Front brakes - caliper and piston condition

[olr159w]

Thanks. It was 3 days in a bucket of vinegar with periodic wire brushing. After that there were still a few bits of persistent rust both dotted on the surface and hiding in corners. Those areas were given a bit of a scrape and then any rusty areas dabbed over with rust converter. After that no primer need for the paint so a few coats made over an hour or so per the instructions and et voila.

Will be interesting to see how long the paint stays on....

Will be getting new pistons, seals etc and rebuilding.

[olr159w]

Sometimes I wonder whether there is any part of this car that wasn't designed by a total moron.

So, the caliper paint has sort of dried - report back on that at a later date.... - and I'm trying to get the new SS pistons into the caliper.

The pistons fit into the recesses without the seals, a close fit but will sit fully into the recess. The seals fit into the recesses. I've given it all a coating of brake fluid and attempted to then fit the pistons per the manual by first pushing them in a certain distance before then adding the dust seal and concluding. The design of the spring for the dust seal is the moronic part; I wonder if they could have invented something more fiddly to fit and more likely to pierce the dust cover with its open steel wire end.

But that's not the real issue. I can't get the pistons to go into the recesses once the seals are in place. I'm using a large G clamp to ease them home and they look straight and true. They simply don't go all the way in. It's like the clamping process has arrived at solid steel.

What I though would be a two hour job has now turned into a PITA. I don't know why I expected any different though come to think of it.

Any thoughts? As it stands absolutely no way the pads and disc will fit between the pistons .

[olr159w]

Resolved through the use of two G clamps with one acting on each side of the piston and the gradual application or release of pressure to encourage the piston into place.

It begins to look seriously like Dupli Colour caliper paint is not resistant to brake fluid, which renders it moderately useless. I can see a quick rub down and another blow over of paint is going to be needed

[James467]

Sometimes I wonder whether there is any part of this car that wasn't designed by a total moron.

To be fair to the cars designers the calipers were designed by Girling!

[Carledo]

Resolved through the use of two G clamps with one acting on each side of the piston and the gradual application or release of pressure to encourage the piston into place.

It begins to look seriously like Dupli Colour caliper paint is not resistant to brake fluid, which renders it moderately useless. I can see a quick rub down and another blow over of paint is going to be needed

Most normal (dot 3 and 4) brake fluids will eat ANY paint, even Hammerite if you give it enough time! The Dot 5 silicone stuff doesn't, it's one of it's selling points, i'm not sure about the fully synthetic Dot 5.1 race fluid that I use, it's quite expensive and i'm stingy! So I have yet to spill any significant amount on paint. Or anywhere else!

It's always a bit of a sod getting pistons in new seals and the dust covers are ludicrously fiddly. Happy to see you won in the end!
In this country, exchange recon calipers are fairly cheap, not just for Dollies (via the club) but for most cars. Being in the trade, it pays me to fit these rather than kits, less faffing and if something DOES go wrong, someone else to blame!

Steve

[Jon Tilson]

There is a knack to the spring clip on the dust cover. I hold one end in place and then run a small screwdriver round the inside of the clip to get the other end in and there is IIRC about 1/8 inch gap when fitted in the grove in the boot.

If the pistons don't go in easily then they are not square. Again it improves with practice.

Jonners

[olr159w]

Thanks guys. They went in eventually and you are right about keeping them square.

The pistons were the hard part. The spring clips relatively easy provided the pistons are in the right place. I'd also note fyi that the new spring clips in the kits from RB are thinner and less robust than the originals which consequently I decided to re-use.

[olr159w]

Not looking too shabby in the end.