stainless steel brake caliper pistons

[steve b]

I'm looking for recommendations for suppliers for quality brake caliper seal and S/S piston kits , in this particular case for vented front and std. rear 300Tdi 110.

What have you all used ? 

Thanks

Steve

[landroversforever]

I got my pistons from Zeus engineering, along with the vented caliper spacers they make.

[Snagger]

My Zeus kits came with Britpart seals.  The seals seemed fine and haven’t caused any leaks, but the wiper seal retainers are a bit thinner and less well rolled on the edges than genuine, so more likely to pick up on their edge and distort on fitting.  Bevelling the edges with a file helped a lot, as would the tools from Britannica Restorations (I just got a pair of those last month).  The Zeus pistons are superb.

[Retroanaconda]

Personally I wouldn’t bother, they still corrode up and seize the same as normal pistons - though I concede probably at a slower rate. 

[Snagger]

Mine haven’t, but the original pistons on the left side of my wife’s 90 when it was 3 years old were awful.

incidentally, the pistons (and calliper parts) for the plain and vented front brakes are the same - it is only the spacers and spacer seals for the vented units that differ, and those seals seem near impossible to find, so be very careful with those if splitting vented callipers.

[landroversforever]

35 minutes ago, Snagger said:

Mine haven’t, but the original pistons on the left side of my wife’s 90 when it was 3 years old were awful.

incidentally, the pistons (and calliper parts) for the plain and vented front brakes are the same - it is only the spacers and spacer seals for the vented units that differ, and those seals seem near impossible to find, so be very careful with those if splitting vented callipers.

Bigg Red didn't have any issues sourcing the seals when I got them to add the spacers along with the refurb (plus fitting the Zeus pistons).

[steve b]

....I had a new full set of vented front and std. rear OEM callipers at the end of October for a different build .

A check today with my supplier for the same OEM set the price has gone up 60% ....

Thank goodness inflation is only 4% ish ...........

Thanks for the replies , @Retroanaconda, what supplier were your s/s ones that corroded ? 

I would have thought that 316 s/s would not corrode 

Steve

[Retroanaconda]

They were Zeus ones. The seal retainers corrode and seize up the pistons, and the pistons themselves get a tarnish on them which still causes them to stick like rust does.

[steve b]

Thanks , good information . 

[cackshifter]

I used EAC pistons from shop4autoparts. I have had them stick recently, but all but one piston was reusable once they had been cleaned up. And they were 10 years old.We do a lot of short journeys, not much brake use, so not really surprising.

[Anderzander]

I used to rebuild a lot of Japanese motorcycle calipers - Nissin and Tokiko. The pistons had some sort of Titanium Nitride coating on them and they pretty much never got stuck from what I remember. 

[simonr]

The last time I replaced mine, I machined my own out of 316 Stainless with genuine seals & retainers.  Never touched them again.

I'm often suspicious of things described as 'Stainless', particularly when they don't specify the grade!  I guess, legally, Stainless just means it doesn't have any stains on it now.

I bought a 'stainless' bike chain - which was just a zinc & passivate coated steel chain.  For the price of it, it ought to have been made from Gold!

[steve b]

I had thought about machining for myself , with certified 316 for exactly that reason .

Again , good information 

Thanks

Steve

[western]

Got mine from shop4sutoparts too via their eBay shop, comes with new ss piston, seal, wiper ring, metal dust cover, bleed nipple cap. 

[Flash17]

Fitted a set of Zeus with a set of ap branded seals around 2008, now gone through 3 sets of brake pads since then and they are still in use no issues. Unlike the Brit part pistons fitted before that lasted about 18 months before seizing (mostly due to the effects of sea air where I work)

The Zeus pistons appeared very good quality with a fine machined finish, think they are well regarded in the classic car world in general, I’d use again if doing another project.

[reb78]

I fitted Zeus pistons and genuine seals.