Caliper work

Yesterday and today at lunch then this evening I set about trying to get the old pistons out of the caliper. I tried levering, soaking in WD40, the airline and nothing seemed to work! Fortunately this evening I was able to remove them by making the airline a bit more air tight and hitting the pistons with a hammer. Boy does it make a bang when they pop out! I'd put some bubble wrap in between them to avoid flying pistons and it seemed to work well. For the second piston I place a new piston in the first cylinder and held it in with gaffer tape so I could get the other old one out. The bores looked good so all happy. Painted one side of the caliper silver so thought I'd put some pics up while I wait for it to dry.

Before paint:



After first coat:



Old vs New piston:

Wheels

I think my wheels are too big, so might go for 15 inch ones. Also tried the fuel tank out which fits nicely. :)
A bit tired this evening so didn't get much done.

Back from holiday/weddings

Not been much action as I was away in Cyprus for a mates wedding, then came back for another mates wedding. I've received the fuel tank, bought some front wheel bearings (£26 for the pair) and the top and bottom balljoints from Aries. I've painted the hub and upright and installed the brake disc and this lunchtime I put the hub on and also a wheel to have a look. Will tighten things up when I get home. Unfortunately I am having trouble getting the piston out of the caliper so I'll need to work out how to do that.
Old vs new:

Hub fitted:

New fuel tank:

Front hubs, brakes and uprights

I dismantled one of the Cortina hubs this evening, it was a bit of a pain with bolts that look like they haven't been moved for about 15 years! I had to get the angle grinder out to the bottom one and cut the nut off but it came off in the end. I dropped the caliper, upright and hub into some of the Bilthammer rust removal solution I bought and it really worked well! In the pic below you can see the difference between the treated caliper and hub compared to the one I haven't done yet. I've not even cleaned them after the bath yet and they already look 100 times better!

Suspension, steering and uprights

Tightened up most of the suspension this evening and fitted the rear uprights. I painted a few bits black like the upper rear wishbones and the steering column brackets. Found a guy on ebay who breaks Sierras so sent him a question asking about price for rear hubs/brakes, steering coupling and gearbox. Still need to drill some holes in the rear firewall for the bottom wishbone bolt to go through then the rear suspension will be pretty much done. I just need to recondition my cortina front hubs and fit those for the front to be ready. Think I'll tackle the brakes after that.

Some work done tonight.

This evening (so far) I've cut the other side of the bodywork, slightly more this time to allow room for the lower wishbone. Also put the steering rack in and the bodywork to see if the hole cut looks ok, which I think it does. I also started to disassemble one of the cortina hubs I have but some of the bolts are proving to be a bit of a pian!



I'll take the steering rack out and give it a lick of paint I think, as it has a few chips on it and it seems a shame what with it being brand new!



Hmmm for some reason the camera's memory card isn't showing the pics I took tonight, so I'll take some more after dinner.

Rough front suspension fit

I definitely think I need to trim a bit more off the bodywork for the lower wishbone, not least to keep the SVA people happy. At least the coilover can be fitted now though.