GL 1500 Front brake pad retainer pin stripped head

[gford]

Hopefully this will help somebody in the future. I was changing my front left brake pads and one of the pad retainer pins was frozen solid. It was so tight I rounded out the 5 mil hex head on the pin. I tried penetrating oil and let it soak, I then tried ez outs after shocking the pin with a drift and hammer, I tried heat but was nervous because of rubber o rings in the caliper but nothing worked. I then drilled out the pin starting with a drill bit the same size as the 5 mil hex head. I keep using bigger and bigger drill bits ending up with a 11/32 drill bit that removed the remains of the original pin. It was so close that although it removed what was left of pin it didn't damage any of the threads (to my surprise). Lots of lubricant and I was able to get the new pin in without any effort or fear of damaging the threads.

The fact that the pin froze at all surprised me because I keep up on maintenance including lubricating the brake calipers every couple of years. I must have missed that pin the last time.