my drum brakes suck

ok for starters I am saving up to get a front disk conversion for my car...but untill then I am tired of nearly getting into accidents because my brakes will not work. ok so they work as long as I am not going over 20 miles an hour. Any faster than that and I am downshifting like a son of a gun just to get stopped. My brake reservoir cap is split (don't know when that happened). so my question is, is it possible that there is air in my brake lines, (the reservoir is always full), or is this some kind of adjustment problem.

get a new cap?

Four wheel drum brakes on a Speedster really ought to throw you up against the steering wheel every time. Really, a good set, new parts, correctly adjusted and bled will surprise you.

Do a full brake job, parts are cheap, the work is easy, and the benefits are manifold.

T.C. is right....Front shoes do take the brunt of the load and over time may "Glaze". Roughing with sand paper is at best a temporary fix. Good shoes, "Frendo", or others, will help if all other variables are taken care of...

Good Luck....

Leon C.

Brake fluid will absorb moisture from the air. You may need to replace the entire fluid capacity and get a new cap. Take a look at the drums themselves also.

Russell, VW drum brakes are easy to adjust. I have had cars that the pedal went to the floor and after adjusting them were 1/2 inch freeplay. It would take too much time to type the adjustment proceedure here. Get an Idiots Guide to keeping your VW Alive by John Muir. Amazon.Com has them. You can rebuild your complete brake system pretty cheaply. If you convert to front disc, you will have to change to 4 bolt wheels or use the expensive wide 5 disc kits. If you are on a budget, the fixing the drums for now may be a good idea.

Wil is right - sounds like there is moisture in the fluid. A full bleed with DOT 4 high temp fluid is really easy to do and invloves your wife / GF "helping".

No reason stock VW drums shouldn't safely stop a replica. Your hauling down few hundred pounds less. Of course they need to be in decent condition. It really cheap to rebuild them. And adjustment is easy. Plus a little weight in nose of vehicle helps too.

The rubber hoses are another concern they tend to close up over time when exposed to moisture. You should replace them all.

I've actually had the 30 year old rubber hoses blow up like a ballon when brakes applied. I replaced them with new stainless steel ones and it gives a much higher brake petal. The lengths are different for disc vs drum - get the disc since they are longer - just ensure they are routed so as not to rub anything.

Wolfgang who did you get the SS teflon hoses from ? If I ever get a chance to swap my beams I want to upgrade to them. Im told they hold up much better over time. and If anyone can confirm this to be true. Id appreciate. the imfo.

Barry; you can get those from most any VW part vendor such as CIP, Air Cooled.net or CB Performance; they're not that expensive either considering what they do and how long they'll last.

Barry wrote: " Wolfgang who did you get the SS teflon hoses from ? If I ever get a chance to swap my beams I want to upgrade to them. Im told they hold up much better over time. and If anyone can confirm this to be true. Id appreciate. the imfo."

Barry, I was an aircraft hydraulic mechanic in the Navy, and all Naval aircraft use Stainless braded hoses in all areas that there may be abrasion and wear. Trust me when I say that Stainless hoses on our little tubs will last forever! I am actually getting ready to change most of the hoses in my engine to stainless.

Mark, obviously you'd be the man to explain the misconception.
Braided hoses are used to protect against abrasion and in areas where there is movement/contact. The strength and psi rating comes from the rubber within. I love when people use them on vacuum and vent hoses. Besides the cool factor.

Bruce - that's exactly right about the difference between the cool exterior and the hard working rubber on the inside! All aircraft run 3000psi thru their hydraulic systems. We would use the stainless braided for say an actuator that is in a tight spot. We would also use rigid stainless or aluminum lines as well as some low pressure rubber other places throughout the aircraft. These lines and hoses operate continuously at 3000psi, so we would have to test them to 4500psi. It was not fun when they would blow! Fortunately, that did not happen all too often! And when it did, it was usually behind a 3" thick glass door! I worked in the hydraulic shop where we manufactured 99% of all the hose and tubing. If I had only known I would have bee/n putting it on my car one day, I would have made a couple extras! :-) As far as the cool factor - I am wanting to change all my hoses over to stainless. It should look nice with red AN fittings and my chrome doghouse!

Real advantage (in addition to non-abrading) of SS brake line is they don't ballon like rubber hoses under pressure --- so you get more clamping power to rotors/drums. Just beware that many are not DOT approved and say "for off road use only." Ones I have are made by Earls so hopefully high quality - they are teflon lined and supposedly aircraft approved. I think SS is way to go for gas and oil lines.

Wolfgang, in "aircraft quality hoses" the braiding has no effect on pressure rating or capacity. I've heard the firmer pedal feeling mentioned before but if your hoses are in the condition they should be I don't see it. But I guess some have more delicate feet than mine. But they do look cool.

Speaking of the brake fluid, anyone have a suggestion for replacing the reservoir? Mine came with a broken cap, who knows how much water is in there but it still stops OK.

Stephan; it's no mystery; just get a replacement reservoir and try to bleed all the fluid into the system to empty it up. Then just swap the reservoir; fill it up and bleed your brakes. Try to get an OEM VW unit.

Thank you! Mark! for removing any dout i may have had. and for also letting everyone know just how good the Stainless steel hoses are.

And these being plastic cars, With fire concernes ,is another good point. for those using electric fuel pumps

I knew they were good but I didn't know they were that good..

.THATS GREAT! All I now need is to determine who is the best high quality supplier

I also have a steel line routuing issue I need to resolve that i feel was causing problems If you have a line that has a high spot that can trap air that could make non preasure bleading brakes a pain also.

Factory parts are the best If you an find them. With the exception of aircraft grade which has to be high quality.

UPDATE: Got off of my ass this weeekend and looked at a couple of VW sites online for brake adjustment. got the wheels off and to my surprise I do not have the adjusting star access holes in the rear of the backing plate, all I had was a hole in the front of the drum which provided access. I adjusted the stars untill the shoes bound up (one shoe at a time). Then I put the tires back on and took it for a drive. Oh my god what a difference. I took it to about 25 and hit the brakes solid and it stopped very forcefully. then 25 again and I pushed harder and the wheels locked up(never happened before)continued with some faster accel stops and was still amazed.
This was SO easy to do and thank you everyone for your help.

drums do a pretty good job when installed and adjusted correctly. couple that with the fact these cars weight nothing...

Russell; your car has the holes in the drum and not the backing plate because it's an earlier model; works perfectly just the same (and probably better because all you need to do to adjust the brakes is remove the hubcap).