rebuilding ATE brakes

["Watry, Andrew (LNG-SFR)" <Andrew.Watry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Although it is probably best to rebuild ATE calipers without splitting them,
I've done so more than once in the past with no resulting brake problems.
If you have access to a strong supply of compressed air, or work out some
kind of hydraulic pump dealy to push the pistons out, it's then pretty easy
to clean up the bores and pistons by hand, and install new seals.  No
splitting needed.

When I did this though, I had no facilities really at all, and so split the
calipers and gently turned the pistons out with waterpump pliers, covering
the piston's outer area to protect it.  It worked.  I was working on 1967
Super brakes, which have the smaller size front calipers.  Large calipers
may differ.  It took a special hex bit to get the bolts undone, which I got
at a local tool store. It's not an Allen head or a Torx head; it's some kind
of European standard.  I re-used the bolts, nuts, and seals, and drove the
car for many more years afterward without incident (other than an unrelated
hit-and-run that sent the car to the junkyard).  Not that I'd recommend
doing brakes that way nowadays, but it seemed to work fine.

Andrew Watry
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