Topic: piston, piston seal, caliper?

[cudjo]

Got one of the pistons out!
piston seal?
it looks like its in good condition, its not stiff, and i cleaned the gunk off it.
i would have to push the piston pretty hard to get it to get all the way in to the caliper with the seal to go all the way to the bottom of the caliper.

Piston
the piston was nice and smooth, except for a few scratches that i put on it trying to pull it out ( the scratches are on the bottom part of the rim, they would probly line up with the seal if the piston were all the way in the caliper)  scratches are small and deep.

the piston slides in and out easily when the seal is not in. how easy should it be to get the piston in and out with seal in under correct conditions?

how do I know whether or not I need to replace either or both of these items?

caliper
the inside of the caliper had some nastieness on the walls and behind the seal. I scraped the gunk out form the seal area fairly well with a few diff tools.( careful not to use to much pressure)

I used some 180 grit sand paper on the walls to try and remove as much of the crap as i could.
I haven't F'ed anything up by using the sand paper have I?

[Achmed]

I think you will be fine. Seals should be replaced; in general, the piston shouldn't have to be. But that depends on your piston. Also, a perfectly good seal will fail to seal under particularly harsh conditions, like dealing with a bunch of sludge after 30 years. Hard to tell without a picture of the piston. Don't try to get everything perfect on the first try. You won't. Put your bike together and ride it. If you have some finesse and you can feel what your bike it doing you'll be OK. If you don't have the finesse, ride. Maybe on a bike you feel confident about.

[cudjo]

any other advice one the break system?