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How to service your brakes if you live in an area with snow

This series is divided into five sections:
Introduction: Getting started
Part 1 covers tearing things apart and seeing what needs to be done, which for me is usually a lot
Part 2 covers putting it all back together again, clean, lubed and freed-up
Part 3 shows anything specific to the rear brakes that could not be covered in Part 1
Part 4 wraps it up by showing some ancillary checks you might as well do while you're down there getting dirty.
Part 5 More details on cleaning up severely rusted pins, and dealing with shim/rotor contact. (Addendum to Part 2.)
Part 6 What the corresponding parts look like on a 2003 Accord.
Note: All pictures can be clicked on for LARGER versions!
INTRODUCTION: Getting started

Some questions to answer:


Why this series?

Simply put, I like doing brakes.  It's weird, I know, but like anything else, if you pick one particular item and study it to death, the depth of detail inherent in that item produces its own little science, full of tiny details that nobody ever notices in daily life, but make all the difference in the world. Bet you've never wondered how stuff gets on the shelf at Wal-Mart, have you? That's part of my day job, and it's just like doing brakes: lots of hidden detail that nobody knows about, but that results in a profoundly simple and reliable outcome. Nobody knows how hard it was to achieve that simple outcome except those involved.

Brakes are critically important to modern driving. All it takes is one short trip in heavy traffic in a vehicle equipped with non-powered drum brakes to convince you how important it is to keep those modern stoppers in good condition. Unfortunately, the efficiency and longevity of modern brakes also seems to impart a sense of complacency, and brakes get ignored until...

When their brakes are in poor shape, people sense this and generally drive more carefully, more slowly, and to leave more room for emergencies, which is why poor brakes statistically do not tend to lead to more collisions. But...

...then they get them fixed. And suddenly realize how bad they were. And how EXPENSIVE it can be to return them to what they should be.

How many hospital admissions are due to heart attacks precipitated by the sudden shock of seeing just how much it can cost to repair neglected brakes? Simple maintenance at timely intervals can save you lots and lots of money. It can enable you to save many hundreds of dollars in repair bills, as well as realizing maximum life for those parts that you paid good money for, for even more savings. Plus there's that warm, fuzzy feeling that you get when you do something Good For Your Car.

This, then, is my attempt at making brake maintenance more accessible.

Comments and suggestions are welcome at tegger(at)tegger.com (replace the (at) with the correct symbol.)
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What does it cover?

It currently covers maintenance only, and only for disc brakes.
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What's NOT covered?

Currently:
drum brakes
rotor replacement
caliper replacement
pad replacement (sort of)
caliper rebuilding
multi-piston calipers
repair of rusted lines
flex-line replacement
master cylinder replacement/repair
parking brake cable replacement
ABS / ALB (Anti-Lock Brakes)
proportioning valves
bleeding and fluid replacement

Eventually I'll cover at least some of those, but not now. Brakes are a complicated subject, aren't they?
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You're using a second-generation Integra as your subject. How come?
'Cause it's my car, and is therefore the easiest to pull apart for this series. See next for more...
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Can I use your instructions to do my own Honda even though it's not an Integra?

Absolutely! You've got to use your powers of reason and your mechanical aptitude (you do have some, I hope), but otherwise there's no reason you can't. All Honda products (so far as I know) use single-piston disc brakes. This design has certain idiosyncrasies that fixed, multi-piston brakes do not, and the design principles are the same regardless of the details of the design or who made it.

The pictorial instructions herein are specific to the Integra without ABS, also apply to the front brakes of Civics with rear drums, and are generally applicable to the Accord and other non Civic-platform vehicles.
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What do I need to start?

Glad you asked that.
 The emery cloth, lubricants and cleaners are readily available at any automotive supply store.

* I used to recommend copper-based anti-seizes, but have since discovered that aluminum compounds work much better. Make sure the stuff you get is rich in aluminum, and  very goopy. Cheaper anti-seizes contain too much grease and too little aluminum. Apparently zinc-based anti-seizes work well too, but I haven't tried them.

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Legal crap

It's a sad testament to our current litigious mania that I even feel compelled to add this part, but so I must:

WARNING: I am not responsible for anything stupid, careless or criminal that you choose to do while following these instructions. They are a guideline only, should be tempered by your own skepticism and sense of self-preservation and are NOT intended for use by anyone drunk, stoned, mechanically inept, rich or politically connected.

If you're the sort that will fall off a ladder or spill coffee on yourself and sue the makers of those items, then DO NOT continue reading further, but go here instead. It will be much safer for the rest of us, and will be better suited to your mental capacity.

Don't sue me because your car fell on you because you didn't make sure it was securely elevated while you worked under it. And anyway, no tengo dinero o seguro, so you wouldn't get much in any case. Instead, go sue somebody big and who deserves it, like the government.
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Now, if you've read this far and are still up to it, proceed to Part 1