After wrestling around a bit more with the piston, I called my local garage
and made an appointment to go in tomorrow and have them extricate the piston
from the caliper chamber.
Then, armed with all your great advice, I mustered up the courage to try the
"grease-pressure" method.
Placing the free piston back in place on the opposite side of the caliper, I
used a quick grip to hold the piston in place and attached the grease gun to
the brake line opening. Believe it or not, I've never actually used a
grease gun before so I wasn't sure if I loaded it properly. The
instructions were rather ambiguous. My concerns were addressed soon enough
when I saw the free piston pushing against the clamp. I attached a second
clamp because the pressure was really building and a few easy strokes later,
one of the clamps exploded into pieces from the stress. Oops. I bought
those for my wood working projects. So much for that quick grip clamp! I
grabbed the only thing I had that was large enough and strong enough to hold
the free moving piston in place. My father's old monkey wrench. Worked
like a charm. The stuck piston began easing out, and once it was out far
enough, it simply fell out.
So, three days before my 40th birthday, I officially became a "grease
monkey" ha ha. I blew compressed air through the line to clear most of the
grease out, and used a rag yo wipe out the cylinders, but am open for
suggestions on how to finish the job. I have a feeling that denatured
alcohol and brake fluid are going to come into play, here.I have the feeling
that this piston has been inoperable for some time, which explains the
imbalance of wear on the pads that were on that caliper. The piston is
fairly severely pitted so I'm going to junk it and replace with new.
Thanks again to all who responded. It feels so good to have done it
myself...
Best wishes,
Jeff in San Diego
'67 RHD Spitfire Mk3
http://www.ohms.com/spitfire/spitfire.shtml
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