Yellostreak wrote: also grab yourself an auto bleeder and some spare fluid.. a 10mm 'nipple spanner' is a good idea too as it should eliminate the risk of rounding the nipple..
+1 on that. I use a £5 Halfrauds, one man brake bleeder (a plastic bottle and a bit of clear plastic hose with a one way valve) and it works perfectly. You just keep bleeding the valve until you see NO bubbles in the fluid being pushed out. But keep an eye on the master cylinder level as it will drain very quickly when pumping the pedal, and if it runs out of fluid you will have to re-bleed it all again.
But don't forget to bleed out of the front/rear load valve that is under the rear boot area. It has a small (8 or 9mm I think) bleed nipple. What I do (if you have them) is to reverse the J up onto some ramps when bleeding the rears out. As air always tries to rise to the highest point, this helps push it up and towards the bleed nipples. Bleed the rear brakes (there is only one bleed valve on the passenger side for both the rears) then the front/rear load valve.
If you can get to them easily enough (which I can just about), drive the J forwards onto ramps and do the same for the front brakes.
But bleeding the front/rear load valve is important; I tend to get a spongy pedal unless I do this as well.
Note: Don't pump the pedal too hard and fast. Do it slowly, as old cylinders may have a bit of corrosion at the the far end of the cylinder where the piston seal does not normally reach. Hitting this with the seal could tear or damage it. To be 100% safe, don't push the pedal all the way down, just stop short if possible.
P.S. This is all based on my Jimny which is non-ABS, so the process might be slightly different for ABS.
