In a message dated 03/06/01 9:20:16 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
owner-mgs-digest@autox.team.net writes:
> There is nothing wrong with splitting calipers, but you better know what
> your doing. Buy
> the proper sealing ring, and the proper bolts ... if you can find the bolts.
>
I think Ed's post must be read in context, coming from the US (land of the
lawsuit) as it does. If something unpleasant happens to you, it MUST be
someone else's fault, and you can/should sue them, right? He is just being
appropriately prudent.
I always watch the faces of clients with interest when they are in this
situation. Having been brought up on US TV and news, they expect that someone
else will always be responsible for their misadventures. In some case, I have
to tell them "Sh_t sometimes just happens, and you can't sue anyone for your
bad luck" (phrased more diplomatically, in most cases).
As for calipers, the best policy is not to split them - the factory O ring
almost NEVER gives problems - remember, it doesn't have to seal a moving
surface as the piston seal does, it just sits in there, compressed. If you
have to, a suitably sized round section O ring will nicely replace what was
in most cases, I believe, a square section (now unobtainable) seal. Do be
careful with the bolts, and use a Grade 8 replacement, even if you have to
buy longer bolts to get the exact thread length, and have them machined to
length.
The approach Girling took to the advent of the ventilated disc (more like .8"
than the unventilated .4" or so) was often to take the old caliper and just
put a spacer between the halves (obviously with 2 O rings, one on each side
of the spacer). I have always wondered about the wisdom (if not the obvious
frugality) of this method, as it must affect the rigidity of the final
caliper, compared to a suitably cast 2 piece unit.
Bill Spohn
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