HONDA HELIX PROJECT HAS LANDED !

[Pandrop]

Brakes update:
The caliper as previously mentioned was toast, every single part that could be knackered ...was knackered . Buying a new caliper was a no go because as Jaz explained they are like honest politicians ..impossible to find. So a full strip down was in order and because the original paint was corroding away from the metalwork I stripped it back to bare . There was so much rock solid gunk inside the actual caliper that I had to use a Dremel tool to clean it out and polish the internals. I repainted and Laquered the caliper with high-temp laquer and will be fitting all the internals during the week. Im at work during the week so its hard to get jobs done as I dont get home till 7 so weekends is when most of the work gets done .

The original Caliper



The Stripping down of the caliper



The original pistons



The repainted Caliper ready for new internals






I stripped the front brake and thanks to Jaz for his tip on drilling out the screws I managed to get into the Master Cylinder after drilling the tops of the screws off , knocking the lid off with a leather hammer and slowly turning the screw stumps out with mole grips - Inside was watery jet black liquid with all the rubbers shot to pieces , Ill post piccies at the weekend as the refurb kit should be here tomorrow .

[Tartan Cobbler]

Really good job you are doing..... I'm enjoying your updates

[Deleted User 4154]

Great work! People often criticize the Helix's brakes, but that's because they're usually 20-odd years old, never serviced and thoroughly knackered. In good trim that front brake is a decent bit of kit.

[Pandrop]

Really good job you are doing..... I'm enjoying your updates

Cheers Tartan

[Pandrop]

Great work! People often criticize the Helix's brakes, but that's because they're usually 20-odd years old, never serviced and thoroughly knackered. In good trim that front brake is a decent bit of kit.

Cheers Jaz, these calipers and Master Cylinder definatley haven't been looked at for a very long time, but Nissin make good kit, I feel sure that once its all re-assembled with new hose and fluid and properly bled through they will be more than good enough.

[Pandrop]

Front Brake Master Cylinder re-build

The internals were rusty because the original brake fluid had become watery either by water ingress or because it broke back down to its constiuent parts , either way everything was rusty/ crusty with horrible white gunk that had set like stone.

I removed the piston and spring



I had to drill the screws out holding the lid on and bash it with a hide hammer to loosen it. Eventually the lid popped off revealing two rusted in stumps



I removed the stumps using mole grips and very, very slowly applied pressure until they gave way



I struggled to clean the internals of rust but in the end cut down a small felt polishing wheel to fit inside the piston chamber and loaded it up with solvol autosol



I spent 20 minutes with a slow drill and the metal polish until the internals were clean and shiny






Ive re-painted the Master cylinder and will rebuild the internals this week ( re-build kit was £17 and the new screws for the M/C lid were a couple of quid) and re-assemble the whole front braking system next weekend.