suggestions on crimp brake hose for a caliper rebu

[Joao]

Seems like i ran out of characters for the subject.

I want your suggestions on how to improvise something to stop the brake hose from dripping fluid while i take the caliper out to rebuild it.
in short the help im looking for is for the following questions

1 – what have others used to stop brake fluid dripping except the specialised tool or a needle nose vice grip (like eric does on he’s videos).
2 – can a brake line be crimped like this for undetermined time (im talking about 3-5 days worst case scenario)
3 – does whatever is used to crimp the brake line need to be of a consistency similar to rubber, or rubber is used for its non-slippery properties ?

the background story of why i need to know this is this.
My 98 toyota Celica has a brake piston that will not retract. this causes constant friction of the pads, the disk heats up, uneven wear in the pads (which can fail an MOT) and because i put new pads recently… ohh the smelll..

I have ordered a rebuild kit off ebay for 15£ (im in the UK) for front calliper. this compared to the cost of a calliper (£70+) was a no brainer
this kit should arrive sometime between Thursday this week or Tuesday next week.
I got Wednesday free so intend to prepare as much as possible for the calliper job then. the idea being to take the caliper out. separate piston and remove all the seals. sand blast the thing and paint the non moving parts with black BBQ paint (its cheaper than calliper paint as well as rated for same temperature if not higher. ranging 500C to 600C)

I do not have needle nose vice grip to adapt like Eric does in he’s videos. and am a bit reluctant to spend the money on one because I cannot see myself using needle nose vice grip around any of my cars in anything else but brake lines.

I have a set of C clamps (various sizes) that was thinking may be of use to block the fluid from running, if i use a small wood block or peg. which would be my most likely approach. but decided to ask here beforehand and see what others think.

Topic

[James O’Hara]

I personally do not like crimping brake lines.

If you are looking for something cheap to clamp it off you may want to look at this: Lisle 22850 Hose Pincher. Should be able to find them in any decent auto parts store. They work decently well. I suggest you use pliers and turn it like 1/8 more then you can finger tight.

Just an fyi you are supposed to use a hone to crosshatch the caliper housing where the piston slides.

[Joao]

thanks for the quick reply MDK22 I am actually more confused than before now.

[quote=”MDK22″ post=157629]I personally do not like crimping brake lines. [/quote]

how do you stop the hoses from bleeding ? use some kind of plug ?
I suppose a golf tee and blu tack can work. but just checking.

[quote=”MDK22″ post=157629]
Just an fyi you are supposed to use a hone to crosshatch the caliper housing where the piston slides.[/quote]

I had a look around fro what you meant. and found this,

my question is, is the purpose of the hone to ensure that the cylinder housing is clean or sanded equally all round or some other reason ?

[Joshua Eason]

Tuga, I’ll try and expand on what mdk was saying.

1. I don’t clamp brake lines. Ever. Normally they don’t stay disconnected for that long, but if I need to I’ll just rubber band a blue shop towel around the banjo fitting. I’m not as concerned about stuff coming out as I am stuff going in. To that effect, you could also use a blue cap if you have one in the right size. That’s the other option. Point is, you will at a minimum need to bleed that wheel when you install the caliper. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to do a complete system flush and bleed.
2. Honing is required to give you a consistent and good crosshatch in the bore of the caliper for the piston seal to do its job. Just like a piston in the engine, or a hydraulic cylinder.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[James O’Hara]

Clamping brake lines causes the structural part of the line to be damaged especially on the newer style lines. Newer style lines have a braid to them internally or externally on cheap steel braided lines. Good steel braided lines have both. It may not cause an issue right away but later on down the road it will cause the lines to pull away from the structural braid.

Some lines are not that way but, its just way easier to play safe then sorry. The best way to block off a terminating end is just take it off and install a solid bolt and nut with the old rubber tipped washers that is roughly the same size. The solid bolt and nut will take the place of the banjo bolt temporarily. It will not be perfect and my drip a little but, you will not have much come out. If you dont want to waste the time just do as Jeason15 said.

The honing causes a cross hatch. It does it uniformly. Someone that does it all day and has a feel for it can do it with a drill/air grinder and a wire wheel for it. But, to do that you have to be really good and know your tools and the angle you are shooting for. Crosshatching leaves very little scratches on almost a 45 degree angle. This allows the oil to form a slick surface and slide but, also is small enough the o-ring or piston rings in an engine to not let any out. It also gives enough lubrication for the o-ring on the caliper to slide more easily. Combine that with the fact that a square cut o-ring has one rounded edge that has to be positioned in the right direction to allow it to move properly in the case of brakes. I cannot remember off the top of my head. The cross hatch also allows the oil or fluid to drain back.

Eric the car guy – How To Rebuild a Front Brake Caliper

If you are rebuilding it I suggest you make sure you get a new bleed screw and cap. A new banjo bolt and rubber seal washers. You should fill the caliper as much as possible and turn the line to meet the new caliper this will drastically reduce bleeding time. You are going to need to bleed it so you can power bleed it but, it takes two people that can communicate and listen. You can use a mightyvac by yourself but, its a pain in the ass. I suggest mightyvac and two people power bleeding. That combo always works for me and the vacuum makes sure no more air works its way back in if you move slow, have a really crusty bleeder, or if you are just being cautious. The way Eric Does it is he uses the mtn dew bottle to capture and if you seal it you can squeeze the air out and create a temporary vacuum. That would be the cheapest way. Eric I believe uses someone else to power bleed it though.

Power bleeding if done right takes the same amount of fluid as the vacuum way. If not done right it can take a fair amount more.

Mityvac MV8000 Automotive Test and Bleeding Kit There is better ones and better ways but, doing it on the cheap with a tool that is the way to go.

[wafrederick]

Don’t use the new copper sealing washers,they do not seal worth a crap and leak.Reuse the old sealing washers,I never had one leak doing this

[Joao]

thanks for the tips guys.

The job is now done and my car is back on the road with a working calliper that is also painted now.

I have recorded some of the work with my phone so ill be posting that on youtube sometime during the week after doing some basic edditing work. ill update the post with a link to it when i get the video out there.

the job was actually easier than i expected,
i ended up honing the caliper using a wire brush attached to the drill, not ideal. but i suppose its better than nothing.

[Joao]

as previously mentioned.

the video. hopefully it will help someone in future

[Author]

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