Thread: 10" or 11"... baby!

Originally Posted by Aaron IIA

You can buy new slaves in both cast iron and aluminium. They are usually both the same price, and cheaper than getting the old ones stainless steel sleeved. I just repaired the brakes on my SI. They were all siezed. I freed them up, honed them smooth, and used the original seals which were still good. If your old ones are not heavily pitted, you could hone them (hones cost less than $10) and fit new seals. Try this first, as you have not lost any money.
Aaron.

Cast iron cylinders can be usefully honed unless pitted, but most if not all alloy ones should not be, because they rely on a specially thick hard oxide layer to provide the working surface, and honing removes this hard layer, so you are working on the much softer aluminium metal.

This will have a much shorter life, not only because it is softer, but because the thick oxide layer provided protection against corrosion.

Stainless steel sleeves can be installed into either cast iron or alloy, although companies that do it may have preferences.

John

Trial fit a cylinder to the backing plate. The bolt holes should line up only if it's the right one for the plate. The bore of the top cylinder should face towards the front of the vehicle, and the bottom backwards. The snail-cam adjuster should be in 'front' of the cylinder. When fitted to the vehicle, the cylinders must be at the top and bottom of the plate. The cylinders on one wheel are identical, the other wheel's cylinders are the mirror image.
A digital camera would probably clarify what I'm saying, but I hope this helps.

Dan.
69 2a 88" pet4, 74 3 109" pet4, 68 2b FC pet6.