Anyone else run across this issue?

My Wifes car has Old school Rivieras on it. Today I replaced the front calipers (as one was stuck) with Empi replacements, and they don't fit behind the wheels....kinda ticked off as Ive got them on, bled and all done.

My calipers wouldn't clear the spokes for a different set of wheels i had (drag ways). They were aftermarket calipers.

It was this circular boss that pocked out that knocked the spokes. Glad i didn't drive it with it like that! Sounds brutal but i machined the circular boss with an angle grinder a couple mm's neatly/flat.

Is this the thing causing you the issue? (the circular bump?) I'll see if i can find the thread.

welcome to the wonderful world of empi. nothing fits properly.

http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=95751&page=1#pid891110 

my caliper issue thread if it helps.

EMPI = Everything Mass Produced by Idiots

Yup, its the bump. So you had no Issues filing the bump away?


Yes I have had the privledge of fitting EMPI stuff......its never quite right. But the product wasnt advertised as empi.

Why wouldn't you buy Genuine ATE German

empi is C R A P

the way to Fix it is to get a grinder to that casting bump however you may go through as I don't think the casting will be very thick

Probably better off to Quit while your ahead and don't was any more money or time

as I said...they werent advertised as EMPI.......good to see a warm welcome as always around here. not everyone is made of money.


Thanks for the Info and very prompt help there chris

Yes I read that

you should have return to the seller or shop

Thanks for your input

I had no problems grinding them away. I took quite a bit of meat off and didn't (and still don't) have any issues as a result. I didn't breech any internal walls inside.

I don't remember what brand mine were, it wasn't genuine German, but wasn't advertised as EMPI either. Was from Mick Motors.

The options you got, if you had to buy another set (option B) you might as well see if you can get these ones to work by machining (option A). At worst, it'll end up making you go option B anyways if it goes pear shaped.

Oh.. and to do a tidy job of it, tackle it with a grinder wheel's flat edge, then hand file it square. Be sure to put a coat of caliper paint eventually, otherwise you end up with a brown dot eventually (i got the brown dot haha).

And only grind as much as you need, + a mm in case bearings go kaputt. The idea of the spokes smashing into the caliper locking the wheel is a sure way on the highway to jolt that car violently left or right eek!

I had the same problem with my Performance Minilites when I first got them nearly 20 years ago, and that was with the original callipers. We just ground off the spot with an angle grinder.

Then last year when I broke a stub axle & lost a wheel & disk on the highway, it broke a calliper to escape. I got new ones from Vintage (I assume they were german), and had the same issue again, so I ground them again.

I hope they don't break through - so far they haven't in about 380,000 km in 2 sets of callipers, so I am hopeful.

Cheers for the confirmation guys.
I assumed there is enough meat around anything important to allow a bit of filling down.

I have filled them down. totally by hand with a flat file till I had a few mm of room, then took it for a bumpy drive. All seems well, other than It seems to need another bleeding. Brakes are still a bit soft under foot.

I have no paint for the caliper atm, but will be painting them red for that extra 25 kw soon anyways

it's an unused boss for a brake pipe union threaded hole. Therefore there will be a good 4-5mm, at least, of metal before you hit the piston hole.

3mm clearance should suffice to allow for any oscilllations from the wheel, if there are any. I've seen closer but if there is ever any flex in the wheel it'll mkake a mess of things. ADR says 10mm clearance for a majority of things but that's erring way on the side of caution.

With empi calipers you need to worry about flex in the calipers and mounting brackets. Front prob not as much of an issue as rears. Look it up on YouTube.

Yeah cheers guys. They are 2 piston opposed style calipers (as all calipers should be)

Ive seen those empi rear setups. and they are scary.

Ive got a few mm of space, and no hits yet. and to be fair, It does have more clearance than my friends Veloster has between stock brake and stock wheel.

A lot of flex in any caliper is caused by misalignment with the caliper not square to the rotor, this equates to a big increase in pedal travel, i run the CB rear brakes on my ghia and had no issues with getting them approved, Instead of a caliper bracket that is stamped out of a jam tin they have a machined alumimium bracket that is not misaligned so there is minium movement before they work, these calipers are nearly the same as the Empi calipers, the front calipers are a six spot set up that caused a lot of grief with pedal travel until i put a set of 2LB residual valves in the front curcuit that keeps the front pads in light contact with the rotors and now the car has great solid pedal with good feel.

Ha!, I nearly had a heart attack when I saw your name on a thread mate. Had a moment where i thought you where doing something on your bug.

totally forgot the little lady had one too.