My restoration is in super slo-mo, due in part to a caravan restoration happening at the same time. But i'm still always watching this forum and picking up parts when i can ready for the time that I'll be able to spend a bit more time on the FB sedan.
I have always prefered the look of tin can brake and clutch reservoirs to the repro plastic ones, and I was lucky enough to pick up a couple which appear to suit an FB and in what appears to be reasonable condition. There's a few dents and the cans seem seized to the cylinder, but otherwise they look ok. No obvious holes anyway...
I haven't found any adivce on this site about how to restore them. Is it a job for a professional plating company, or can I strip the rust and paint them without dissolving the entire tin? I'd like to finish them in the original finish, whatever that was...
Appreciate any advice from anyone who has done this successfully, or recommendations of where to take them in Adelaide.
Thanks, Nathan
brake and clutch tins.jpg (978.04 KiB) Viewed 693 times
Think they would have been zinc plated Nathan. They should come off the castings with reasonable application of torque. Turn upside down and soak in penetrant will help get the lids off. The. You can remove the rust scale by soaking in citric acid, after which they can be re-tinned on the inside so they don’t leak. They tend to have pinholes in the top mainly from my experience.
The castings changed thread size shortly after plastic reservoirs came in, so they won’t fit the later cylinders. You can get your original cylinders re-sleeved in stainless if they are bad. Cost is comparable to a new Chinese one.
Personally I can’t be bothered with the tins, possibly because my first EK had plastic reservoirs when I got it from the original owner in 1985.
Cheers
Clay
FB ute fixer upper, EK van on rotisserie
getting my FB ute on the road
EK van on rotisserie
Would recommend Power Brakes to recon the master cylinders as Clay suggests. There pricing is on line and they would probably be able to offer advice as to how the tins were originally finished. A Class metal finishers would be able to re-plate the tins, there are probably other places in Adelaide who could zinc plate too.
The tins are tricky - you really need a solid metal base to begin with as they have to be acid dipped to clean them before plating - repairing them is very tricky so best to hunt for some good ones first.
I had EJ/EH tins in mine when I got it and had them plated - came up well but eventually found some FB/EK ones and did those to be correct - the colour on mine is not original but matches with the brake booster as a theme - Originally they were not plated but made from plated steel if that makes sense.
Lids are very hard to get in good shape.
Be very careful removing the tins - they are fragile and dent easily - try and use the slip ring type oil filter removers first but place them on the bottom seam of the tin - not on the flat body as there is no strength there. as above the slaves can be sleeved by a good brake shop.
To remove the reservoirs, preheat oven to 150 degrees. Put the cylinders in the oven for ten minutes, put on leather gloves, and unscrew the reservoirs from the cylinders. Heat softens the O-ring seal. I find the risk of damage is too great with multi-grips, or even an oil filter wrench.
You can get the reservoirs re-plated, but beware of pinholes after re-plating. When I got mine back after zinc plating, I had to solder up quite a few pinholes. The best way of finding them is to block the small hole (bottom) with your finger, and hold the reservoir up to the sky while looking in from the top. Similarly for finding pinholes in the top of the reservoir - put the lid on, hold the reservoir up to the sky, and look in through the small hole at the bottom.
Thanks for the advice everyone. Aside from sliding the lot into the oven alongside the sunday roast to loosen the tins, I'll take them to the pros for a look at. Mine have a couple of minor dents which I reckon could be pulled out, and no obvious holes - I guess once stripped I will have a better idea.
While I'm down there, I might see what they can do with the FB bonnet bar which is in slightly worse nick...
