Now that you have the pistons out, you need to inspect them for re-use. If they
are pitted, throw them out. If they have very minor pitting that can be cleaned
up with 400 emery paper, you can re-use them.
Vic Whitmore
76 Spitfire
Thornhill, Ontario
Jeff McNeal wrote:
>
> After wrestling around a bit more with the piston, I called my local garage
> and made an appointment to go in tomorrow and have them extricate the piston
> from the caliper chamber.
>
> Then, armed with all your great advice, I mustered up the courage to try the
> "grease-pressure" method.
>
> Placing the free piston back in place on the opposite side of the caliper, I
> used a quick grip to hold the piston in place and attached the grease gun to
> the brake line opening. Believe it or not, I've never actually used a
> grease gun before so I wasn't sure if I loaded it properly. The
> instructions were rather ambiguous. My concerns were addressed soon enough
> when I saw the free piston pushing against the clamp. I attached a second
> clamp because the pressure was really building and a few easy strokes later,
> one of the clamps exploded into pieces from the stress. Oops. I bought
> those for my wood working projects. So much for that quick grip clamp! I
> grabbed the only thing I had that was large enough and strong enough to hold
> the free moving piston in place. My father's old monkey wrench. Worked
> like a charm. The stuck piston began easing out, and once it was out far
> enough, it simply fell out.
>
> So, three days before my 40th birthday, I officially became a "grease
> monkey" ha ha. I blew compressed air through the line to clear most of the
> grease out, and used a rag yo wipe out the cylinders, but am open for
> suggestions on how to finish the job. I have a feeling that denatured
> alcohol and brake fluid are going to come into play, here.I have the feeling
> that this piston has been inoperable for some time, which explains the
> imbalance of wear on the pads that were on that caliper. The piston is
> fairly severely pitted so I'm going to junk it and replace with new.
>
> Thanks again to all who responded. It feels so good to have done it
> myself...
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Jeff in San Diego
> '67 RHD Spitfire Mk3
> http://www.ohms.com/spitfire/spitfire.shtml
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