MGF to the disco: brake disc and pad service

The MGF uses disc brakes front and rear. Especially the discs at the rear looked rather bad and thin, so I decided to order a complete set for the car, including pads of course.  

Replacement of the disc is not very complicated, but it still took me a few hours. Dismantling and finding out how things fit and just taking my time tinkering. 

The new discs were of the "coated" variety, so I didn't have to clean them before fitting.  

As the handbrake is incorporated into the rear caliper the piston needs to be wound back into the caliper. To do this you need a tool to grab the four lugs. 

 So I made this simple tool to wind the piston back into the caliper. Just a steel strip with holes and a few nuts to fit into the lugs at the piston. I'm sure a bit of wood and a few screws would work just as well. 

Here I'm using the tool. They wind in easily, but it takes a while to wind them fully home. One of the lugs(holes) needs to end in a "three o'clock position" so a little dowel on the pads fits the hole. Otherwise the pads will grab the disc too tight.  

Some shiny new rattle clips go in  before the pads. 

The other rear disc looked much better.

New disc and pads in place. The coating is already coming off while the pads are lightly touching the surface. 

Front discs have even wear, but there is a sharp ridge at the edge. I didn't measure , but they seemed a bit thin to me. 

Here the piston can be pushed back with the usual tool.  Of course there is no handbrake at the front, so the pistons are not threaded in. 

All in place. I could have painted the caliper, but I decided not to. I'm sure the disc wil match the calipers after a few years of use. I did clean the suspension up a bit and sprayed the suspension and subframe with a cavity wax.  

The old discs will go for scrap or maybe a garden ornament. Not sure yet..