I had my calipers powder coated and now I can't seem to slide the pads back into place. Does powder coating really add that much more thickness to the calipers? I tried sliding it in from the top, and also tried it from the side. TIA

 

So I'm thinking before I put these calipers back on my car, should I just insert them in from the side and use C-clamps and force the brake pads back into place? The only issue I see with that would be once you step on the brakes, they'll constantly stay on since it is a tight fit to begin with. My car has been down two weeks and I'm anxious to get my car up and running. My last issue is just getting the pads back into the caliper. I don't know what else to do at this point. I'm looking at the pad as I insert them in and it seems like I need an half inch for the pads to slide in there smoothly. The pads came out silky smooth when I was removing it. Now I can't get them back into the Akebono calipers! Any help with be appreciated.

 

Did you take the cap off the brake fluid reservoir? Doing this with make it a lot easier to push the caliper piston back into the caliper because of the reduced pressure.

 

If you have a dremel tool you might sand down any powdercoating that got into the pad area, they should go in easily once the excess paint is removed or at least reduced. Be sure to apply caliper grease to the back of your pads and a light coat between the shims and the backing plate if using shims.

 

Global Reach, the pistons are already pushed back just trying to get the bads into place. Blnewt I'll try sanding it down tomorrow with a dremel.

 

Blnewt I sanded it down and now it fits perfectly! It was quite a work to sand it down. I ended up removed the two halves and sanded it all down.

 

Glad it worked out, that powdercoat is really a hard shell finish and can be tough to sand. Hope everything else goes smooth for you.