Front brake cylinder rebuild

McCall Pinz · Post by **McCall Pinz** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:36 pm

The source of my brakes pulling to one side turns out to be a leaking wheel cylinder on the front passenger side wheel. I couldn't find much info on this rebuild on the forum, but see that both EI and SAV have a rebuild kit with the seal and the cover. Is there anything special to look for? Also, the brake pads are covered in fluid- can these be cleaned and re-used or should I order pads too?

Profpinz · Post by **Profpinz** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 5:50 am

The brake slave bores are hard chrome plated/lined which is itself an attribute to the quality of the engineering and design of the original component parts..... but over the decades tiny pinholes in the plating have allowed moisture to undermine the bore surface (a bit like a tooth cavity under the plating

), hence problems can arise with fluid leakage.

I found the best way of repairing this problem was to have the slaves (and masters) re-sleeved with stainless steel liners at a local brake shop.
Once this was done the original pistons and new "factory standard" seals can be used.

As regards the "leaked" fluid contaminating the shoes, this can be cleaned with varying degrees of success, using proprietary spray-on brake cleaners ....I use one available here in Australia called BRAKLEEN, but I'm not sure about this particular brands availablity in the US.
If it's really bad, then lining replacement/re-lining is the best option.

McCall Pinz · Post by **McCall Pinz** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 10:11 am

thanks Profpinz- I pulled the pistons and that's exactly what they look like- smooth, but with cavities. It sounds like the bodies might be the same from your description. I'm several hours from a shop that can re-sleeve these units, but found some reproduction ones online. thanks

Jim LaGuardia · Post by **Jim LaGuardia** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 2:07 pm

Those repros will not last long and are prone to rust from my experience.

McCall Pinz · Post by **McCall Pinz** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 2:51 pm

Jim, thanks for helping me out- rebuild kits are on the way from EI

McCall Pinz · Post by **McCall Pinz** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 12:49 pm

Everything is back together and functioning. I thought I'd point out that the rebuild kit from EI is easy to install, but make sure the internal seal is put in correctly. I installed it upside down so the fluid pressure was pushing the seal open instead of sealing tighter. Once I realized the mistake everything went well. The rear brakes only took a few minutes to adjust too.