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Brake cylinder sleeving: Brass or Stainless ?


Guest De Soto Frank

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Guest De Soto Frank

Has anyone gathered any data or had any personal experience with re-sleeved brake cylinders?

There seem to be two camps: one that favors brass sleeves and another that prefers stainless-steel.

Are there inherent flaws with either sleeve material?

Are there any strong preferences amongst the restorers / shops that frequent this forum?

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Frank,

From what I've read and heard it seems sleeving in brass is an easier process to correctly perform. With pitting and not wear being the major issue I'm guessing stainless might be a little overkill? I have only used brass and have had no problems.

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Guest Indiana_Truck

I think you meant to say bronze not brass. Bronze would work good and last a long time. Best thing to do is ask at a good machine shop which they would use.

Bob wink.gif

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I went with Stainless sleeves in the 26 Wills Ste. Claire. I was quoted a price of $80 with new bleeder/cups/pistons/dust covers. They are doing fine after 4 years, I am told that's all the rebuilder will use. I paid $120 for sleaving the Master cyl with all new but the piston. I use dot 4 and flushed them one time, at 3 years. Fluid was still nice and clear from the start of the flush. I think the "flush is more important that the brass or stainless. However the brass price was only $20 less per cylinder at that time. Moisture kills cylinders, brass has been used with brakes for years as hose connectors, tees etc!! Karl

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Guest imported_tigermoth

no, they meant to say brass. there are several places that do brass. white post restorations has been doing it for years. i had brake and equipment warehouse in minneapolis, mn. do my master cylinder in stainless. quick turn around, great price, discount to car club members, thy are nice folks and the cylinder looks great and works perfect. tom

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I'm a metallurgist. There is confusion because the terms bronze and brass are often used interchangably. Correct use of the terms would mean that bronze is copper alloyed with tin and brass is copper alloyed with zinc. But few people actually use these terms correctly. It is also acceptable to used terms like aluminum brass, manganese bronze, and nickel-silver (which has no silver). We shouldn't get hung up on these terms.

BTW, a quality sleeving job on brakes would include pinning so the sleeve can't work its way out of the bore.

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  • 14 years later...
On 9/13/2004 at 11:12 PM, KRK Sr. said:

I went with Stainless sleeves in the 26 Wills Ste. Claire. I was quoted a price of $80 with new bleeder/cups/pistons/dust covers. They are doing fine after 4 years, I am told that's all the rebuilder will use. I paid $120 for sleaving the Master cyl with all new but the piston. I use dot 4 and flushed them one time, at 3 years. Fluid was still nice and clear from the start of the flush. I think the "flush is more important that the brass or stainless. However the brass price was only $20 less per cylinder at that time. Moisture kills cylinders, brass has been used with brakes for years as hose connectors, tees etc!! Karl

Where did you have them done thanks Jerry Saunders from the Will's saint Clair museum

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I had all the bores of my 69 Vette calipers sleeved with SS 25 years ago. Still the same DOT 5 in the system, never had to add a drop. Still stops on a dime and gives 5 cents change.

Had all my other cars MC's sleeved with brass, Ditto the above. Brass vs bronze. Bronze is superior to brass as a bearing material. Likely meaningless in this application.........Bob

Edited by Bhigdog (see edit history)
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On ‎9‎/‎13‎/‎2004 at 5:21 PM, De Soto Frank said:

Has anyone gathered any data or had any personal experience with re-sleeved brake cylinders?

There seem to be two camps: one that favors brass sleeves and another that prefers stainless-steel.

Are there inherent flaws with either sleeve material?

Are there any strong preferences amongst the restorers / shops that frequent this forum?

 

Been having customer's wheel and master cylinders sleeved with brass for 37 years. Used White Post early on - switched to using Apple Hydraulics about 20 years ago when WP insisted on doing all the cylinder rebuilding also.

 

Paul

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I used Hagen's Auto Parts to sleeve my Graham wheel and master cylinder in SS. No issues.

 

https://hagensautoparts.com/

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I had White Post do my stepped wheel cylinders for the 1937 Cord about 20 years ago.  Brass sleeves, and I believe their process is a chemical bonding between sleeve and cylinder (Loctite or other).

 

Going through the brakes within the last week, found the two rear wheel cylinders each had a piston stuck, took to White Post to see how their lifetime  warranty works.   Sleeves were fine, they cleaned and installed new stainless pistons and other new parts, all no charge under warranty.

 

I use regular brake fluid and had not flushed in the 20 years.  They recommend flushing the system every couple of years.  Interestingly, the warranty is void if you use synthetic fluid.

 

This is an unrestored car that I'm trying to catch up on maintenance issues, not restoring car, just making sure everything works correctly, and as my good friend says if you fix something it should at least look like you've been there!

wheel brake.jpg

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