caliper dust seal won;t stay on??

I've got a 72 late bay with ATE calipers.

The dust seals need replacing so went down to GSF yesterday.

They do 2 kits, the dust seal in the ones for the early calipers (up to 7/72) was not deep enough, so I bought a late kit, this one...

http://www.veewee.co.uk/index.php/p...ated-parts/656vg0320?vehicle=VW-Camper 68 -79

The dust seals in this kit are deeper and whilst they are quite flat out of the box, they look like they will expand enough to allow the calliper to move sufficiently, result I though....

The small end fits fine over the ridge in the piston, however whilst the larger end will fit over the ring attached to the caliper itself, it keeps popping off and will not stay on.

Is this because the dust seals are not quite the right profile/size?

 

have you fitted the wire ring ?

 

there is no wire ring, on either the old dust seal or the new one??

 

ah not sure about the bay omes but most calipers have a wire ring to keep them on

 

Checked with brakeparts this afternoon and they confirm that the GSF kit is defo the right one for my calipers, so ???

 

Sounds like you're missing the split ring that goes around the base of the dust seal you'll have to give someone like vwh a call, see if you can get replacement ones!!

 

The early ones are unreinforced rubber with a split ring to hold them to the caliper - there is a groove in the caliper for this. The later ones have a steel hoop built into the seal which is a press fit over the caliper. Alot of suppliers will sell early as late but of course they pop off as you describe.

 

I generally don't mess with them these days, so it's been awhile since I stripped a set of calipers down!! Not really cost effective rebuilding them!!

 

You must have a cheap source of calipers then...

 

nah, I just prefer to not rebuild them, as it gets into the realms of broken nipples, proper seized in pistons, and then they're generally rusty beyond belief!!

 

^this.

 

get some thin wire and twist the end with pliers ,mine are still on after 5 years...

Not rebuild calipers ,it is something I like ,if i had a old engine I would dump that ,not worth the trouble... imo...

 

I have late calipers with the metal rings built in to the dust seal - the end which pops onto the caliper is rigid, but like I said, just pops off, it's almost like the inside of the new seal is either not quite deep enough (by probably only about 1mm) or it's slightly tapered outwards, so pops off.
Typical of poor fitting repro parts.
Think my only option is to try and patch up the holes in the old ones with super glue and refit them - not ideal, but can't see any other options - didn't want to start trying to fabricate rings out of wire, not sure I would like the thought of that popping off and getting stuck somewhere in the brakes.
Does anyone know of any brake spares suppliers in the Midlands so I can go see them in person (no point in ordering anything by post as Brakeparts in Lancashire have assured me I have the correct kit for my ATE calipers) - Fell Arthur Bennet has now gone.
Thanks.