Long time since ive been on but new baby and various other things that have got in the way… still back to getting the 5 on the road, not driven her for approx 2 years have rebuilt the engine thou, so thats looking good but just looking at my discs… i have EBC grooved discs on the car and with the car been stood for 2 years they have taken a bit of a weather front so to speak… Not particularly rusted or anything but wondering if i should change them or not? or if there is something i can do to give them a good clean rather than more cash for the same thing… although happy to do it if needs be.
Just drive it (carefully). That’ll clear off the surface rust (and sound horrible for a while). Left my last car standing for 15 months and when I got back to the UK I just drove around for a bit till the discs were nice and shiny again. Dont waste money on cleaners etc.
Hopefully you haven’t left it with the handbrake on for two years? that might be a different story.
Thanks for the reply… no handbrake hasnt been on for 2 years… to be honest it was up on axel stands for quite some time whilst i rebuilt the engine… but the discs look like they need a good scrub… thought it might help with a drive, but catch 22 in that need to put the car through MOT first, so not much driving can be done until then… otherwise good idea…
As long as you’ve booked the MOT you can legally drive the car to get to the MOT station. Just go the very long way round to clear the rust off! Shouldn’t take long to get rid of surface rust though.
I would remove the pads, and give the discs the emery paper treatment get rid of any surface rust, clean out the brake pad lands,in the caliper and use a little copper silp, refit the pads, the same with the back pads and make sure the h/brake cable is not partially seized re adjust the hand brake whilst you have the rear wheels off.I have in the past done my pads in this way, you need to find a really flat surface and give the pads a gentle rub to make sure you get rid of any high spots.How do the pads look make sure they are not starting to breakup if so you would then need to replace, I am sure you know this any way. Good Luck with the mot.
Personally i wouldn’t go near my discs with any sort of sanding equipment unless they really really really corroded. And if that’s the case you’d be better off with new discs and pads. Its way too easy to get a slightly uneven surface. The whole principle of braking is friction. That friction will also get rid of the surface rust too. I’d go the easy route and drive it first. Then take a view on whether you need to get the wheels off. I did with my last car and had no worries with braking efficiency.
Emery paper rubbing off brake disc’s wont give you any problems its not as if you are going out and getting a electrical sanding disc, its just to take off the surface rust.If the disc’s are really corroded and badly pitted yes you should replace them, if you run them having not cleaned them off the rust will impregnate the pads and give you squeal from the pads, but do what you feel is the best for your self as you have said the car has been standing whilst you have recon’d the engine so I would be adviseable to at least take the wheels off for a look it won’t do any harm just peice of mind.
Thanks for all the comments guys, much appreciated… thought i might be able to get away with driving it around and see how the brakes go, as the EBC Grooved are supposed to not rust… so will give that a go first and see how i go… that kinda makes sense in the first instance. But im going to take the wheels off anyway and have a good look at them to see if there is anything i can do in the first instance to help and they will need checking anyway.
That will teach me to leave the car unused for the time… oh well, rebuild took a little longer than i had planned
Still more to check on the car and maybe i should get on with some other things too whilst ive had it in bits… have a new bumper and front nose cone to go on amongst other things…
have rebuilt the engine thou, so thats looking good but just looking at my discs… i have EBC grooved discs on the car and with the car been stood for 2 years they have taken a bit of a weather front so to speak… Not particularly rusted or anything but wondering if i should change them or not? or if there is something i can do to give them a good clean rather than more cash for the same thing… although happy to do it if needs be.