Caliper 14 refurb by myself y

[Pdv]

HI,

Have taken the calipers apart removed the pistons and I am about to put back together with new pistons seals etc, I have just been told by someone that they have never known this work as they have to be refurbished professionally.

Apparently they are refaced during refurbishment.

I can get this done if needs be and think it would be the best thing at this point in time rather than put them together only to find that they don't work.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Steve

 

[NonMember]

I've done Type 16 calipers myself - dismantle, clean, reassemble with new pistons and seals - and they work fine. Which part does "someone" think needs to be "refaced"?

[JumpingFrog]

Rebuilt several sets of Type 14 and Type 16 - calipers, never had any issue. The only difference I can see between home refurbishment and professional is having the castings vapour blasted and electroplated. But this is aesthetic.

The only parts I can imagine being refinished are the mating surfaces between the caliper halves. But I don't see why this would be necessary nor did I ever hear of it. Maybe if your calipers had been really seriously overheated and warped...

[Clive]

I too have done a few sets. Only split the calioers once, and that was when I fitted spacers for vented discs. Never had an issue. Just be careful with cleanliness, use brake fluid and red grease, job done. All very simple stuff.

[Colin Lindsay]

Keep the two inner faces clean, check before refitting them that there's not even a minute speck of any contaminant and as a precaution, replace the small seal too (CS1) but I do it on all my calipers nowadays.

There's no torque setting for retightening the bolts other than 'really tight'.

[DanMi]

A very simple job, doesn't even require any special tools and the hardest part is often getting the seized piston out, so you have already done the hard part

[Pdv]

Hi All,

No names but it was by a parts supplier who said it to me.

I have new bridge seals and will make sure that all is clean the pistons came out without any scoring in the bores.

I was thinking of using a flat surface ie a piece of glass and a very fine wet and dry paper to just move the mating faces across the paper.

This I hope would clean any contamination that I may have missed and highlight any high or low spots and identify if it needs facing or not.

I can understand refurbishments are faced off as they are an unknown quantity and would be as new when sold.

Thanks

Steve

 

 

 

[Peter Truman]

I'm interested in our members comments re the condition of the bore's of the caliper as in my mind the hydraulic performance of the caliper is solely between the seal and the piston the bore of the caliper provides piston alignment and any ridges or scores could cause locking or gripping of the piston so provided the bore is smooth and also provided the bore isn't too large or small so the piston can smoothly slide in the bore it should be OK.

I suppose I've reconditioned around 8 calipers in my lifetime ALL have had rust at the base of the bore (easily cleaned) and imbedded rust around the bottom outer diameter of the bore esp where the inlet port is, I've cleaned the rust off here with the Dremmel using a small head grinding head, re the bores there's usually been light rust where the old pistons have slightly corroded, this is basically surface rust & has cleaned off with wet and dry paper ie no ridges, nowadays I have a small short brake cylinder honing tool to run around the bore very carefully to then resurface the bore.

I always replace the seals and pistons in the rebuild, as a matter of principal, but never splashed out on stainless pistons, just reputable makes or suppliers.

Your comments re the adequacy of this process and any safety issues esp concerning the bore would be appreciated.

[Pdv]

Hi Peter,

The pistons that came out were in good condition with no rust to speak of and the same with the bores so that bodes well when it all goes back together.

I will post on the outcome for future reference for others doing this.

It also occurred to me that there are several suppliers selling the seal kits that if the failure rate was as suggested to me that it would be well known about and that does not seem to be the case.

[NonMember]

8 hours ago, Peter Truman said:

Your comments re the adequacy of this process and any safety issues esp concerning the bore would be appreciated.

As you say, the bore does not contribute to any seal, so I can't see that it matters. I've never honed one, just cleaned off any rust. The groove for the seal does matter, of course, and any pitting on the pistons means they need replacing, but the bores were never properly smooth from the factory.

[DanMi]

The majority of rebuilds are done without splitting the calliper, which is a very simple process, Lucas Girling said not to split the callipers (probably to sell more replacement callipers!), but to be honest it is still a very simple process, just make sure the mating surfaces are clean. When I last did mine I sat the halves of the calliper in patio cleaner overnight (HCl acid) which dissolve any rust etc, rinsed thoroughly, dried quickly and then rebuilt and painted. Very straightforward and no issues

[Colin Lindsay]

12 hours ago, Pdv said:

This I hope would clean any contamination that I may have missed and highlight any high or low spots and identify if it needs facing or not.

