Are there any guides on doing this. Can't find anything on YouTube.
I've found the video on discs and pads in the guides but not the calipers.
I imagine it's in the Haynes book but I dont find their instructions or those naff small photos very intuitive.
Haynes manuals get naffer every year. The latest ones seem to consist mostly of boilerplate text printed on bog paper.
Replacing a caliper is straightforward enough; given some of the jobs you've taken on recently, you should have no problem with this one.
Remove the pads, clamp the flexible brake hose, unbolt the caliper from the reaction frame (single bolt on the 1.2), then loosen the hose connection on the caliper and the job is done.
It's worth also removing the reaction frames to clean them properly (I believe you've already seen my other thread on this); then reassembly is the usual process of reversing the steps & bleeding the brakes at the end of the job.
The allen slide bolt holding the caliper to the rection frame will be very tight (it's loctited in place when the car is first built); you'll need a decent allen socket & a breaker bar if you want to get it off without too much fuss
and you need to be sure the car is properly supported. Turning the steering so that the line of the breaker bar is outside of the wheel arch will help a lot. If you're planning on replacing an existing caliper, take great care not to damage the rubber sleeve on the bolt - replacements are hard to find & the calipers aren't cheap. A split sleeve is an MOT fail. Once they've been on awhile, they tend to turn with the bolt and you need to stop this happening by holding the sleeve whilst unscrewing the bolt or you'll ruin the sleeve.
The usual warning about supporting the caliper during installation applies; don't just let it dangle off the brake hose. I usually wire it to the spring. Place a big notice inside the car to warn you not to press the brake pedal whilst the hydraulic line is open - most of us have done it once!
