Caliper rebuild question

[evm1024]

I've been going over the Spider Europa's front end and have started to restore the calipers. There is some rust pitting on one of the pistons a few thousands deep (1 or perhaps 2 thou). The question is: How much rust (if any) is allowable? And: should I fill in the pits with JB weld and sand them to match? Or just locate some new caliper pistons or just ignore the pits after sanding them lightly?

Regards, Ethan

[So Cal Mark]

I'd look to replace the pistons if there are any pits

[kmead]

You certainly don't want to put any JBWeld on a piston or to sand it. Some Naval Jelly and steel wool are fine. As long as the pits are near the pad the piston should still seal just fine. If you can get new pistons go for it, otherwise it can likely run what you have.

You do have new seals and dust shield, right?

[evm1024]

It has been months since I had time to work on this car. Got all 4 calipers off and due to the rust in the I think that I'll take a look at the calipers off a '79 parts car that my brother has to see if they are worth rebuilding.

I've been having more problems that usual in getting the compression fittings off the MC and Hose to metal lines. I've used a slotted 10 mm wrench with vice grips holding it closed. Only one fitting could be loosened this way. All the others are frozen. I did try wd30 and heat but nothing is budging at this point.

Any ideas?

At this point if I can't get the fittings off I may need to cut the metal lines and replace them. (I'm assuming that the IDP metal line set covers everything I need.).

Regards, Ethan

[So Cal Mark]

are you using a flare nut wrench?

[evm1024]

Yes, it is a flare nut wrench. (For the life of me I could not remember the name in the last post). And using the trick of vice grips to help hold it closed. I might do better with a larger set of vice grips or a newer and better wrench. Or perhaps that is another trick that I need to learn....

Ethan