Hi Bill,
Glad to hear that it fixed the problem. Skip is a great resource. I
finally found where I had written up a technique for the grease gun
approach that doesn't require a grease gun. You can find it in the
UKBBS TD/TF Archive under the title "Saving a wheel cylinder". Here's
what I wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I normally make it a point to take my TD out for a spin at least
> monthly, thruout the year. This can be a challenge in Massachusetts
> winters. Last winter I had the car stuck in the'storage' garage
> because I was rebuilding my MGB in the 'access' garage. The result was
> that the TD wasn't driven from late October thru mid-March.
>
> Started sensing an overly firm brake pedal. BTDT, a sure sign of a
> front wheel cylinder freezing up. Finally got around to pulling the
> drums today. Sure enough, the winter inactivity was responsible for
> the rear cylinder on the left wheel being frozen solid. Pulled it off
> and put it in the bench vise. No way it was going to allow itself to
> be freed up.
>
> Probably like most of you, I'd heard about using a grease gun to free
> up the cylinder, but I'd never tried it. Took the wheel cylinder out
> to my local NAPA store and asked if they had a zerk fitting that would
> fit. Tried all they had, but no such luck. I ended up buying a pack of
> five 1/8" fittings because they 'almost' fit. Back at the garage I
> tried my darndest to thread one in and have it hold against the
> grease. No way!
>
> Inspiration (desperation) made me remember a few of the laws of
> physics and I hunted for a bolt with the same thread as the wheel
> cylinder. Found one in the goodie box. Squeezed grease into the
> 'intake port' of the cylinder, wrapped the bolt threads with teflon
> tape and screwed it in, bottoming the bolt. Pulled it out, added more
> grease, new teflon, screwed it in again. After the fourth repeat I
> could see the piston coming out of the cylinder bore.
>
> About that time it dawned on me to check the thread of the bolt and
> see if I couldn't rethread one of the zerk fittings. Sure enough, the
> bolt was a 3/8-20 BSF thread and I do just happen to have such a die.
> After a little bit of judicial grinding to reduce the fitting diameter
> slightly, the 1/8" zerk fitting became a 3/8-20 BSF zerk fitting. Put
> it into the cylinder, popped on the grease gun and watched the piston
> come on out of there.
>
> A few moments with the hone and it looks as if it cleaned up fine. It
> helps that I do just happen to have a rebuilding kit in my travel kit.
> I'll let you know how it works out. Sorry about this being so long, I
> just thought some of you might find it interesting.
You might want to keep it mind for the next time. You're bound to have
a 3/8-20 BSF bolt in the goodie box by now.
Bud Krueger
Bill Snyder wrote:
>Thanks to all who responded to my question about freeing up brake
>cylinder pistons. The grease gun method was the most appealing, but since
>I lacked the tools and fittings needed to rig a connection to my grease
>gun, I opted to try Skip Kelsey's suggestion of heating the cylinders
>with a torch. It worked like a charm and rebuild kits are on the way. For
>those who recommended new cylinders, I hear you, but when the budget gets
>lean, I try to use what I have. If it comes back to bite me, that is not
>a situation with which I am unfamiliar! Thanks again to all.
>Bill Snyder
>'53 TD
>PS I buy most of my parts from Skip (Shadetree Motors). He could easily
>have recommended new cylinders as well. As illustrated, he has always
>been an honest dealer with reasonable prices. (He also had nothing to do
>with this plug for his enterprise.)
/// unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net or try
/// http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive/mg-t
|