Rube woulda been proud !

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This is really getting on my last nerve. I keep trying to rebuild my front brakes from top to bottom. First my master cylinder was too pitted inside to rebuild, after I had already bought a rebuild kit.
Then when I went to rebuild my calipers, I found the pistons had rust pitting and needed to be replaced.
Sooo....I ordered replacement pistons from Mikes XS, they arrived yesterday and today I started to rebuild my calipers.
First up , I opened my caliper rebuild kits from MikesXS. When I installed the seals ( 2 per caliper, one thick, one thin ) I noticed that the thin seals completely receded inside their groove to the point that it could not possibly contact the piston. A comparison of the new seal to the old revealed that the new seal is indeed smaller around than the old one. Unusable!
Next up, the new replacement pistons from Mikes. They do not fit!
Here is new one on the right, compared to the factory on the left.
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They look to be the same when you hold them up to each other.
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My digital caliper is dead or I would’ve measured them. But I can tell you that the stock one drops right in, very close tolerances, but it slides right in.
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But the new one? No way Jose! No amount of fussing with it would make it go in. It must be several thousands too large.
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So, I won’t count what I paid for a master cylinder rebuild kit, that was my fault for buying it before checking.
But,
Brake Caliper rebuild kit $25
Brake pistons 2 x $21
$67 already spent and nothing to show for it.

On an unrelated note, I found a complete set of beater forks for my XS2 on eBay and bought them. The fork tubes are toast, but the lowers look good plus all the internal parts will help, since I am missing some parts.

I’m beginning to feel like my money would disappear more slowly if I just put it in a pile and lit it on fire.
 
Sounds like the bear's gettin' a big belly.... ;)
Hang in there Bob, you'll eat him yet...

Old school rough check.... stand the pistons next to each other and lay a straight edge across the taller one... then slip a feeler gauge between the straight edge and the smaller piston.
 
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EVEN MORE FUN WITH FORKS

If you recall, my right fork leg had a broken off mounting ear. I looked into every possible fix for it and nearly went to a local welder to have him fill the hole and build up the area so that I could grind and shape it, and drill and tap it. The welder wanted $75 for his work, and I would’ve had to do a lot to restore it. I found a complete set on eBay that had rust pitted chrome tubes, but the lower legs looked good. I bought the complete set for $100 delivered to my home.

They arrived yesterday afternoon and this morning I broke them down and gave everything a good inspection.
I had the opportunity to use my new homemade tool to disassemble the forks and it worked SUPERBLY!

I’m always surprised by the gunk that comes out of these old forks, pure crap! The forks had a rougher surface than my original forks, with a lot of surface pitting and corrosion. At the bottom of the leg there are two small threaded holes for mounting fender struts and one looks to be stripped, but that’s an easy fix. The rubber caps appear to have been glued on with something and the seals were hidden under rust and corrosion.
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The seals were REALLY stuck in there and may have had some sort of sealer or adhesive applied to them.
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The internal parts look good and don’t exhibit any abnormal wear.
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Believe it or not, I spent a couple hours cleaning up the seal pockets and snap ring grooves and the external upper part of the legs with a combination of dental picks, an exacto knife and my Dremel with brass wheels.
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They are now all cleaned up and ready to accept new seals, which I already have. I gave the new seals a little test fit to make sure they are the right size ( didn’t drive them in, just held them up there) because I have bought so many parts advertised to fit my bike, that DONT!

So my forks can now be mechanically rebuilt. But I have to do some serious de uglifying first. Yay! Finally making some progress!
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Haha, good job Bob.

Believe it or not, I spent a couple hours cleaning up the seal pockets and snap ring grooves and the external upper part of the legs with a combination of dental picks, an exacto knife and my Dremel with brass wheels.

Ya really think we wouldn't believe that Bob? LOL.

But I have to do some serious de uglifying first. Yay! Finally making some progress!

Happy sanding & polishing brother! Time for some good tunes.

Nice work as always Bob. Man, you do nice work buddy!
 
Indeed, aren't these bikes great teachers? Even then though, they can still drain the ol' wallet a bit, lol. But I'd much rather be spending my money on stuff like this as opposed to paying bills or even my taxes. I know those things need to be taken care of, but I don't have to like it, lol. It's nice when I can then turn around and spend some on something I really like. There are far worse things we could be blowing our money on.
 
Indeed, aren't these bikes great teachers? Even then though, they can still drain the ol' wallet a bit, lol. But I'd much rather be spending my money on stuff like this as opposed to paying bills or even my taxes. I know those things need to be taken care of, but I don't have to like it, lol. It's nice when I can then turn around and spend some on something I really like. There are far worse things we could be blowing our money on.

I totally agree. I’m having a hard time imagining NOT having a project to work on.
 
Knowledge gained and tools acquired are things you can use again and again. A mechanical education like this isn't always cheap but usually ends up paying for itself in the long term through money saved. I think the money I save by doing most of the work myself more than pays for the tools I need to buy to do it.
 
With regard to post # 602.
You may be able to polish the piston to fit. Chuck it in a lathe and hit it with a scotch bright, this can be time consuming but they are probably saveable.. Better too big than too small.
Newer brake seals are a common size still used today and are available here from a brake and clutch specialist. You may get lucky and find your seals are also available from a brake and clutch specialist near you.
 
Knowledge gained and tools acquired are things you can use again and again. A mechanical education like this isn't always cheap but usually ends up paying for itself in the long term through money saved. I think the money I save by doing most of the work myself more than pays for the tools I need to buy to do it.
Very true!

And as soon as Mailman is finished with this 1972 I think I will ship him my 1978! with all the practice he has had should only take a few weeks to get it looking like new! I already have the ship to address!
 
POLISHING

Is there anything ( with regards to old motorcycles) that’s more instantly gratifying than polishing? To me it’s always fun to take something funky and make it look nice. The beater forks I got off of eBay were corroded and pitted and just generally pretty ugly.

My progression on these was, first apply paint stripper and thoroughly clean, then....
1. A blue Dico wheel to knock off the corrosion
2. Wet sand 400 grit
3. Wet sand 800 grit
4. Bench buffer black compound on a stitched wheel
5. Bench buffer white compound on a cotton flap wheel
6. ( not done yet) Blue Magic Metal polish

What I started with
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After the Dico wheel
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After both wet sanding steps
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One done, one to go
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The finished legs next to what I started with
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You know what I mean Vern? Oh Yeah!!
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Is there anything ( with regards to old motorcycles) that’s more instantly gratifying than polishing?
With the possible exception of gettin a ton outta one of 'em.... nope.
Heh... great minds and all that. Bob, 3 guesses as to how I spent my afternoon.....

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