GeoJeff

Howdy.
I hope someone can shed some light on the following problem.
I am replacing the rotors and pads on my daughters 1992 Honda Civic VX.
One side of the right rotor was too far abraded to machine. She drove the car until she could not stand the noise! Nursing student!
We went to NAPA and got 2 new rotors and new pads.
The caliper would not fit over the rotor and pads. The piston was well back and never an issue. I removed the shims and not much better. I was able to get the thing together but the car would barely move!! Never saw this in 40 years of repairing my own cars. I decided to put one of the used pads back on. Seemed fine.
Then the other side! The rotor was no doubt worn but was smooth as glass. I did not install the new rotor, only the pads. Maybe I should try just to see it this side goes together. Anyway, I took the car for a very short drive. There was a horrible grinding noise on the left (drivers) side (old rotor, new pads).
I removed the wheel. It is rubbing slightly on the outside "corner" of the caliper. There was a nice shiny "groove" inside the wheel, and a silvery rub mark on the caliper.
We tossed the old disk pads from the other side at NAPA! If they can find them I might replace the new outside pad with the old, partially worn pad.
Can I file down the caliper? Just a little bit. How much clearance must there be between the wheel and caliper?
I really appreciate the help. Many thanks.
J

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

make sure you have the right size pads. older civics are really picky and alot of times the "economy" pads that auto parts stores have are slightly different size. you may even have to get pads from the honda dealer if you still can. i would really recommend changing both rotors to new ones to eliminate brake bias. do not file the caliper down.