Break Presure

I have been trying to get my breaks in working order and am not having much success. The car sat in my garage for about 18 years before I started working on it. I have never bled break lines before and am doing it the best way i can figure but i still have about 7 inches of pedal travel. I was going to take the master cylinder of and make sure all the seals are still good but I dont wanna do that only to find out that I was just bleeding them wrong. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Alex Jones

You have email Alan

Ya, Ive had a helper, havent replaced the master (thought I did have to scavenge a new break switch), the rubber lines look good, no fluid on them, and I havent looked at the other cylinders. I basicly wanted to make sure I wasnt doing it wrong before I started taking stuff apart.

You can get all new parts from any ad in hot vw dirt cheap, I believe less than $100 for everything excpt the drums. It is really not even worth trying to fix what you have. Your brakes are the most important thing in your car, not a place to pinch pennies.

I'd advise redoing everything, new lines, wheel cylinders, master cylinders, rubber hose, the whole nine yards. I had to replace everything on a collector car that had sat for about 10 years, couldn't believe how the whole system was bad from sitting. I put in silicone brake fluid and never had to worry about sludge build up again.

Bruce

A complete refitting of all brake items .... master cylinder, the special silicone hoses that run from the Resv. to the master cylinder, brake flex hoses from the hard lines to the wheel cylinder and replacing the wheel cylinders.
Disassemble the shoes and hdw. Toss the hdw and replace it with new, it has had tension on it for many idle years and will have lost it's return "pull" (replacement hdw is cheap so are the shoes)

Replacing braking components is something that needs to be done w/o question .

Take a look here:
www.socalautoparts.com/HotVWs_Ad/HotVWs_Ad_p07.html
$65 to replace just about everything. Have the drums turned. Don't forget the $20 line kit. A very small pinhole leak in the line that goes from front to back will cause you great frustration as you try to find the reason for a soft pedal. When bleeding, make sure the shoes are properly adjusted.
Trust me, after sitting for so long, even if you correct the initial problem you will certainly develop additional problems related to the age of the components. And they will not develop when your sitting in your driveway. $100 spent here will save you at worst, the cost of a tow. At best....your life.

I agree with all the previous posters... replace everything!!! Brake systems literally die when sitting unused for so long; it's not worth the hassle or the risk!!!

Gosh 18 years! Did you replace the master cylinder, wheel cylinders and the rubber lines to the brakes? How about the steel line from the front to the back? You have a helper to pump while you open and close the valve (or a bleeding kit)? 7" travel is like NO pressure building up.

Any thoughts on use of the stainless steel mesh cover brake hoses? When I converted the front to disc brakes the OEM rubber lines were too shot so I replaced with Earl's (supposedly good quality - but say for racing use only) lines. I'm thinking of replacing the rear OEM rubber ones too. I replaced all on a 914 I had years ago and it really firmed up the pedal. I have read that some of these aftemarket lines do blow apart at the fittings (think that was a complaint against those from CIP1 - but can't confirm).

Stainless brakes hoses look great but check with your state first , some states don't allow them .

I hope that those braided stainless steel brake lines that are sold at all those "discount" places advertising in Hot VW's and others don't come from the same places making all those ill-fitting, cheap cooling tins.

I would be afraid of having them blow apart at the worst possible moment.

There is a company in Connecticut that makes disk-brake conversion kits for street rods (Alzheimer's moment - can't remember the name) that are very high quality and have a great reputation (ads in Street Rodder mag). Them I might trust, but I remember that their stainless hoses were expensive.

Also, those offered for the Porsche racing crowd in catalogs like Automotion or Tweeks or maybe Pelican Parts or the guys at Mainelybydesign.com might be a good bet, but beware that they'll be expensive if they're built right. They don't call them aircraft braided lines for nothing!

gn

ok, im convinced, ill replace the whole thing. will i need to replace the drums and whole break assembly? where can i get all the parts.

Alex

Alex,
See my reply. There is a link.
I would try turning the drums. They may be salvageable. Of course if you have the $$ go new.....about $100 more.

the drums turn, the car rolls and the little presure was able to stop the car at about 1 mph

No Alex,
Have the drums turned on a brake lathe to ensure that the insides are round and true.
jeff

Alex; for all the parts check out Hot VW's magazine, they've got a lot of advertisers. I've ordered from CB Performance and Mid America Motorworks (they bought Rocky Mountain Motorworks). I've had good experience with both.

jeff,

sorry, im still learning a lot about this thing, no they have not.

sorry for the double post

Alex:

Don't worry about the "I'm just learning about these things" part.

We all learn a lot on this forum and we all want to help.

Cheers....Gordon
One of the "Speedstah Guys" from Beaufort (I'm the one on the right)

Just spoke with Alex on the phone, re: brakes, he'll do fine on his build !

:)

Alex,
Only those who do not ask should apologize.
Never apologize for trying to learn!
Good luck! And enjoy the feeling of doing it yourself!

Speaking of doing things yourself, Jeff thats an amazing bit of work you did to transform that red chew toy into a great looking car.