Originally Posted by Amesja

If someone does nothing else at least take apart the brakes and clean the pivots and the bushing washers and grease them. I do clock repair for a hobby and just cleaning a pivot with a reamer makes a HUGE difference in the amount of drag present. Grease and reassemble and put on new shoes and the brakes will work like new. I'm sort of a putterer-tinkerer and just can't stop with that myself. I have to pull everything apart, soak anything steel that even is slightly rusted in OA, clean all the other parts in an ultrasonic cleaner, polish the pivots, polish the aluminum bits and treat them with mothers to protect the finish. I can't do anything halfway and end up making love to each caliper for over an hour. It's a sickness I think. I don't really think they work any better than a quick 5-minute disassembly,cleaning, reamer-polish and then re-greased before assembling but it's more fun this way and they look better than new when I'm done. I like making something old look like it is new.