best way to remove paint from brake parts

[hampshirehog]

Wire wheel. 5 minutes and there won't be a speck of paint on there.

9 times out of 10 I'll use the wheel instead of the blast cabinet as it's easier and quicker.

[apopleptic]

OK, so I pucked up the finest wire wheel they have at the hardware store and it is taking the paint off pretty well, but also leaving some grooves in the aluminum of the metal.
I started with the mirror attachment so the grooves are not a big deal on that. but I worry about doing that to something that requires a smooth finish like the master cylinder. am I just having a slow moment here?

[hampshirehog]

You have to be gentle with the wheel - practically zero pressure so you only tickle off the paint.

[pete]

I can't speak for my master cylinder because I had to replace it with a new one, but for the calliper I just roughed it up with some coarse paper and went straight over it with calliper paint after making sure it was perfectly clean.

[apopleptic]

I thought I would post the pictures I took of the MC when I decided it neede a complete cleaning.
Right now I have a coat of paint drying on it now. will get those pictures up as well in a little while.



I think it will look alright red. We will see soon enough.

[hampshirehog]

Great photos of 30 year old brake fluid that has evolved in to what appears to be a living entity. One to show people why it's important to keep things clean and change their fluid.

Did that mc piston come out alright? When they get like that it can be a bit of a tugging match.

[apopleptic]

Believe it or not the piston was moving freely, but I had to tear off the old boot, then hit the circle clip with a punch to make new holes in it then hit it a few more times to get it free.
biggest problem for me was not having the right tools. not all ring clip pliers are the same, even tried making my own
Thank to Pete, I decided beforehand that I would replace the piston/cup.
It would have been alot easier not to, who knows how long until it would have failed.
I did come up with a handy way to keep the plunger depressed while getting the clip out.

that is a brad nail stuck lightly into the drain hole on the MC. when you go to release the piston the nail captures the spiral on the piston and keeps it down.
I was able to hold it 'depressed' with just the pinkie finger while hitting another nail into the clip with a hammer.

[apopleptic]

masked


1st coat drying

[pete]

Mate you've done well! I can't believe that piston was still moving in there... glad to see you're getting the new piston and cup set though, definitely well worth the few dollars it will be.

Should look good red too, but I suppose you can always strip it and paint it black if you don't like it...

My piston was stuck solid and there was corrosion basically binding it to the cylinder wall and I hit it back in with a hammer on a screwdriver to try to free it up and it was just pitting and scratching up the cylinder, it was in bad shape. That's why I just bought a whole new master cylinder...

Here's some more horror pic's to hopefully encourage more people to do things properly: