Greetings from the Hudson Valley;

I'm new to Volvos and DIY auto mechanics. I bought new rear rotors and rebuilt loaded calipers from FCP. Replacing the rotor was easy. Then I thought the right rear caliper would just slide on over the rotor and bolt in place. No !@#$%^ way.
There is a shelf-like arm bolted to the right top rear of the caliper that does not like the steel frame truss that projects down to the rear of the spring and shock. The geometry seems impossible, yet I removed the old caliper without a fight. With, or without the brake line attached, how do I get this caliper back where it belongs??? Thanks! (1986 245 wagon)

Scott

The previous owner of your car may have thrown the iron bracket away on the original calipers. It is supposed to be hit by the truss in an accident. If the part that is in the way is bolted on, and I think it is from your description, remove it. You can put it on after the caliper is in, or not.

How does the new caliper differ from the old one? Do they look the same?

Invariably, you will have to compress the new pads back into the caliper so it will fit on the new rotor. There are many ways to do this. You'll want to take the master cylinder reservoir cap off under the hood and use some sort of a lever or clamp to squeeze the new pads apart. I've used all sorts of things that I had handy - a large screwdriver, block of wood, flat bar, C clamp, etc.

I'm not familiar with the situation you are describing, but it wouldn't be something related to mixing left caliper for right would it??

Scott-
If you mean that horn bolted to the caliper (limits gas tank collapse in a collision or somesuch), take it off temporarily. I might be missing something here though.