>From: Christopher.Albers(at)bubbs.biola.edu (Christopher Albers)
>Reply-To: Christopher.Albers(at)bubbs.biola.edu (Christopher Albers)
>To: gary(at)schotland.com
>CC: tigers(at)autox.team.net, alpines(at)autox.team.net
>Subject: Re: Brake Sticking Problem
>Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 08:24:22 -0700
>
>It's probably the booster, as Steve pointed out.
>
>When the booster was rebuilt, what kind of condition was the leather
>seal in? Are the vacuum cylinder walls in good condition and flat?
>
>Commonly, the leather seal on the piston becomes very hard and resists
>any lubrication placed on the cylinder walls. Add to that the pressure
>of the rubber washer placed underneath the seal and the piston often
>sticks in the bore. Smitty recommends soaking the leather seal in
>neats foot oil for at least a day before reinstalling the piston. This
>will soften the leather sufficiently to prevent sticking due to a bad
>seal. If the cylinder is not flat, then you have a different problem
>and will need to replace it.
Hello There, Christopher:
I know this isn't your information, but Smitty's, but I need to take a
kindly stance about the recommendation of neatsfoot oil. There are other
substances which are better suited to this application than neatsfoot oil,
specifically because of this oil's pH: it is acidic, and will eventually
lead to the desiccation of the leather and thus the failure of the servo,
perhaps ['probably' if you are of the house of Murphy] at an inopportune or
unsafe time.
Lanolin is better suited to returning long-term suppleness to leather, and
if that is unavailable, or you are of a chemical bent, polyethylene glycol
(of molecular weight ranging from 800 to 1400) would do in a pinch.
Soaking is one method of application, but it is important to make certain
the entire disk is immersed, because allowing part of the disk to dry out
while the rest is wet could warp the leather and make the process more
time-consuming (though not as long as reading this E), if not permanently
disfiguring the disk.
These delectible automobiles are, for their age, quite intrepid, but some
of the materials used in production require equally old-fashioned techniques
to keep them 'in good nick.'
Of course I would be remiss in not mentioning that a replacement would be
a less masochistic solution to the problem, but I do not know where, or if
they are available.
Good luck. The lanolin will never do you wrong, and eventually neatsfoot
will be your undoing.
Cheers, David
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