It shouldn't, having been sealed since manufacture and nothing can get into the gap, so no rust or distortion. Just be very careful with it, don't nick, score or damage the faces, spray with brake cleaner before reassembly and allow to dry just as long as it takes before the two halves can be reattached.

[PeteH]

I refurbished the Front calipers on my Peugot 107 July 2021. I saw no reason to part the joint, just ensured the surfaces where clean free of corrsion and reasembled with a smear of Dot4. New pistons too. They went back, bled and are functioning perfectly. I wouldnt be phased by parting the joints, but saw no necessity to so do. What I did do at the same time was completely change the Brake fluid, which one should do every 2 or 3 years anyway.

Pete

[Neil Clark]

I got some scrapyard Sierra calipers for my Fury kit car and refurbished them much as PeteH says - they worked fine afterwards.

[Clive]

Biggest problem is often bleed nipples. If they break it is a nighmare.....

[Nigel Clark]

I've refurbished several sets of calipers, type 16 and princess 4 pot. Care can be needed extracting corroded pistons.

The bores rarely seem to get corroded me scratched but take care to keep the pistons square as the come in and out of the bores. Always for new pistons if there's any doubt about the condition of the old ones.

As Clive says, bleed nipples can be difficult.

Nigel

 

[Colin Lindsay]

11 hours ago, Nigel Clark said:

I've refurbished several sets of calipers, type 16 and princess 4 pot. Care can be needed extracting corroded pistons.

The bores rarely seem to get corroded me scratched but take care to keep the pistons square as the come in and out of the bores. Always for new pistons if there's any doubt about the condition of the old ones.

I'll agree with that, in fact new bits all round if there's any doubt at all about condition of any of the components. I've used this photo plenty before but that piston was seized solid and took masses of force to remove, yet once out, the caliper itself was fine. A light honing - very light - and new seals and it was good for another few years. 'Scrupulously clean' is the term I'd use before reassembly, all rust removed and the fluidways cleaned out, but greatest care taken not to affect or damage the mating faces of the caliper halves. I've become used now to rebuilding each half and only then reattaching them, you can press the new piston in squarely and with a lot less faff, but I use an air wrench to tighten the bolts.

[Peter Truman]

I brought a pair of Ford Type 14 Caliper's locally the pistons were siezed and compressed air wouldn't free them so I reverted to grease and the old Wanner Gun it worked a treat after one piston moved I had to use a G clamp to hold it whilst the opposite piston moved. A lot of cleaning up afterwards to ensure ALL the grease was removed!

[Pete Lewis]

there lots of re threading kits and insert kits on the bay   some very cheap  some from a long way away ??? 

to put new life into stripped and sheared nipples 

Pete

[cliff.b]

Just reading this as today I had to free up pistons in the OEM calipers I bought less than 2 years ago from a "well known supplier". This is the 3rd time I have had to do this and I have zero confidence I won't need to do it again before very long.

 

So I am thinking about what to do when that happens. I still have the original calipers, each with a seized piston, but I haven't tried very hard to free them. Initially, I was thinking I would just exchange them for a refurbished pair but reading the above, wondering if I should try doing this myself. But are the kits available to buy any better than the parts in the OEM calipers. Are some known to be better than others?

 

If the refurbishment kits are acceptable quality, is there any reason why I shouldn't use them in the newer OEM caliper bodies? Has anybody done this?

 

[Colin Lindsay]

Search the Net, eBay or wherever for the original Girling seal sets, they still come up for sale. There are some good old stock sellers out there and their wars have been well stored, so no deterioration or damage. I'd go for those rather that the new replacement kits where in many of them you can see that the rubber hasn't even been trimmed properly.

[cliff.b]

8 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said:

Search the Net, eBay or wherever for the original Girling seal sets, they still come up for sale. There are some good old stock sellers out there and their wars have been well stored, so no deterioration or damage. I'd go for those rather that the new replacement kits where in many of them you can see that the rubber hasn't even been trimmed properly.

That's a good idea. Also worth asking local motor factors if well established. On a few occasions I have found local ones had a dusty box on a shelf that they didn't even know was there until I asked "have you got one of these" 😊 

[andyshep]

Just been rebuilding my callipers. The clip that holds the dust steel on seems to be too small and is trapping the seal. The supplier says it’s the correct clip, so am I doing something wrong.

[thescrapman]

Looks OK to me, just need to position dust shield and then carefully open clip out and fit without it catching the rubber by fitting open side first, the ends get cut poorly and they dig in. 

[andyshep]

Should the ends of the clip overlap