These are the brake calipers that came with the Sabre. They show signs of being refurbished before but don't show any signs of any major rust pits, so I've decided to refurbish them myself. The brown colour is a mixture of gold paint and surface rust.
Front bake caliper refurb by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
Front bake caliper refurb by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
The brake caliper pistons look like new items when the calipers were refurbished back in 1995. All rubber seals will be replaced but the pistons look re-usable.
Front bake caliper refurb by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
These are calipers after paint stripping, derusting and wire brushing. They have been oiled with 3in1 oil to stop them rusting again before I paint them. At this stage I've left the pistons, bleed niplles and the old hoses in place to stop dirt getting inside the calipers chambers.
Front bake caliper refurb by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
(the strange brown colour is a trick of the camera and flourescent lights)
Caliper carriers. The top one has been cleaned up. The remaining black paint wouldn't shift with the paint stripper so I had to use wire brushes in a drill.
Front bake caliper refurb by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
I saw this tip on the internet and it worked a treat! It's a car air pump inflatable adapter which you just push into the cut off old flexi hose. A little compressed air and the cylinder just pops out with no effort.
Front Brake Caliper rebuild by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
Piston popped out without any issues.
Front Brake Caliper rebuild by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
The caliper pistons came up looking like new after a quick clean up with very fine wire wool and oil.
Front Brake Caliper rebuild by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
The Sabre's boot makes good temporary spray booth.
Front Brake Caliper rebuild by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
Brake caliper rebuild kits purchased from Brakes International.
Front Brake Caliper rebuild by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
After finishing painting and leaving for a few days for the paint to harden, i fitted the new seals and rubber parts. The service kits came with assembly grease and all parts fitted perfectly.
Front Brake Calipers by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
Front Brake Calipers by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
And finally, the brake caliper carriers painted and new 10.9 bolts ready for fitting.
Front Brake caliper carriers by
Sabrebuilder, on Flickr
There now all wrapped up in a shoe box ready for fitting.... Quite a lot of messy work and time but much more satisfying than buying refurb'd calipers.
...peter