Refreshing and Maintaining Brake Cables

Discussion in 'Cosmetic & Restoration' started by Stormin' Norman, Jul 27, 2007.

  1. Stormin' Norman

    Stormin' Norman Well-Known Member

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    When I parted the 1978 Fairmont 2-door, I kept the crusty old cables that would come off and cut the rest off. That was in March. Early this week, I put them in a pail full of white vinegar (4 tablespoons of table salt in 2.5 gallons of pure white vinegar gives a mild hydrochloric acid solution) and let them soak for about 48 hours (it was raining cats and dogs!).

    They came out derusted enough to free them up except where they go through the pressed-steel swivel joint. What I wanted to do was save the pedal/release mechanism by freeing up the cable, and see if I could get most of the rust out, before I refreshed my own. It worked well.

    Mine are hard to move but they do move. So I figured I'd tackle this before I undercoat and then roller-paint the entire car. I got all of them off without breaking anything and left them to soak until late tomorrow (24 hours should work normally - it worked on my door hinges.)

    Then I thought about relubing them and started searching around. I got a good tutorial here:
    http://www.digest.net/alfa/FAQ/164/forum2/DCForumID2/4803.html

    A detailed, non-technical one here:
    http://www.machinerylubrication.com/article_detail.asp?articleid=372&relatedbookgroup=Lubrication2

    And a range of the two types recommended - penetrating and coating.

    http://www.jetlubecanada.com/L.html

    OG-H Open Gear-Head grease, - coating
    WDL Wireline Dressing Lube, - coating/penetrating
    WRL Wire Rope Lube - penetrating

    Their main page offers Branch Locations in Francais, English and the USA, plus all the other metal treatments they make.
    http://www.jetlubecanada.com/

    But who offers a small quantity for shops and DIYers?:90:

    I've never thought about buying these kinds of products before, even for just ordinary maintenance. Anyone got suggestions?
     
  2. Stormin' Norman

    Stormin' Norman Well-Known Member

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    Well I rushed it a bit and took them out. I cleaned off the sludgy rust and brushed off the built up gunk/rust and put them back in.

    IIRC my dad used to soak wire rope for one of our junkyard tow-trucks in GM - Non-Detergent Tranny oil for a few days before changing them. We changed them every Spring to avoid nasty surprises. Its probably a good thing to do annually, when the car is almost 29 years old. They all had undercoat on them, which was applied in the Mexican Ford factory in September, 1978, according to the VIN tag.

    Anyway, he used non-detergent because he said the other was acidic and could gradually eat the finer cable wires. We never broke any, and they never rusted in 10 years, so maybe that's the way to go.
     

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