fire that ignited from either my caliper and/or the e-brake dragging while going down the road, and all the sudden the brake pedal went all the way down to the floor. At that point the break line burst with brake fluid igniting from the heat caused by something sticking/dragging. Lucky for me I was only going about 25mph. Pulled over and had the fire extinguished in time before a lot of damage was done. It looks like the things I will be replacing are the caliper itself (I’m almost positive it needs it), pads, rotor, brake hose, and that big black boot which holds a lot of grease.

I guess it was my ignorance that led to this; I should have known something wasn’t right when the car would pull to one side when I would apply the brakes. Lesson learned the hard way.

Thanks to everyone for the replies and the good advice. I’ll keep you posted in the near future to let you know how everything went.

quote Originally posted by Brent7088: it is a Torx T-40 head measuring 8mm x 1.25mm x 20mm. Does this sound right? .

Yes. that is the size. It does not need to be a torx. They are usually locktited in, that is why it is so hard to remove. Just take a drill and drill into it till the head falls off, then you can put the bracket on the new caliper with a new bolt.