At 07:09 PM 9/23/05 -0400, Dick Boes wrote:
"Removed the calipers from my '79 B and let them soak overnight in a parts cleaner, only to be told today that I've probably ruined them. Supposedly there is a seal between the 2 halves that will fail due to this cleaner. Any thoughts?"

Not splitting the calipers is one of those "old mechanics tales". The bolts were intended for single use, as they had a non-slip coating. Neither replacement bolts nor torque specs were supplied by Girling, as the calipers were not intended to be dismantled. Good for Girling, back in the day, if they could con you into buying a whole new caliper rather than rebuilding the originals. But in fact the calipers can be split and successfully reasembled.

The seals between the caliper halves are now available new (Moss Motors #180-285). When reassembling use Loctite on the caliper half bolts and torque them to a reasonable spec. Use good shop practices and the calipers can be split, resealed and re-assembled safely. Splitting the caliper makes it much easier to R&R the pistons, clean the bores and seal grooves, and to replace the dust seals. For the MGA calipers it also makes it easier to remove the center pins if you want to use the cheaper MGB pistons.