[HFStuart]

So the good news is the wishbones and A/R bar drop-links are on ad other than the palaver of getting the old bolts out it wasn't too bad.

The bad news is that on the NS the rigid brake pipe cracked next to the union with the flexi pipe. That joint came apart OK but the where the pipe joins the back on the caliper the pipe nut took the first two threads out of the caliper with it.

I've got the kit to make up a new pipe but I'm not sure there's enough thread in the caliper and it's not an area where trial and error is a good idea.

So

A: Get a new / second hand caliper
B: Helicoil repair the old one.

What do you think?

 

[pkr]

You could also try a M10 x1.0 ( I think ) tap and try and reform the damaged threads. Just using the tap with your fingers is probably enough. The tap ( first or second, not bottom ) will have a taper and the trick is to get the tapering part of the tap to mesh with the good union threads then the less tapered part of the tap reforms the damaged ones.

I'd probably plug the bottom of the union with blu-tak or similar to prevent any debris entering the caliper, then use some compressed air to clean it out afterwards.

 

[HFStuart]

Sadly there wasn't any thread left to reclaim.

But now successfully helicoiled. The most difficult bit was drilling the hole out whilst not marking the seat the pipe seals onto. After that tapping and fitting the helicoil was straightforward.

I did notice that the stainless flexi hoses that are fitted have fittings not quite deep enough so the nut on the rigid pipe only goes in 3 or 4 threads. It's enough that it's safe (it was like that before with no issues plus it's a fine thread) but I'll be changing the flexi too. Bleeding was easy enough though it had to be manual as I haven't the right Ezibleed adaptor for the Alfa master cylinder.