Source for brake caliper seal kits?

[great white]

I’ve got a 1985 8x8 IC and the rh brake caliper is leaking.

The parts book lists a seal kit (160-01) but everywhere I try says “argo: discontinued”.

Theres a superseded part number for a replacement caliper, but its 400 bucks. No thank you.

The parts book also lists the seal as 41mm.

My caliper housings and pistons are clean and in good shape, just the seals are a bit too worn.

Has anyone found a source for 41mm seals that actually fit?

I plan to try the local bearing and seal suppliers tomorrow and see if I can find something suitable. But a part number sure would help…

[great white]

Well, the forum seems pretty dead these days. Oh well, people come and people go. C'est la vie.

Called around this am and nothing. Bearing supply places, tractor places and even tried a couple hydraulic shops.

Nada. Zip. Zilch.

Dug around in some old parts books I have lying around and ran across some 41mm square cut seals for brakes. Seems a 1961-67 mini cooper with Lockhart 4-pot brakes uses the same dimension seals. 41mm bore, 3.2 mm cross section. My seals measure the 41mm bore, but they are no longer square, the hieght is 3.2mm, but they are 2.5mm thick. Probably explains why they were peeing brake fluid out.....

Ordered up a classic mini cooper rebuild kit for 25 bucks (lots of sources out there for classic mini parts) and we'll see what's what once it gets here.

If it works, it will be a damned sight less expensive than Argo wanting 400-500 bucks for a replacement caliper. Not to mention, the kit comes with 8 seals (does 2 mini cooper calipers) so I'll never need spares again, assuming they work. It's just unbelievable Argo's solution is to discontinue the seal kit and offer a replacement caliper as the fix. That's just pure,blatant money grubbing. Why offer a 25 dollar seal kit when you can squeeze 400-500 bucks out of your customers? They can eff off!

At least most of the parts beside the tub and transmission can be sourced elsewhere than Argo. Bloody proprietary stuff is a rip off!

Currently in the middle of replacing a blown out wheel bearing and bearing housing:







Cleaning the rust off the axle and refreshing the sealing surfaces:



Only a light skim cut that removed rust, but no solid metal. Will be finished up with a couple rounds of sandpaper to smooth it out so the seals have a clean, smooth surface to run on. The part of the axle that sticks outside the tub will get a coat of rust paint once reinstalled to help stave off the "rusties".

I might take some time to hit the tray under the engine area with the air hammer and try to take out some of the dents/deformations it's accumulated over the years....

[wildbore]

I thought I would just let you know I am enjoying your posts (including the super-detailed one on tyres on another thread). Thanks for them! I will be interested to hear about your Mini brake seals; I need new seals on my Avenger, but they are about $60 here in the UK so I am going to see if I can find a match from the various car seals on sale.

[plott hound]

i have those outer bearing housings if you need any

[great white]

i have those outer bearing housings if you need any

I ordered one of the “superseded” ones. Supposedly a “one for one” fit.

Well, not exactly.

Close, but not quite. They may for whatever outer bearing argo is currently using, but they don’t fit the orginal style ones. I had to dremel out the inside of the housing so the bearing would actually sit down inside properly.

Then the 4 mounting bolts were close, but not quite. First, the bolts wouldn’t go through the housing holes. Had to enlarge them to the proper size. Then, the four bolts didn’t line up with the original holes on the body. The body holes required some clearancing so the housing bolt positions would go through.

Its back together, but I’m not very happy about how much work it took to make the new housing fit where it was supposed to fit as it was.

Trials and challanges of running and old rig I guess….

[wildbore]

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