'82 brake caliper rebuild

[mcgovern61]

As many of you may know, my original '82 standard was donated to me back in September '07! There is no such thing as free.......the engine was siezed (broken piston plus water logged) and in a nutshell the bike was left outside year round for the better part of 12 years. Here are some pics to get the idea:

Well, we spent quite bit of time and a fair amount of money and elbow grease (plus a parts bike) to get the old girl back on the road with much success. Put over 13,000 miles on it since! However, one of the items that has been an issue is the brakes. They work good, but they are the single caliper ones from the '81 parts bike and they do not work correctly on the front vented '82 rotors. The pads ride higher past the vents and scrape on the top of the rotors. The pads do wear down and fit, but they also wear out twice as fast because of this. The '82 calipers have been sitting in a box seized after all of these years. Time to start working on them.

 

[mcgovern61]

First thing I did was soak them with ATF for a week. Today I had my first chance to take a look at them (pretty ugly :smilie_happy: ). BUT....the ATF is a miricle oil! With a few taps on the bolts....they came right out! :clapping: Also....turns out the last time the PO worked on them he used never sieze on the threads! :music: :clapping:

I removed the left caliper from the bike and installed one of the '82 calipers and filled the master cylinder up and started pumping. After sitting for the better part of 15 years rusted and stuck, the pistons popped right out! :yahoo: The ATF did a great job breaking down the rust and loosening everything up. I now have the pistons sitting in a coffee can of brake fluid. Luckily the pads were not worn too bad and pistons were pretty far inside of the calipers and only about 1/2" of the pistons were exposed and rusty. They wire brushed off real easy! (Gotta love stainless!) Now for new seals, speed bleeder screws, new banjo washers and paint!

Any suggestions on the best method for cleaning up the calipers inside and out before paint?

 

[slabghost]

Aircraft paint stripper followed with a dremel wire brush will prep them nicely for paint or clearcoat.

 

[mcgovern61]

I obviously need caliper rebuild kits and brake pads. The kits are pretty consistent in price around $32 per caliper wherever I look. :read:

The pads are a different story! I can find pads for $29 per set (2 pads) down as low as $33 for all three sets on sale. I have used EBC primarily since that is what the Honda dealer had. Any other ideas or experience? :thanks:

(I think I want to stick to organic and not ceramic.)

 

[joedrum]

yeah i realy havnt a cue on witch might be the ones to use :headscratch: :mrgreen:

 

[slabghost]

I'm using the EBC pads. I found a vendor on ebay selling a full set (3 pairs) for a good price last year.

 

[mcgovern61]

not sure but there is a post on here I think it was littlebeaver that posted it he used murotic acid to clean his inside then clean water flush three times and then blow dry and then brake fluid wash to finish befor putting the piston back in or any of the seals or O rings they had been removed before the wash prosses.

Sorry Gerry it was bigdub here is the post check it out. viewtopic.php?p=20628#p2062
check post #67 and so on very good info and pictures

Good link! Thanks Charlie!

 

[mcgovern61]

I'm using the EBC pads. I found a vendor on ebay selling a full set (3 pairs) for a good price last year.

I saw them on ebay too and could not believe 3 sets for the price of one? Just thought they might not be EBC?

 

[scdmarx]

I got these Kevlars for my '82S and couldn't be happier.
Ebay username "sixity". Search through his ebay store and look for a better sale price, or free shipping. Never know till you look.https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/83-...3047267QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

[mcgovern61]

Well I finally got a chance to start tearing these calipers down, clean them up, rebuild them and paint them. Here is the progress so far:

 

[toytender01]

Well I am going to try this post again.... :head bang: :head bang: ANOTHER BREAK CALLIPER OVERHAUL.... :Egyptian: Lost the last one at the end... :fiddle: the link was lost as I was finishing up so will try again.... I cleaned up and kitted the all of the calipers and the front resavor on my 82 builder...You have all seen the rebuild process so I want to show you the the bleeding process I used.... :hi: First I used a pneumatic Bleeder I borrowed from a mechanic friend of mine

