Mk1 T-Sport front brake disc shields / covers corroded

[Silver Yaris]

Hi all, 

For a while now I've noticed that the front disc shields / covers are badly corroded. 

Today whilst cleaning mine I've notices that the driver's side one has now become very unstable and I fear it may break off whilst driving which could cause all sorts of problems.

Tomorrow I plan to jack the car up, remove the wheel & essentially break off the corroded shield & will take a look at the passenger side one at the same time. 

My understanding is that these shields / covers do not form part of the MOT so I do not plan to replace them as they are a royal pita to get to. 

Does anyone have any tips for removing or is it just an angle grinder (for the passenger side one) as I think the drivers side one is going to break apart as soon as I tap it with a hammer? 

[Tsport DK]

You can get pattern ones on the web.

I think you need to remove 3 screws to get Them off, of cause they are stuck on by rust and dirt so make a flat cut and get a big screwdriver to loosen them.

 

[Silver Yaris]

I've seen genuine Toyota ones for £60 for the pair but don't you need to remove the calipers, discs, etc. etc. to get to them & fit the new ones?  Hence me opting not to replace them. 

[Tsport DK]

Dont get me wrong , when i painted my front calipers and saw the covers on mine it looked like you had to remove the hub apart, bit of a pita really.. 🤔🤔

[Silver Yaris]

Yeah, definitely, the hub has to come off & I've heard of people damaging wheel bearings whilst stripping it all down so I won't be doing that 👍

[Silver Yaris]

Just a quick update on this. Jacked the car up today & removed the wheel for better access. The main part of the shield / cover (in the pictures) broke straight off in my hands with little to no force. The remainder I removed in bits with a screwdriver & pliers. 

Definitely caught up this just in time as the last thing I want is parts of it flying off or causing issues whilst trying to brake. 

[Tsport DK]

They have a hard life these covers, at least your car is ligther now which means its faster lol 😎

[Tintaglia]

You're right that they are not part of the MOT.  On some other Japanese cars (Mazda) they are part of hub assembly so you would have had to change that including the bearings.  I'd just forget about them.  They cause more problems when they get rusted and weak by bending and scraping noisily and annoyingly on the disc.  I never had one cause stones to get caught up or any other problem apart from looking unsightly and the scraping.

[sproutdreamer]

Mine are really corroded/holes but no problems in the last 2 MOT's.