"People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca
I pressure washed the north-facing side of the shop today, after cleaning up the work bench from a couple of previous activities. The north side of the shop doesn't get any sunlight, and moss/mildew grows there. After a few years it becomes objectionable, and then I have to do something about it. I wish there was a way to have a building with no side on the north :)
This time around, I tried some soap specifically designed for this sort of thing.
I'm a huge fan of Simple Green cleaner. The stuff will take spots off a leopard. It's taken oils and grease out of clothes that I was certain were going to end up in the trash. So I was looking forward to seeing if this siding cleaner was going to be just as effective. Unfortunately, it was not. I really couldn't tell any difference. I still had to hold the wand really close to blast the moss loose, even after soaping the siding.
I have a pretty tall ladder, but it's not quite tall enough to reach the peak of the shop, so I did the best I could. It's really a bit dangerous being way up on the ladder, because the pressure washer wand presses against you enough that you have to lean into it. I always start spraying with the wand down, so that it doesn't knock me off the ladder.
It was a filthy, long-winded operation, and my glasses were covered with spray for most of the process. I got soaked and covered in moss particles, but in the end it looked a lot better - except for the peak. I really should get an extension ladder.
Below: Left side done.
Below: Another Subaru!
Finished, but a little rough at the top.
Toward the end of the project, the wand started leaking between the extension and the pull trigger. A fitting had come loose and an o-ring had split open. I finished the job with water pouring out of the wand onto my arms.
The trigger part held the o-ring that I needed to replace. I took that section with me to the nearby supermarket, which also has a hardware store that carries o-rings. As I walked up, several tourists glanced at me nervously. It took me a few seconds to realize that those city folks were probably thinking I was some Idaho redneck brandishing a firearm. LOL.
After making repairs to the pressure washer, it was time to tackle the motorcycle front brakes. As mentioned in the previous post, I noticed that one of the front brake calipers was leaking fluid, and that made riding the bike a non-starter.
First thing you do on these is loosen everything before you remove the mounting bolts. All the fasteners have Loctite glue on them, so it's best to loosen the smaller bolts before removing the caliper from the bike. Also, once you remove the brake line from the caliper, zip-tie a plastic bag to keep the brake line drippings from making a mess of your job.
I used an impact gun to remove the torx bolts that hold the two halves of the caliper together. Those were not accessible while the calipers were on the bike. The torx bolts are top right and left below.
Once it's split, get some pliers and pull the pistons out of the calipers.
The exposed part of each piston had a bit of road grime, which came off easily with a little carb cleaner.
Inside of each cylinder are two rubber seals. The thin outer seal is probably to wipe grime off the piston, while the heavier inner seal is to hold the hydraulic fluid in.
There was some NASTY brake fluid jello in one of the calipers - and I'm a bit embarrassed how little maintenance I've done on these important items. I will be looking at the rear brake system and the clutch, which are both hydraulic as well.
I located the leaker. It's the one with a band of rust on the piston. I lightly sanded it with 600 grit sandpaper until the finish was shiny again.
One thing that I wasn't aware of when I started this brake job, is that the pistons are not the same size! The leading edge of the brake pad tends to dig in harder than the trailing edge, so the piston on the trailing edge is slightly larger to apply pressure evenly across the pad. Clever!
Below: Ready for re-installation
Below: Old parts. Here's hoping it works!
A check of tire pressure, then a test ride and a bath. Still wheelies like a monster! 155 Horsepower on a short wheelbase will do that.
Lastly, the new tires for the Subaru arrived as I was finishing up washing the bike. Unfortunately, by the time I got the bike dried off and put away, it was too late to make it to the tire shop to have the tires mounted and installed on the Subie. I loaded them in the car for a trip to the tire shop tomorrow.
At the end of it all, we got to enjoy a lovely sunset
2 comments:
There was an old tip about smearing the back of the brake pad with a very small amount of Copperslip grease to stop brake squeal. Personally I never never felt comfortable with it.
Hiya Johnny, same. The idea of smearing lubricants on the back side of something that operates on friction doesn't appeal :)
FYI I'm still working on and ebike post. Unfortunately, it's looking like owning one would create so much financial friction that I'm going to have to give that a hard pass. One that I would want to ride would cost more than I paid for the Subie!
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