Dismantle and re assemble the rear brake caliper.

I have looked through the “how to” list and see the link to a sequence that restores functionality of the rear caliper but without disassembly of the internals of the caliper.
I have the piston out and as I look down the body of the caliper I see an inverted “top hat” component held in place by a circlip that is a very long way down with tiny holes for the business end of circlip players to locate in.

Am I correct in thinking that I need a very special pair of long nose players to get that clip out before I can go further? Or is there something else that needs to be done instead. 
Someone must have trodden this path before me and know the answer. Please advise.

You are staring into the abyss, unless you have the correct circlip pliers, removing the clip can be done by “poking about”, re-enstating that clip is a task too far & you are likely to damage your head & the wall against which you hit it. 
I have done a number & have sworn never to touch another; there is no instant gratification, you have to reassemble the entire system & have fluid through it before you can check your homework. 
It is however gratifying once the job is done. 
Where are you located, if you consider the journey worthwhile you can borrow mine. 
m
M

Thank you for the kind offer. If you were next door then I’d accept your kind offer with alacrity.
However, I suspect that Southway Devon is a bit more than a day’s bicycle ride away, and eBay have them for not an unreasonable price.

I note the complexity, thank you.
I might take up the challenge simply to get a pair of OEM calipers that are worth having. The piston is in very good condition apart from some minor corrosion around what looks like a vent hole in the groove into which the dust shield resides. Easily cleaned off.
The first challenge is to get the external nut off. 

Delbourt wrote:

However, I suspect that Southway Devon is a bit more than a day’s bicycle ride away, and eBay have them for not an unreasonable price.

 

So not very far by a civilised form of transport then!

Yes, Southway is a stretch away from the Northwest!
Having looked at the eBay prices of the pliers they are a gift, a significant reduction on the price I paid & I got them at trade. Whatever that means these days, probably knock off stuff.
Keep us posted with your progress, there’s at least one member who is interested & will be following.
M

I will be following Delbourt..even if it is just to keep me out of that deep dark abyss!
Good luck.

Well, it’s going to be a while before there is any progress. Im going to take some time off from all this as there are other things to do like drive it, and other issues.
Sorry to disappoint if waiting for updates.

Not disappointed at all Delbourt because you are going to actually drive it!!
What a novel idea that we can actually drive these cars on a public road and even enjoy them.
Get out there and vroom vroom vroom and let us know how your brakes are!
Have fun!

Brakes, now there’s a thing!
The jury is still out on all that “fandango”. After bleeding the system as specified in the WSM to give a firm pedal (before starting the engine that obviously engages the servo) the next step was a gentle test run identified as “bedding in”. Followed by discussions with manufacturer, more “bedding in”, a follow up bleeding process, checks for leaks, and adjustment to the hand brake cable tension another trial is awaited. 
This is after 200 miles of careful use that I report as follows.

In the words of one respected contributor on here “golly-gosh” or perhaps something a little stronger. Virtually the first operation after stopping at the stop sign and proceeding carefully an emergency stop was needed. A pity the floor was in good condition otherwise it might have been more effective to put feet through the floor onto the tarmac - you get the gist. On my return home I needed to lie down in a darkened room to recover composure. Not quite brown underwear but not far off.
There has been a slow improvement over the 200 miles of careful use such that under general slowing it is quite acceptable. On the other hand when needing to slow more rapidly there is a “distinct pause” before the pads “ah yes” I’m supposed to do something and about 1/2 or 1 second later they grip the discs. When they do you feel the deceleration improve dramatically.

Manufacturer’s advice is “keep bedding in your nearly there”.
Personally I think there should be a government warning. I’ll not reveal the components until there has been more use. The first few applications were extremely concerning and I have changed pads on a similar vehicle before without any of this present problem.Those worked almost straight out of the box.

 

"Golly Gosh"...you just cracked me up!!
If we had wrote the real words we would both be banned!
I am really sorry to hear you are having problems because you should be enjoying better brakes.

I assume you are happy that all the air is out.
I have always bedded pads in the same way.
A hard stop from 50mph to 30..not a standing stop just a hard brake to 30.
Do that 4 times and they are usually bed in.
With yellowstuff pads you then have really strong brakes but with Std pads the 4th time may induce some fade but they will cool down and behave normally.
It can't be a gentle shove, needs to be fierce.
Good luck as always.

Yes, no bubbling air on completion of the first bleed and no bl**#ng air after the second either.
I can confirm that a brace might very well prevent rotation. Don’t ask how I can confirm this!