Hi, Dan -
I've had silicon(e) fluid in my BJ8 since 1990. I would never go back to
DOT 3 or 4 fluid. Silicone works great, doesn't promote corrosion of the
brake system parts, and most importantly (if you have a new paint job, as I
did in 1990) does not strip paint if you spill it (as you certainly will at
some point).
I've never had any problems with the brakes from using silicone, although if
you do get it on paint, it's almost impossible to remove when it comes time
to repaint. Spoken from personal experience gained while trying to paint my
engine bay several years later. Silicone contamination will result in
fisheyes in liquid paint.
The Sandstrom dry film lube is not recommended inside brake fluid - wetted
parts of brake systems, although it is proper to use it on the walls of the
brake servo canister when you rebuild that. It lubricates the leather
piston seal of the booster.
Cheers!
Steve Byers
HBJ8L/36666
BJ8 Registry
Havelock, NC
-----Original Message-----
From: healeys-bounces+sbyers=ec.rr.com@autox.team.net
[mailto:healeys-bounces+sbyers=ec.rr.com@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Dan
Stromquist
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 1:03 PM
To: Healey List Emails
Subject: [Healeys] Silicon VS Brake Fluid
I would like to add one more item to the list of pros and cons of silicon
over regular brake fluid. I just rebuilt front and rear brakes as well as
the servo and both the master and slave cylinders (resleived in stainless)
on a 64 BJ8. One thing I found outside all the pistons was a greenish white
chalk that was at times hard. My assumption was this was old brake fluid
that had leaked and crystallized. I am wondering if anyone has used silicon
in their braking systems long enough to comment on whether silicon is an
improvement in that regard. I might add that that just about everything was
rebuilt about 20 years back and had about 3000 miles capped off with five
years of no activity. The actual rubber in the cylinders looked good but
the outsides of each piston was cruded up.
On question I would have is it proper to treat the inside of all the
cylinders with the dry Sandstrom lubricant whether I use regular brake fluid
or silicon?
Dan
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