:yahoo: I don't know the brand name but it works well with bleeding and exchanging fluids. I Just hooked up the air and hooked up to the left front bleeder valve

and Pulled the trigger waited a minute or so for the fluid to come into the catch bottle, arty:

then moved to the right front bleeder valve for about a minute and WALLA!!! BREAKS ON THE FRONT. :heat: :yahoo: :lazy: :lazy: Moved to the back bleeder valve

and in about a minute I had replaced the fluid in the rear system and had breaks there to..total time 10 minutes :heat: :heat: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling:

this is my 82 builder and no I am not using the toilet for a seat... :smilie_happy: that is another project, I have the stock seat....the wing project is taking longer than expected as I have already overhauled the calipers and replaces the disks on the 99 1 tone diesal and the 89 dodge B-350 and the water pump and belts on the 93 voyger....I think I want a break and take the 80 wing out before I pull the carb rack for overhaul. :whistling: :yahoo: :yahoo: (Don't pay any attention to the dates I took the pix today my camra is as fouled up as all my other high tek stuff is )oh2: oh2:

 

[mcgovern61]

Nice job Bob! I bought speed bleeders from Crescent Moon Cycles. I do not have an air compressor, but I like that setup! 10 minutes beats 2 hours to change brake fluid out any day!

 

[mcgovern61]

Painted the front calipers, honed the cylinders, cleaned all of the parts up real nice! Time to put the rubber parts back in! (You would have thought that I ordered pads by now! oh2: )

 

[slabghost]

They look great Gerry! Now get the pads and install those things!

 

[dan filipi]

Not red? :headscratch:

Just kidding Gerry, they look great!

 

[mcgovern61]

They look great Gerry! Now get the pads and install those things!

Just ordered a set of kevlars! I am also rebuilding the front master cylinder so I have a little time to get it all done.

 

[mcgovern61]

Not red? :headscratch:

Just kidding Gerry, they look great!

I was going to do red, but I tried it out on a test piece and the red color doesn't look right with the Vetter faring. Hard to explain, theres something about the shape that throws it off. If it was still a Standard with just a windshield, I think I could pull it off. I liked ~O~'s red calipers, but he can pull it off with his bags and a Honda faring.

 

[mcgovern61]

The great thing about working on these old bikes is that I learn something new everyday! I already knew the '81 single piston caliper did not work exactly right on the '82 vented rotors, but as I went to install the rebuilt '82 dual piston calipers, I found out the brake lines are different! :rant: :rant: :cheeky:

The '81 parts bike came with new stainless steel braided front brake lines. The fitting at the caliper is designed with an almost 45 degree angle on the section that the bolt and banjo washers tighten down on. It is angled towards the cailper and the other end is angled away from the cross over tube on the triple tree. On the '82 calipers, it is angled the other way! I tried to end for end the brake line but it didn't work!

Luckily, I had saved the '82's brake lines. I disassembled them, cleaned them up, ran new braked fluid through them under pressure and checked for any hard spots or cracks. The are very pliable and appear to be in good shape. Installed the lines (which happen to fit the '82 very nicely! Go figure), bled the lines and calipers and everything worked like a champ! :yahoo:

Took the bike out for a run and the kevlar pads needed a little break in, but then they smoothed out and caught real nice! BUT.....it turns out that one or both rotors might be warped!!! :rant: :rant: :rant: Pull the brakes at 40 MPH and above and it rattles the handlebars! I knew the '81 cailpers were not working quite up to speed, but didn't realize the rotors were part of the problem.

What to do now??????

 

[slabghost]

If the rotors aren't too bad maybe you can get them turned true. If not there's Ebay or maybe someone has a pair laying around.

 

[mcgovern61]

Pulled the rotors today and had them checked at a bike shop. One was only slightly out of round, not enough to make the brakes chatter like that. Interesting find though....there was a gasket between the rotor and the wheel on one side and no gasket on the other. (I don't remember there being a gasket between rotors?) The right side did not have a gasket, but a small piece of gasket was still attached at one of the bolt holes. That could have been enough to run it out of round when riding. The bike shop showed me where the hot spot was on the one rotor because it was slightly discolored (blackish) from pad material. There was also a lip on the edge. They were within 4.6MM so there is still enough meat on them.

I took a flat file and cut down the lip and smoothed out the rotors as best as I could. Cleaned up the gasket area and put new gaskets back on (Just in case). Put them back on and it is quite a bit better, but there is still a little rub from one of them.

Checked a parts fiche and it turns out that the "gasket" is called a shim damper. Guess I should order two new ones!
https://fiche.worldofpowersports.com/mcm ... &A=11&B=43