John Mellor Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 Any researched info on this for very low mileage classics. Just acquired a car that's done 5k miles since a nut and bolt rebuild about 10 years ago. Changing fluids and filters and oil still looks clean, silicon brakes will leave alone. What about the future plan, probably do less than 2k/year Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Motorsport Mickey Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 Not much different, annual oil/filter/antifreeze change and then drive it,... as many miles as you can. Mick Richards Quote Link to post Share on other sites
valvebounce Posted April 19, 2021 Report Share Posted April 19, 2021 The first thing I would do is bleed the brakes. 10 years is a long time! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cbxman Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 On 4/19/2021 at 2:57 PM, valvebounce said: The first thing I would do is bleed the brakes. 10 years is a long time! Not a problem with silicone. The whole idea for silicone was for the military to fit and forget in their vehicles for instant use and not have to do brake interval servicing on the fleet. As I understand........ My bike brakes have 20 year old fluid in them. Never changed and never bled since then. If you think there may have been adverse storage conditions, then maybe consider changing it. Cheers, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 The US military used it for long term storage with the belief that the SBF would not take in water to affect the fuid. And this is true. However the brake system is not sealed. There is a vent hole in the MC lid. Through this very small hole water vapour will be taken into the system due to varying air pressure. Firstly the MC will be contaminated and after many applications of the brakes water may/will be pushed into the pipework So it is not a miracle fluid. Do not rely on a 10 or 20 year change period if you are using your brakes enthusiastically. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ctc77965o Posted April 20, 2021 Report Share Posted April 20, 2021 With modern engine oil and 2Kmiles per year you can stretch the service interval to 5+ years, the oil's stability at room temperature is close to infinite. Only issue would be: you must warm it up properly...short runs will contaminate oil with fuel & water which only gets 'boiled-out' when its fully up to temp. Short runs could lead to corrosion and seal damage...and then a annual oil change might help get the garbage out.... but a quick drive around the bypass is a much more satisfying way to extend the change interval... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cbxman Posted April 21, 2021 Report Share Posted April 21, 2021 12 hours ago, RogerH said: The US military used it for long term storage with the belief that the SBF would not take in water to affect the fuid. And this is true. However the brake system is not sealed. There is a vent hole in the MC lid. Through this very small hole water vapour will be taken into the system due to varying air pressure. Firstly the MC will be contaminated and after many applications of the brakes water may/will be pushed into the pipework So it is not a miracle fluid. Do not rely on a 10 or 20 year change period if you are using your brakes enthusiastically. Roger Roger, Quite so. Hence my proviso about 'favourable conditions'. If the vehicle has been stored 'favourably' and has not moved for many years, then it should be OK. Parked up in a field and left for years is another matter. It is also worth bearing in mind, as brakes are a somewhat important system in a car, that you would want to be happy that seal rubbers are compatible with SBF. Many are and the system is largely benign. I know that some Italian motorcycle brake systems have rubber that is incompatible with SBF. May I suggest that if there is trust in the restorer, then it should be fine. If there is any doubt, then change all the rubber and and replace the fluid to your own choice. My own classic vehicles do not do much milage as I don't seem to have any time left over from everything else I do So I always prefer the SBF where possible. Jerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted April 21, 2021 Report Share Posted April 21, 2021 Hi Jerry, the seals supplied for the Girling brakes are designed for DoT3/4 . Thankfully this is OK for SBF Dot5 . Mineral oil (as used in Cirtroen, Rolls etc) will kill these seals quite quickly. As an apprentice with BEA back in the 60's I came across the hydraulic fluid for Viscounts and Comets (DTD585) it had quite a nice smell about it. We soon learnt that it was no good for the car brakes as it was a mineral oil. Damn. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Mellor Posted April 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2021 Folks thanks for helpful replies. As always differing opinions but in my field differing opinions present usually means it's not a critical decision. The restorer was Neil Revington circa 2000 miles and 10 years ago so feel sure about things done correctly Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cbxman Posted April 21, 2021 Report Share Posted April 21, 2021 15 minutes ago, John Mellor said: Folks thanks for helpful replies. As always differing opinions but in my field differing opinions present usually means it's not a critical decision. The restorer was Neil Revington circa 2000 miles and 10 years ago so feel sure about things done correctly John, I'm sure they would have done it right. Only the subsequent storage conditions may have an influence, but I suspect that it was tucked up in a nice dry garage somewhere. Cheers, Jerry Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stillp Posted April 21, 2021 Report Share Posted April 21, 2021 14 hours ago, RogerH said: The US military used it for long term storage with the belief that the SBF would not take in water to affect the fuid. And this is true. However the brake system is not sealed. There is a vent hole in the MC lid. Through this very small hole water vapour will be taken into the system due to varying air pressure. Firstly the MC will be contaminated and after many applications of the brakes water may/will be pushed into the pipework So it is not a miracle fluid. Do not rely on a 10 or 20 year change period if you are using your brakes enthusiastically. Roger Roger, I think you need to consider the volume of air in the m/c, the amount of change in that volume due to changing temperature and pressure, and the quantity of water vapour in that changing quantity. Even if all the water present in the minute quantity of air were to condense in the cylinder, it would be negligible. Anyway, if there was a significant quantity of water in the m/c, surely it would be visible in the depression at the bottom of the reservoir? I was a little worried when I first heard that theory about moisture ingress, having had SBF in my TR4A since 1989, but I've never seen any water in the reservoir. A couple of years ago I had a front caliper off the car so I hung it so the bleed screw was at the bottom for a while, then bled out a small amount of fluid, which again had no visible water content. Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted April 21, 2021 Report Share Posted April 21, 2021 Hi Pete, What I have posted can happen. Ask yourself - why did the rudders keep falling off the Concorde. Atmospheric water moisture being sucked into what was supposedly a totally closed bonded honeycomb structure. Clearly is was not 100% closed but not far off. OK, the pressure differential is rather higher in this example but is goes to show what can happen. Simple atmospheric pressure variation - day/night - will do something. You are fortunate in not having water in your system but do not rule it out. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stillp Posted April 21, 2021 Report Share Posted April 21, 2021 Hi Roger, I hadn't heard about the rudders falling off Concorde. What was the volume inside that honeycomb? When I was development engineer working on proximity switches, which are an electronic assembly in a small enclosure mostly filled with epoxy, but with a small air space at the top, we occasionally had customers return switches that had failed due to moisture ingress. In every case we investigated the moisture ingress was caused by the switches being heated by the application and then subjected to a spray of cold water, so the air in the enclosure was rapidly cooled, contacted and sucked in water. I never found any applications in which operation at normal atmospheric temperature and pressure caused any detectable ingress of moisture.* The epoxy could absorb water as it had a very high proportion of inert filler to improve the thermal performance. I'm not saying that you failure mechanism couldn't happen, but I think the possibility is vanishingly small in normal use. Maybe if someone were to hose down their engine bay carelessly... *we did have one customer, a large manufacturer of earth-moving equipment, who claimed a number of failures occurred before their machines had any exposure to weather. I found out it was normal practice for one of their paint shop operators to hose down the excavators with mains water before they were removed from the bake oven! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Mellor Posted May 10, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2021 Hi all, car is garage with dehumidifier set at 50% relative humidity permanently switched on Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Morrison Posted May 11, 2021 Report Share Posted May 11, 2021 Hello John, saw your question about seats, and remembered this thread also. You have a lovely and exciting Car there, one to be especially proud of. Whereabouts are you, have you touched base with the local group, and thought about joining the TR Register? Sure you would benefit enormously from the whole Register Experience? John. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted May 11, 2021 Report Share Posted May 11, 2021 With dehumidifier set to 50%, it will seldom cease running in the UK. I would suggest that setting it at 70% would be sufficient to prevent condensation unless the ambient temperature changes very rapidly. Ian Cornish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Morrison Posted May 11, 2021 Report Share Posted May 11, 2021 On 4/19/2021 at 8:13 AM, John Mellor said: Any researched info on this for very low mileage classics. Just acquired a car that's done 5k miles since a nut and bolt rebuild about 10 years ago. Changing fluids and filters and oil still looks clean, silicon brakes will leave alone. What about the future plan, probably do less than 2k/year As regards service intervals, and as you can see opinions do vary, but I 'Service' my TR4 annually, Thats oil and original type filter, full grease, G/B and R/A levels check/top up. Antifreeze mix. Strip brake drums, and inspect shoes, and cylinders for dampness, check pads for wear, including evenness and discs for cracks, Plugs points and check, and by substitution the ignition spares I carry. Plus Bi-anually on a rotational basis, brake fluid (Mineral) and coolant change, with a 25% blue antifreeze mix For me it is a very satisfying, part of the whole TR owning experience, and to be clear I would change the engine oil and filter annually irrespective of how low the milage had been since the last change, I would go so far as to say starting the car a number of times, from cold would cause enough contamination for me to change the oil etc., i think not to do so is 'Penny wise and Pound foolish' John. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keith1948 Posted May 12, 2021 Report Share Posted May 12, 2021 (edited) For info this is my annual check list prior to MOT. It lists service intervals and I fill in the date or mileage when things were last done. I use a similar check list for the more modern cars we have as well. Just find it useful to be able to tick off items on the check list rather than rely on memory. Also has info on settings and part numbers rather than having to search through a workshop manual or parts catalogues. Keith p.s. you need to be signed in to read the attachment TR Service Schedule.docx Edited May 12, 2021 by keith1948 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Mellor Posted May 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2021 Hi all, yup joining Register ( seems slow for some reason ) - 45 years after being a member with UTU888 , 1955 TR2 - always said I'd get another. Wife persuaded me to sell spares I'd kept for years ( "you'll never get another" - how wrong she was ). Based in Southend on Sea where the car was commissioned by the local constabulary in 1962 so I've brought it home!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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