The 0000 steel wool worked great for the pistons which now look perfectly polished, but the 0000 didn't quite cut it for the bores.
I'm going to have to come back to this project later as it is now 11:00 am, and I have not yet slept from the previous day. I try to do that whole sleep thing once every day or two whether I need it or not. I really didn't put a lot of effort into it, and I'm feeling stupidly tired...so it's possible that influenced things.
Fortunately I can be a little less gentle with the bores, so I will give some coarser steel wool a shot. I've also got some 400, 800, and 1500 grit sandpaper around here if that doesn't work. I'm really wishing that I had a dremel or similar device right about now. Even some wire brush attachments for a drill would be nice. It would really be perfect for this with a light brass brush on it. A stiffer nylon one might even work with the speed of a decent rotary tool. I really don't have much of anything around the house at the moment in the form of a brass brush tool. If I get desperate enough I might break out the grill brush...not kidding... :-(
The one thing I'm a little hesitant with still is the seal groove, but not from lack of information...just lack of experience/confidence yet. I'm sure that hesitation will disappear once I start trying to clean it, & end up not getting anywhere being particularly gentle. I've never actually done this job. I've usually just ordered remanufactured calipers. I know that I've seen all kinds of people post things about being super careful with the groove though. I understand why you don't want to damage it of course, but I have to admit that I'm a little dubious when it comes to my ability to damage it without doing something pretty stupid like using a cutting disc instead of just a cleaning tool. A steel wire brush probably wouldn't be a good idea either, but a brass brush seems pretty safe to me as long as I don't go crazy with it. Brass is softer than steel...should be all I really need to know.
At least I've got nicely cleaned pistons already. They should make the calipers stick a lot less. Particularly when combined with the general cleaning/flushing of the bores that I've already performed. Once the seals are really cleaned I should be ready for assembly. Some of them were pretty nasty, and the pistons had a lot of gunk on them. It looked like brake fluid deposits. Everything was in good condition still, but it was all just really dirty. It's possible that the lines themselves had started to corrode, or perhaps that's just what happens when the previous owner never once flushes his brake fluid over 10 years. I finished bending & crimping myself some new brake lines last week, and I replaced the rubber hoses with new SS braided hoses on all 4 corners. The new hoses will hopefully reduce pedal issues. The last ones were fairly dry, and were starting to show signs of cracking. Get these things put back together with some fresh DOT4, and my brakes should be much happier. I've flushed my brake fluid every 2 years since I owned it, but I'm thinking that the previous owner did NOT! Oh, I also discovered that steel wool and some acetone did a great job of bring the caliper housings back to looking nice & shiny. Took virtually no effort or time. The previously baked and caked on dirt, dust, and debris practically just melted off in the presence of a little acetone. Just be sure to keep your acetone away from your hydrogen peroxide unless you enjoy trips to the ER/Morgue/or friendly neighborhood FBI district field office. Just kidding, you're fine...you'd need sulfuric acid & a deathwish also. (Too soon for TATP jokes? Eh, who am I kidding. It's never too soon for jokes about insanely unstable high order explosives that are sensitive to...basically everything and can be made in your bathtub if both your IQ & your will to live is lower than a hooker's standards) On that note, it's probably definitely time for me to turn this magic doohickey off, and go to bed before I decide to keep talking.