105 brake calliper rebuild

[White Anthony <anthony.white@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Kind Alfisti,
 
I have ATE callipers on all four corners of my '73 105 GTV.  Or rather, not on each corner, but in a box on my bench, having spent anywhere up to the last 12 years in a box in the trunk.  I've as yet had no luck removing the pistons -- they seem pretty seized.  The visible surface of the pistons -- the part that contacts the pads -- has some surface rust.  
 
Am I going to do any damage if I split the callipers?  Searching the interweb, many people seem to think that the world will end if ATE callipers are split -- but I think they've all been talking about functional callipers.  My workshop manual hasn't arrived yet, and besides, if it's anything like the 116 workshop manual, it will give details about how to replace seals, but nothing more.  I think I need to split them, clean them out, and have a specialist shop re-sleeve the piston bores, and fit new pistons.  
 
Any thoughts?  
 
Regards,
Anthony White
Wellington, NZ
'73 105 GTV
'85 116 Giulietta
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