The brakes were one of the first components i stripped down back in 2007/08, i fitted new lip seals and painted the calipers, after being in storage for 2 years when i fitted them there was a leak in the rear caliper, i put this down to them being stored 'dry' and the rubber drying out, it could also be down to a poor fitting or operator error (i.e. me making a hash of it) either way i decided to upgrade to 'O' ring seals.

I ordered the 'O' ring conversion kit from VBP, the kit includes everything you need to convert and install the calipers, i stripped out the old seals and run a tap through all the threaded holes before sandblasting the cast casings.

After blasting i washed the castings through with degreaser and an air line to remove all traces of grit and metal fragments, the stainless steel bores were polished up with some wire wool and cleaned out.

I used POR paint to cover the outward faces of the caliper, i left the inner faces til after the dust shield install to ensure no paint fouled the grooves.

Using DOT 4 fluid i installed the pistons and 'O' rings and pistons and dust caps, the kit comes with sprinds but after reading posts on the US forum, most people leave out the springs as they dont serve a real puropse ('O' rings are a tight fit and springs are weak).

The bleed nipples and connecting bolts (supplied) were then fitted along with new brake shoes and SS pins.

The calipers were bolted back onto the car and the master cylinder was bench bled and fitted, i topped up the fluid and begn to bleed the brakes starting at the furthest from the MS.

The AIM manual states that the brake pedal should have no more that 1.8" max travel when bled with the engine OFF (i.e. no vac).

Since its Chistmas and -4degs in my garage im having a break to get drunk, Merry Christmas :)