Yep, it was finally time to do the brake s on the Prizm. I've put it off for a while even though the rotors have been warped for at least a couple years. However they started to squeak while driving down the road, and since I had just finished the a/c on my car, I parked the Prizm until I had time to do the brakes. It's been at least 7 years since they were ever done, maybe longer. BUt the time came to do the front rotors and pads.

For pads I went with ceramics, regular non-directional rotors, and Carlson hardware kit ($12 at Rock Auto and made in USA) vs $30 the local parts store wanted)

I started by giving the rotors a quick coat of high heat paint to help protect against rust. Then off to the neighbor's list to bang off the wheels, and the rotors too. These things were so old and brittle that one of them broke! The pads were in terrible shape and coming apart in pieces, and the alignment clips were completely gone. Surprisingly the guide clips were still there, but I replaced those as well.

I also had a fun time replacing the leaking power steering line. Disconnecting it and replacing it wasn't too hard, however I gave up, for now, on removing the line, which has some weird two bolt bracket holding it to the return line, and I was just to tired. New one's in but so is the old one.

Fun way to spend a Friday afternoon.

Lovely!

Pffft! You know cars don't need brakes! Just drive better to avoid using them.