The Firestorm Diaries

[Wonky Donkey]

cheers Duffy, but no - those are caliper half joining bolts, and I was after caliper mounting bolts (caliper to fork leg). I sourced some from Westfield Fasteners in the end - went for h-t to be on the safe side.

I have a different supplier for stainless bolts - my bikes are pretty much all held together with their stuff - and got caliper joining bolts, grub screws and a few other odds and ends from them to finish this job off.

That Powerhouse seller though, I have used for brake supplies before. Good set of chaps - helpful and friendly. I have a seal kit from them for this job just arrived this morning, so I'll report how that goes when I get round to it.

MICK..

[Wonky Donkey]

well, this may be the longest ever brake overhaul, but it's finally done

Getting the old calipers apart wasn't so bad, except for one piston which refused to move a millimetre no mater what I tried. I eventually managed to blow it out with a car tyre compressor once the caliper in question was in two halves. Right b'stard of a job it was keeping the caliper half sealed but we managed it in the end (thanks Dad!).

The calipers were caked in brake dust, road crud and all sorts - picture doesn't really show it, but you get the idea:


Many evenings cleaning and they came up OK - the pistons themselves were in decent condition so no need to replace. New seals in, and stainless caliper-half joining bolts and they looked pretty decent:


The bike had braided hoses on when I got it, but they were unbranded and the banjos and fittings were corroding so I fitted new Goodridge hoses. They were disappointingly poorly fitting at the master cylinder, I have to say - just couldn't get them to sit right and they foul the clocks a tiny bit at full left lock. I always use Goodridge lines on my bike (well, nearly always) and it's the first bit of bother I've had. Won't make any odds to the functionality but you know when something just gets on your nerves...


Refilling and bleeding was also a right carry on - just couldn't get pressure in the lever at all. However, a bit of perseverance and about half a litre of DOT4 later we finally have resistance! As usual, I'll use as is for a bit then re-bleed. Just waiting for stainless grub screws to turn up to plug the thread for the pin.

Cost of this mod = £45.40
Spend to date = £213.27

MICK..

[VTRDark]

Dam good job and thanks for posting pics. I know what you mean about the banjo's. I would like some with swivelling banjo''s but not sure which brand offers this.

(:-})

[Wonky Donkey]

Thanks Carl

I fancy some of those lines with the joints in them that you can just disconnect to remove the whole caliper without draining he whole system but they are ££££ and a pal of mine has them on his race bike and says they're not as reliable as they make out.

I also forgot to mention that I can now confirm that the front wheel is actually on the wrong way round - some clip fitted the tyre the wrong way round and either didn't notice or just decided to live with it. Spanner!

Anyway, will be resolved soon as they're off to the painters now! Quite excited about that actually (doesn't take much )

MICK..

[Jamoi]

Nice job wonkey donkey. Carl, I have a set of venhill lines which swivel

[VTRDark]

Argh venhill lines it is then. Nice one I knew someone made them but couldn't remember who.

(:-})

[Golgother]

Hi WD

Good work, I'm just doing my front calipers........... Grrrrrrrrrr ! what a pain.

Were did you get your stainless bolts from ?

Can't find any M7 x 25 or M7 x 45's

Cheers
Matt

[Wonky Donkey]

where on earth are you planning to put M7s

Caliper-half joining bolts are M8x45 and caliper-to-fork mounting bolts are M8x25. I think the OEM mounting bolts are high-tensile but stainless should be fine (there's a bit of chat on that earlier in this thread). I used HT, just for the sake of it.

I get my stainless bolts from these chaps: http://www.a2stainless.co.uk/ Not as cheap as some of the eBay sellers but I've used them for years, give good advice if ever you need summat out the ordinary and they do a fair bit of work for bikes (engine and fairing bolt kits mainly).

I got the caliper seal kits from these boys: http://www.powerhouseautomotive.co.uk/index.html

MICK..

[Golgother]

Hey WD

That explains why I cannot find M7's.......................

Good info thanks.

Cheers
Matt

[VTRDark]

Calliper bolts http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151170814566? ... 1423.l2649

(:-})

[Wonky Donkey]

Now, I did promise you some dull updates, and I'm a man of my word. So, whilst the wheels are at the painters there's little else to do but fiddle with stuff.

First, some cleaning. Wheels out is a good excuse to get at those bits you can't normally - back of the forks, rear of the discs, sprocket carrier, spacers, inside the swinging arm and so on:

Before :


After :






Not perfect, but much better. And best of all, all for the cost of a few squirts of WD40 and a rag. Now, what else can I play with... ?

MICK..

[Wonky Donkey]

One thing that'd been getting on me nerves was this:



The amazing invisible speedo needle! It's a Euro import so clocks had been "converted" (carelessly) from KPH to MPH by way of the usual overlay/sticker. The tip of the needle had been coloured red with a felt tip pen or something, but it was hard to see and looked gash. So I'll paint it orange...

Special paint? Nah, my 4 year old boy's bright orange poster paint! Special...:


MICK..

[Wonky Donkey]

well, the wheels are back from the painters and back on the bike. It's like being a kid all over again, this.

Anyway, the wheels were pretty tired looking with flaking paint and the rest. You'll be familiar with the OEM colour:


Bike's all black, so was thinking maybe gold (like the OEM colour on SPs) or silver. But up steps my 70-year old Dad - and says that's boring, get something bright on there... This do you, Dad?



The tryres were OK - not worth binning yet, at least and the bearings were fine so no need to change those. Can't tell what the overall bike looks like as the fairing, tank and seat are off it at the minute, but I'm looking forward to having it back together.

Cost of this mod: £95
Spend to date: £308.27

MICK..

[VTRDark]

I like the Yellow wheels and they go with Black perfectly as in nature. You will be buzzing around like a Bee soon.

Bikes coming along nicely.

(:-})

[bigtwinthing]

Dam good job and thanks for posting pics. I know what you mean about the banjo's. I would like some with swivelling banjo''s but not sure which brand offers this.

(:-})

digga ding ding ding. oh no thats duelling banjo,s