Rotor Dust Shield Removal

Since I'm converting to the 87+ brakes, I need to remove the dust shields. What better time to do this with the steering knuckle off the car! I'm pretty sure you can do this with it on the car, just not as convenient. The pictures below are with the strut assembly off. Don't worry, you definitely don't have to do that for this.

Front Removal

1) Loosen lug nuts. Raise and support the corner of the car you are working on. Remove wheel.

2) Remove two 17mm bolts holding caliper and mouting bracket to the rotor. Support the caliper on the strut assembly so as not to damage the brake line.

3) Remove rotor by jiggling and pulling it off.

4) Now you should see three Torx bolts holding the dust shield to the steering knuckle. You can also use a 10mm socket to get these loose. Here's a pic of the bolts, there's a third one on the opposite side as well. You have to go at these at an angle, becuase the hub is in the way. It also took a pair of pliers on the nut driver to get these loose.

5) Now the dust shield should be loose. However, you can't just pull it off over the hub. So you need to cut a slot in it so you can. Do that in the spot below with a dremel or rotozip type tool.

6) Ended up having to cut off more than indicated above, since the metal was not as flexible as I thought. Used the side-cutting bit on a Rotozip. Here's the dust shields off, to show you how much you need to cut off.