Hi
I purchased the donor pack from MK when I bought my kit and I want to fit the front and rear brakes this weekend. But I am unsure on what refurb on these to do first. I have a new set of pads and discs for the front brakes but should I purchases some new shoes for the rear drums and anything else? I was also going to give all the parts a good clean and paint.
Would apreciate any advice
thanks
James

[Edited on 8/7/09 by EasyJimbo]

Im not sure how the donor pack from mk comes?

assuming its just some functioning parts from an old car, Id personally want to pump the pistons out, electrolyse the bodies, clean any marks off the pistons and slider pins with the cloth back of emery paper and some WD40 and then paint and reassemble them with new seals, disks, pads and shoes before fitting.

if your garage is at all damp then dont fit the new disks and pads until later in the project.

hard to say without seeing the parts or knowing their previous history.

cold be nothing more than a clean and lick of paint to complete strip down to replace seals and pistons.

Is it not a big job to do this so if you arre feeling lucky, fit and then refrub if they turn out to be not working properly - biggest pain in a%%e would be having to fill the system with brake fluid and to bleed them.

My advice would be to pop the pistons out, look at the conditons, replace if required., pop seals out, examin for cracks - replace or for wear, also replace.

clean up and paint.

same for rear.

look at the thickenss of lining on the shoes and replace if reuqired - in aqny case, these are not big money.

best not to skip on brakes or steering.

At best, the parts are going to have come off a 16+ yr old car. I know the parts I removed from my G reg donor weren't up to much.

For peace of mind and the costs involved I opted to replace the brake cylinders and shoes at the rear including a refurb kit which contained the necessary springs and cup washers etc - the drums were OK with a clean an paint.

On the front, the calipers looked OK externally and the pistons moved freely too. However the face and internal groove which reatins/supports the pads were badly corroded and uneven and after removing the pistons I found they were corroded too which had knackered the seals - I ended up getting an exchange recon set from the motor factors. Again, discs and pads are too cheap not to replace with new parts.

Obviously your parts may be pristine and in perfect working order, but make absolutely sure before you fit them and rely on them

Fit new pads discs, shoes, drums and wheel cylinders.

You may find it nearly as cheap to fit recon front calipers as reconditng them yourself.




Take great care with WD40 it should never be used on or near brake hydraulic parts.

WD40 may contain silcones but it also contains kerosene oil type hydrocarbons. Just a trace of hyrocarbon left on any surface in contact with with brake rubber seals will eventually ruin them

If say a caliper piston becomes contaminated it should be washed with methylated spirits and they lubricated with Castrol Red Rubber Grease.

[Edited on 8/7/09 by britishtrident]