D@mn Brakes

[pathfinder]

Well as some of you know I'm doing a ground-up restore on my 78E (very slowly) & got into the brakes Saturday. Front brakes will not bleed out, handle is very soft. Took it apart and cleaned it all and put back together. Stainless steel lines, one year old. Still no handle. The main problem is I have no idea what the M/C came off of. Had it in a shop one day getting tires about 12 years ago and told them about crappy brakes on the front, they talked me into letting them change it to something much newer. 5/8" bore Yamaha brand, all aluminum, handle not an exact match but not so anyone would notice. Have done the brakes a few times since and also the S/S lines with no problems. All is well until now, I need a rebuild kit for it and have no idea what it is. Yamaha shop has been no help but Service Mgr was off on Saturday maybe he can ID for me.
One of you guys might be able to ID, the cap is a pretty odd shape, kind of like a off center coffin, with the site glass on the left front as you stand at the front wheel looking aft. Says YAMAHA on the lid so the rider can read it.

Next problem, rear M/C could not remove the snap ring in the conventional way. I far as I know it has never been removed and was rusted solid to the steel washer with the U-slot. Tried soaking in penetrating oil overnight and all day Sunday. Scraped as much rust as possible with dental pick. No help. Tried to use a punch to get it moving, no way. Tried drilling 4 each 1/16" holes in the wide side opposite the two holes normally used to remove. I did this to weaken the snap ring so I might be able to move it to get the rust to let go. Not. Finally 1/4" carbide burr in a die grinder, straight down thru the snap ring thru the aluminum housing. You know when you put 1/4" slot thru a snap ring it finally gives up so you can get it out.
My question is do you think by cutting away the aluminum housing (1/4" slot thru the diameter) I would say that leaves 85% of that diameter to mount the boot, should that work? Another question why would anybody put a steel snap ring up against a steel washer in a wet enviroment, how about I make a S/S U-washer, what do you guys think?

I hate these brakes with a passion but I have never had this many problems at one time. Oh I forgot to tell you had to buy 2 caliper kits and 2 pistons for the front, it keeps leaking a very small amount past the square O-ring in the caliper and sucking air. Using a Mighty Vac at 8-10 lbs. It might have something to do with both M/C's and calipers being dry for 6 months.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

[81xsproject]

wow, I do not envy you. I am toward the end of my restoration and got luckier with the brakes. Your master cylinder sounds like the one I had on my 82 xj maxim. It was single front disk, but I think they made similar ones for dual disk on larger bikes. Did you check out yamaha's online parts catalog? The diagrams might help you narrow it down. Yamaha-motor.com. Good luck, it might be easier to just score a stock one off ebay. They usually go pretty cheap.
JC

[Hepcat]

I don't know if this will help you, but I had a stuck M/C last year and soaked it in Auto Transmission Fluid. It freed up after a 24 hr soak. It still took a little work to get it out, but in the end it worked.

Good luck!
Jon

[dragxs11]

If I were you I would buy the partsnmore.com m/c. That is if your reservor mounts flat.... If your time is worth anything it will come out about the same($). Those old m/c's look like crap anyway. I've had an old one rebuilt, did one myself, and now have replaced both with the partsnmore ones. However, if you need the slanted mount for the long bars, your pretty stuck I think. I have one that worked when I removed it a couple years ago if you need it. I only replaced it cause I went with short bars, never had it apart.
Matt