Breaker Bar Breaks Brake Bolts, So, Boring

I recently picked up an '00 996 for a very reasonable price. A big part of the deal was that the brakes were more or less toasted and I knew they needed replacing going in. Like any job on a car that "ran when parked" I 5x the time estimate and 3x the cost but any excuse to buy a new tool is an excuse ill happily indulge in. While the brakes did "work" when i bought the car they were soft, completely warn, and out of spec as far as far as the documentation indicated, a rough noise was also being caused by everything being old and rusty. In hindsight I should have ordered the rennline caliper pin conversion from the beginning which would have saved a few days waiting on FedEx on the tail end of the project but none the less alls well that starts poorly. Brake kit arrives from the supplier and as with any early Christmas present I started immediately with the project with the front right assembly. Instructions call for caliper removal when doing the pads and rotors and the nonsense began almost immediately. The upper bolt was tough to get out, I tried PB blaster, rocket the breaker bar in and out, and all my usual tricks but in the end the bolt (predictably) shredded the threads but did come out more or less straight. Once the caliper was off I had a sinking feeling I would need to replace the whole knuckle as i was unsure if one of those plain helicoils was acceptable for brake applications but decided to pause and do some research. Many people suggested the Rennline upgrade pins to avoid this problem moving forward but I still needed to deal with the shredded threads. There seems to be a fair bit of debate on what the best thread repair method is and there are lots of tests out there on strength etc, various discussions took me to the Time-Sert inserts which seemed to be the most robust and "fanciest" solution. A set for the 12mm 1.5 bolts with the tap starter as well as the Rennline mounting pins was ordered. With the front up on jack stands i decided to remove the other caliper while i waited, top bolt was predictably stuck so I did some extra PB Blaster soaks hoping for the best and expecting another thread strip but knowing I had the time-sert kit en-route i was not super worried. After a fair bit of "working it" the top bolt was even more stuck on the left than the one on the right, ultimately there was a "SNAP" and the bolt head just sheared right off. Problem number 2 is not in front of me, no amount of vice grip, welded on nuts, pinching, shouting, PB blaster combos was able to remove what was left of the bolt. I attempted to drill it out with some smaller bits but it was so corroded in there that nothing was really working with any sort of effectiveness. I ultimately ground the bolt down right to the caliper and attempted more small bit drilling. This was proving largely fruitless to collapse the bolt and more aggressive approach was going to be needed. I knew I would have to drill out the holes for the time-sert regardless so drilling was in my future. Many threads suggest removing the knuckle and taking it to a local machine shop to have the whole properly bored out at a 90 degree angle. I was hoping to avoid that much but knew i still needed to bore at that 90 degree angle. A post from a fellow 996 owner on another forum showed a drilling jig he had made with the same bolt spacing as the caliper, simply insert a caliper lug in one hole (as long as one of the two are still good this works) and drill through the upper hole to result in a 90 degree re-bore. I needed a drill press to build the actual jig, but any excuse to buy a new tool.... This would serve two purposes, lining up the bit for the right side to simply drill out the bum threads but also provide a jig to bore out the stuck bolt that was still in the left side. It worked flawlessly for both. The jig getting mounted The re-bore The drilled out bolt, Time-Sert installed Waiting for the thread lock on the time sert to dry to si can install the upper rennline pin Time sert on the right side with the rennline lower pin. All buttoned up. By the time all the parts had arrived and I had accepted the fact that if the jig did not work i was in for a new knuckle on the left side regardless but ultimately the boring jig worked perfectly. I went slowly with a LOT of cutting oil, cleared the bit of chips often, and checked alignment before going to deep. Once all the thread lock dried the calipers went right on without issue and a great deal of relief ensued. I was fully prepared for issues with the rears but they came right off and both sides were done inside of 2 hours there. It took some planing, and a lucky find of that other thread with the jig idea but all in not a bad fix. Hopefully the pins keep me from ever needing to deal with this again as i can slide the calipers on and off now. Brakes have been flushed and are working great as of yesterday. Big shout out to Time-Sert and their re-thread kits as well as the rennline caliper pins and the UPS driver making more or less daily delivers while he watched me sort out this mess. If anyone is in the NY metro are and runs into this issue, is attempting to DIY this, and wants some help, I have the jig and a bunch of left over Time-Sert inserts and as always am happy to lend a hand. You will be drilling into the raw metal of your car though.... Until Next Time Dave

I have spare spindles/hubs/knuckles just in case I run into this. I use one as garage art, but it's ready to go: I picked the front spindles up used for $40 each. The fronts came off a formerly BaT car with only 9000 miles on it.