I have a 2017 S3 model 8v.
My S3 suffers from rust on the brake rotor hats. I know most vehicles suffer from this. You spend a small fortune on a car and after 12-months there is loads of rust on the rotor hats which can really spoil the look of a set of lovely alloys.
So I safely removed each wheel (only did one at a time) and used Autotek VHT silver paint to spruce the rota hats up a bit after first removing as much rust as possible with a wire brush.
I also took the opportunity to use some Wonder Wheels and a power washer to do the inside of the alloys.
The autotek paint is a nightmare to put on. It is very watery and dries in just a few minutes. If you then try to paint over it it starts to get tacky and looks terrible. After about 15 minutes of constant painting I had done one rotor hat. It wasn't perfect, but when I was standing upright it looked so much better than it did before hand. When the wheel was back on it was a huge improvement. Practice makes perfect, and each of the other three rotor hats was a slight improvement on the last.
The autotek paint is rated up to 500 degrees but only time will tell how well it works and stands up to to regular heavy braking which of course will heat up the discs. I think I will have to be careful when cleaning the alloys with my pressure washer as I have a feeling if I blast the new paint on the rotor hats some of it may well come off where as the original paint although it rusted could easily withstand the pressure washer.
I have decided I am probably going to replace the discs with new ones. Once I had removed the wheel I could see the two two big bolts that hold the brake caliper in place.
My question is, if I remove these two bolts, can I remove the brake caliper without having to remove the brake pads? I have read there should be 1 mm clearance between each pad and the disc so in theory the whole caliper should come off with brake pads still attached.
I know you need to be careful when working with brakes, but I am fairly sure I could fit new discs if I didn't have to start removing brake pads or bleeding the brake line etc.
Could anyone recommend some decent disks? I've heard that drilled discs are prone to cracking and that grooved discs are prone to squeaking.
EBay has a set of drilled and grooved mintex discs complete with brake pads and sensors for £300. I only really want the four discs.
Any advice on this would be really appreciated.
My S3 suffers from rust on the brake rotor hats. I know most vehicles suffer from this. You spend a small fortune on a car and after 12-months there is loads of rust on the rotor hats which can really spoil the look of a set of lovely alloys.
So I safely removed each wheel (only did one at a time) and used Autotek VHT silver paint to spruce the rota hats up a bit after first removing as much rust as possible with a wire brush.
I also took the opportunity to use some Wonder Wheels and a power washer to do the inside of the alloys.
The autotek paint is a nightmare to put on. It is very watery and dries in just a few minutes. If you then try to paint over it it starts to get tacky and looks terrible. After about 15 minutes of constant painting I had done one rotor hat. It wasn't perfect, but when I was standing upright it looked so much better than it did before hand. When the wheel was back on it was a huge improvement. Practice makes perfect, and each of the other three rotor hats was a slight improvement on the last.
The autotek paint is rated up to 500 degrees but only time will tell how well it works and stands up to to regular heavy braking which of course will heat up the discs. I think I will have to be careful when cleaning the alloys with my pressure washer as I have a feeling if I blast the new paint on the rotor hats some of it may well come off where as the original paint although it rusted could easily withstand the pressure washer.
I have decided I am probably going to replace the discs with new ones. Once I had removed the wheel I could see the two two big bolts that hold the brake caliper in place.
My question is, if I remove these two bolts, can I remove the brake caliper without having to remove the brake pads? I have read there should be 1 mm clearance between each pad and the disc so in theory the whole caliper should come off with brake pads still attached.
I know you need to be careful when working with brakes, but I am fairly sure I could fit new discs if I didn't have to start removing brake pads or bleeding the brake line etc.
Could anyone recommend some decent disks? I've heard that drilled discs are prone to cracking and that grooved discs are prone to squeaking.
EBay has a set of drilled and grooved mintex discs complete with brake pads and sensors for £300. I only really want the four discs.
Any advice on this would be really appreciated.