Tor wrote,...
If the sleeving work is going to be as hard to sort out as I fear, I'm going to get the bores honed and stick S/S pistons with fresh seals in and leave it for next decade (yah, one can always hope).
Hello Tor,
I strongly advise to have stainless steel liners fitted now while the opportunity presents, else if you fit them back without you can guarantee without fail you will be doing this all again. Stainless steel pistons if you wish, but stainless steel liners most certainly should be fitted.
Looking back through my log book,..my rear calipers had stainless steel liners fitted into the bores in 1986 after they were leaking and the bores were found to be pitted. Up until that time, 48,000 miles (77,000km) had been covered. In 1993 some 70,000 miles (110,000km) later while fitting two new diff drive axle assemblies (done as a precaution only), the rear calipers received a new seal kit, not because they were leaking, rather the opportunity to do so with ease was there. The next time that they were removed was in 2007, a further 14 years and 91,000 miles (147,000km) later, and once again not because they were leaking, rather I needed to fit new pads along with new flexible brake hoses and new discs, so prevention is much better than cure.
So as you can see, once the original steel bores are ground so as to insert stainless steel liners, the life of the rear seals is considerably increased. In 1993 and in 2007 upon inspection, the stainless steel liners remain in perfect pit free condition. No polishing or honing required, just new seals. Definitely the way to go! :wink:
On the universal front, as Chris advised,..if one has play then they all should be changed as a matter of course. Much better to do it all now and then not have to worry about uni joints for another 200,000km.
Ron.