6 replies to this topic

[Big Guns]

Hi all. To make life a little easier (or so I thought!) removing the drive shafts, I removed the calipers. Unfortunately I actually split/seperated the nearside one rather than just remove it! Big mistake! Got the brake fluid all over the place. I have rejoined them and, obviously, they are going to need to be bled, but....by splitting them have I damaged any gaskets/seals? I cant see anything obvious and the pistons didn't drop out but why the fluid leak? I'm chopping them in for refurbs but wanted to know for future reference.
Cheers.....Dave

[Dan]

Yes, these calipers were never intended to be split outside a reconitioning shop. Until recently you couldn't even buy the seals to fit between the halves because Rover didn't want anyone taking them apart. They are supposed to be assembled in a jig to make certain they align dead square and are kept very clean, as you have seen there are no alignment parts or dowels between the halves. You must use a new seal now, they are available from Mini Spares and others. There is no published torque figure for the screws as far as I know and I tend to think they would originally have been built with encapsulated screws that Rover would probably have advised you not to re-use.

[Big Guns]

Thanks Dan. They really are (were) awkward buggas at Rover! Not to worry, I'm "part ex-ing" them with Martin for some shiney re-furbs. Never again though!
Regards....Dave

[ECG317W]

I got some genuine replacement seals and bolts for my cooper s calipers, and there was a note in the packaging saying the bolts should be tightened to 250ish lb/ft!! I just sent them off to bigg red in the end as I figured they were so safety critical I didn't trust myself to do it right, and also I don't have a torque wrench the goes up that high!!

[Cooperman]

I've always re-built my calipers myself and never had any problems. It is, as Dan says, vital to replace the small seal between the two halves. I have always torqued them up to 48 lb. ft. I don't know where anyone got the idea of 250 lb. ft, as the threads would have stripped long before this figure was achieved.
The main thing is to ensure that everything is kept spotlessly clean with no chance, that is NO CHANCE, of any dirt, grit or muck (known as DG&S) getting into the calipers.
Use rubber grease on the seals and stainless steel pistons.
Put the pistons and dust shields in before re-joining the two halves as the dust shields are a bit difficult to push in when the two halves are together. I use a large clean socket to finally locate and press in the dust shields, again using rubber grease to help installation.
Always fit new bleed screws too and check the bleed screw threads in the calliper castings as these have been known to be damaged. If they are they can be repaired with a heli-coil insert.

[bmcecosse]

I would just add - make sure the little passages in the caliper are properly cleaned out. And run a tap down the brake pipe/bleed screw threads before final assembly.

[Big Guns]

Thanks all. You guys are the font of all knowledge!!

Regards....Dave