I decided today to look at my front brakes as not had a look at the Copen's since having it and I think its pulling to one side. I've not changed anything but took them apart but it may be useful as I clean things up a bit and lubed. The photos are actually in reverse order to how I took them but it maybe useful to see it come apart rather than going back together. Everything in place. You can see the bolts to remove just to the right of the rubber gaiters The piston half of the calliper removed, 2 x 14 mm bolts A slider pin removed, no reason but to show it. When in place press it in several time to check it moving freely. Should be well greased as can be seen it was. Rubber gaiter came off easily, make sure you pop it back on so dirt/water doesn't get it. brake pads pulled out, one from each side. Easy to pull out but fiddly to get back in to stainless spring clips but not difficult. Stainless steel spring clips removed. Rest of the calliper removed, 2 x 17 mm bolts, you can see where they locate in the middle of the photo Here it is removed with one pad in place. You can see where the 4 bolts go. Tops ones are the 14 mm (can just see rubber gaiter), bottom are the 17 mm. I then had put everything back as dinner was ready then but no photos of what else I had done.
So after dinner I decided to look over the other side's brake. I didn't remove all the calliper as it didn't seem necessary. I took photo's this time I missed on the other side but thought would be useful. With the calliper removed rest it somewhere, be careful not to over twist or put weight/strain on the hydraulic hose. In this photo you can see the anti-roll bar is perfect as a resting place. One of the bolt holes is under the bodywork and felt quite secure there. Other brake "how to's" I've seen they have used wire or bungee to support the calliper, but no need with the Copen! I rested the calliper here to work on the piston (shiny but rusty ring surrounded by the rubber seal). I cleaned rust off the piston best I could with out getting serious about it. With a cloth, cleaned the piston behind the rubber seal. Then lubed the rubber seal with red rubber grease to protect the seal. I put copper ease in several places too during the rebuild. Especially on the hub as I needed a mallet (can see in photo!) to get the wheels off initially. Don't put any on the disc faces or pad faces!! I didn't need to press the piston in for the re-build as I had not fitted new pads. The piston still went on easily. I wanted to take the disc off as well, just for the learning, but with the Copen it seems you need to remove the centre bolt first (). Can anyone confirm this?
Looking at the pictures it certainly looks as though the disc is held on by the hub nut. If the discs weren't held by the nut there would be countersunk screws holding them to the hub. These screws stop the discs moving about when you remove the wheel. The two tapped holes in the disc are to put a couple of screws in so after removing the hub nut you can push the discs off using screws in the two tapped holes. A good tip if you do want to remove the hub nut is to put the wheel back on with the centre cap removed. With the wheel on the ground you can put a socket through the centre hole and undo the very tight hub nut.
There is no need to remove the bearing in order to replace the front discs. The two threaded holes in the disc are there to allow you to insert two bolts. These are gently wound in and gradually push the disc off the hub (assuming the calliper is removed). There is nothing holding the discs apart from friction (and a certain amount of dirt and rust). Check the back of the discs for rust and pitting/scoring, replace if necessary. To clarify, you don't need to take off the big nut. Once the calliper is off the disc can be removed.
I don't need it replacing as its not done many miles. I wanted it off just to see how things went together, give it a general clean and service. So the hub bolt doesn't need to come off?
I might just have to take the callipers off again to have a go at getting it off, before it rusts more solidly and put some copper grease in. I looked closely at it but couldn't see the join
There is a join the raised bit sticking out from the disc isn't part of the disc. You can see in this picture that it is a taper fit which is why the disc doesn't have any screws holding it to the hub. It should come off ok using two screws and maybe a tap with a mallet as you tighten the two screws up. Worse scenario is put a bit of heat around the join then tighten the two screws.
These were cheap as chips Mintex discs, with new shiny disc holders and Blueprint pads which came in at £50.00 the lot. If you take everything off which is brake caliper orientated you can get to the disc itself quite easily. These back bolts were very tight and awkward to get to.
As suggested further up the page, the discs are not held on with anything, apart from the alloy wheels. Mine came off really easily - just pulled them off by hand.
The just put everything back again. I did the two sides one at a time to make sure I was getting the shiny clips back in the right place. I guess one could take pics too, if you wanted to be sure. It's a very easy DIY project.
Rust everywhere Trustafox: There are quite a lot of score marks on your brake disc, you might want to change them when the pads are worn down (at the latest)
I didn't think the rust was too bad... I have another car from the same year, a UK-made Nissan Micra and all the heavy metal parts look pretty much the same as the Copen - a pitted mess. But the body-work is another story - the Nissan has no rust at all in the body panels, whereas the Copen does - not too much, but it is there, and needs keeping an eye on.
