Well, I removed the master cylinder from my Healey this weekend,
dismantled it, cleaned it up, reassembled and reinstalled. Didn't
make a damn bit of difference. And I should have expected it,
given the symptoms. So now it's time to check all the brake
cylinders. Left front has one cylinder looking good, one with
the piston stuck pretty solid. When I peeled back the rubber
boot, there was some dry, gritty corrosion product there. I'll
probably force the piston out with hydraulic pressure, clean it
all up again and put it back. But what should I do to prevent
this from happening again?
What we've got here is an alloy cylinder with a polished bore
containing a steel piston. The corrosion seems to affect the
alloy mostly. Everything was quite dry, no leaking hydraulic
fluid, and I have been using Castrol DOT 4 fluid.
The shop manual implies that one should pack the rubber boots
and dust covers with the infamous "Girling Rubber Grease
No. 3 (Red)". Can anyone recommend something? I wiped the
cylinder and piston surfaces with clean brake fluid when I
assembled them, but maybe I need something more substantial.
Would I be insane to smear on some silver anti-seize? Probably.
How about white Lubriplate?
I realize that the best way to avoid this kind of problem is
to drive the beast regularly. The brakes were all rebuilt and
working fine before I put the car on blocks and pulled out the
trans and OD. Inactivity is really the enemy of old cars, I
guess. Any help or advice will be appreciated.
Jim Beckman AT&T, Middletown, NJ att!mtqub!jeb
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