04 WRX rear brake pad change
 

Excuse the simple question, but should the brake pads not just pull out once I have got to the stage shown in the attached photo???

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...9490c18c46eef6

Pretty much yeah! You may need to force the pistons in a little to give the pads enough room to get past any possible lips on the disks and wear on the pads. One problem I have had in the past is a build up of break dust and corrosion on the calliper holding the pads in place, between the top and bottom of the pads and calliper, took me 2.5 hours on a cold winters night to remove one front pad on my Sti last year! I see there are two metal shims top and bottom between the calliper and pads, do they slide out and loosen the grip on the pads?

the top and bottom pad guides are clipped in place and only move once the pads are removed.......

as above push the pistons back slightly and they should pull out

They'll move with some force :) I've ended up prising them out with a screwdriver through the pin holes before!