Hey all, I have a couple of rusty tin can master cylinders, they still work fine and no leaks but I want to remove and clean them up cause they look cr@p. Was thinking of hitting them with a wire wheel and then some rust converter.
Is there any way I can coat them without the coating liquifying the instant brake fluid hits them?

I'm not certain of any paints that aren't dissolved by brake fluid, but I'd have a look at calliper paint. Since it's designed for brake callipers, that might work.

Another idea might be POR-15 paint. I've never tried brake fluid on it, but it seems to resist everything else, so that might be worth looking into as well.

There's also this stuff which claims to do the job (if you can find it in oz): http://www.eastwood.com/ew-brake-gray-a ... 13-oz.html

Or you can switch to DOT 5 fluid, but that's a whole different kettle of fish right there.

Get them zinc coated?

How's your engine going ?

Cheers, Leigh.

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Now with 2 extra ports!

Yeah thought about that, anyone good in Newcastle for plating?

The Engines still in pieces Leigh, waiting on a Lotto win

Not sure who is around Newcastle for zinc but I have seen it done. Must be someone.

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Now with 2 extra ports!

Not sure for plating but I kept this link for chroming - maybe they will know someone.

http://www.classiccargurus.com.au/Hamilton_Chrome

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Dave K.
1979 Moke Californian + 1981 'Coke' Moke

Spot on Dave , these guys have been around for a long time , and they do a great job .

I've plated a few of them now, and while they turn out great, sometimes you have to be prepared for the worst. The acid cleaning will sometimes eat the last of the steel out where the metal is the thinnest.

So while it works really well, you might just lose one. And no, solder doesn't take...

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

I tinned mine with solder, it appears that's how these early ones were done originally.

The one on the left was really bad and I replaced its reservoir with another one. The one on the right looks a lot duller, but it was quite badly pitted with rust.



Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Perfect ! just the place I was looking for, might see if they do Zinc.

They sure do look good...

I meant if they are cleaned and plated, the solder won't take to the zinc plating if you try to fix a small weep hole.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

The idea is that they'll fairly quickly oxidise to a greyish tone, I don't want them looking too bright forever.

Theoretically you should be able to solder over zinc plating if you use the correct flux, but I agree, it could have mixed results. The guy that re-sleeved mine routinely solders them (unplated) to repair pin holes. One of mine was really bad, but luckily I had a spare later one that still had a good reservoir. It turned out to be really easy to take the reservoirs off before the cylinders were re-sleeved, then solder them back on later. The trick is to use a paste solder, a suspension of solder powder in a liquid flux, you just paint it one, heat it up then wipe it clean.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Yeah, that's the problem with the new zinc, it stays looking bright for a long time unless its exposed to heat and weather. The plated parts under the bonnet of my car are dulling off now after three years or so and now look a lot better in my opinion.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

I meant to mention this in my first post. Eastwood make a paint specially designed for painting master cylinders. I've seen pictures of it on tin can reservoir ones, and it looks really good. I couldn't find it in Australia though, and no-one would ship it internationally.



Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

So would one plate first, then resleeve? Or the other way around ... Or take the can off then sleeve then resolder...
Got a couple I will commit to doing soon


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Simonw
Brisbane QLD
1st car - 1964 Mini Panelvan 850
Previous - 1978 Leyland LS 1275 Gold
- 1969 Mini K