Brake caliper rebuild question.

[2ndGenGuy]

So my brake caliper siezed up on my '81. It got pretty hot, but didn't melt the seals or anything.

I managed to get the piston out of the caliper body for a rebuild, but there are light scratches on it. I'd say they look like a bunch of very light sanding scratches on it. I took some fine sandpaper and lightly sanded out most of the scratches, and it looks pretty good..

But I pulled the other brake caliper apart to rebuild it at the same time. That caliper was completely scratch free and a perfect surface.

So I'm wondering, are the tiny scratches going to cause a problem during the rebuild? I've honed the calipers themselves, and there are no big gouges or pits. What kind of surface does the caliper piston need to have to be considered "good"?

[Lil Mike]

well the scratches are going to eventually rip the seals, can you catch the scratches with your fingernail? because really they should be nice and shiny with no scratches

[2ndGenGuy]

No, can't catch them with my fingernail, they look like maybe 1000 grit scratches. I'll probably just rebuild it for now and buy a reman'd caliper that will take 10 days to get here. I think it will get me by for a while.

[russiankid]

Take rubbing compound and clean up the piston. If your finger nail doesn't catch then it will be fine. Rubbing compound will clean up the piston very well just make sure to clean it all off with brake parts cleaner.

The rear calipers on my Accord had tiny scratches, 25k miles later they're still fine.

[2ndGenGuy]

Heh, old thread. I just bought new calipers. Problem solved.

[russiankid]

Odd...it was at the top when I clicked on 1geez.

[2ndGenGuy]

Yeah some sections in there don't get updated very often. Appreciate the help though.