Building a Hitachi Zaxis 135US Excavator - Part 5

Blog Catch Up: This really happened in October 2018, although the wording of the text is as if it happened today.

Following a YouTube (Sergio Solo) tip I cut off the plastic pistons and replaced them with blind ("pop") rivet mandrels. This method requires some work but the advantage is that there is no painted or treated surface that can be harmed by the pistons moving in or out of the cylinders. Here is a photo of a blind rivet as bought and a removed mandrel. 

 

 Here the first new piston is in place.

 

The below comparison shows an original painted piston to the left and the new version to the right. A clear improvement in my opinion. 

 

The above piston was the easy one since at the non-cylinder end I could drill a whole in the remaining fitting where I could insert and fasten the piston. The other three pistons will require a little more tinkering to get in place. 

The piston at the bucket had "claw" at the bucket end. The claw was an integral part of the original plastic piston. I found no way, sturdy enough, to reuse that claw. Instead I formed a new one from a piece of brass tubing soldered to the new piston. 

 

 The piston in place.