Wdollie6 Bus Thread

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wdollie6
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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by wdollie6 » Thu Jul 12, 2018 5:40 am

cracked caliber 2.jpg
Another picture, maybe the casting failure a little clearer...
1972 Superbeetle Convertible
1972 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1970 Fastback
1966 6V Beetle with Sunroof

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by wdollie6 » Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:49 am

Last night was able to get out the second caliper piston from original caliber. It, too, was in great shape. Cleaned everything up with brake fluid, lubricated and reassembled (yes I oriented the pistons properly), then went to work on the upper bleeder. Very wary of breaking it off so wire brushed the area around it and doused area with PB Blaster, then waited while I worked on other issues. To my surprise (based on condition of bleeder) it actually loosened and tightened with no issue. I pulled it all the way out cleaned it up and reinstalled after blowing air through it to make sure it was clear. I left the lower bleeder alone as it was definitely in questionable condition.

After reassembly of all things brakes, refilled brake canister, bled the line with my Power Bleeder and back in business. After pumping the brakes a few times took on test drive and brakes were great, even better than before. Still have to clean up the Drivers side but that will have to wait until after my trip which starts this afternoon. Now that I have completed a caliper rebuild not sure why I didn't stay the course three years ago with my original calipers, other than the time required to get the pistons out is wasn't that big of a deal...

Checked valve clearances, still dead on (not surprising considering the limited # of miles since last check), timing which was still in range and point gap all is good. The only issue I had was that recently my idle had started to drop to a very low level to the point of stalling, started checking the obvious issues first and found that my CIS solenoid was loose (tightened a half turn by hand then snugged with wrench), will monitor and see if that resolves issue.

Off I go, hopefully Fat Boy will continue to be his old reliable self.
1972 Superbeetle Convertible
1972 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1970 Fastback
1966 6V Beetle with Sunroof

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Jul 13, 2018 8:31 pm

wdollie6 wrote:
Fri Jul 13, 2018 5:49 am
brakes were great, even better than before.
Now that I have completed a caliper rebuild not sure why I didn't stay the course three years ago with my original calipers,
Yes! Yes!
Colin
(call Bus Depot and give them "feedback" - wheeze do feedback real good if youze need any help, ask for Vito)
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by wdollie6 » Mon Jul 16, 2018 7:59 am

Trip went great, FatBoy ran like a top although occasionally it stalled at stops, CIS solenoid was tight, think I need to bump my idle up a bit.

The brakes, the damn brakes... The good news is they stopped the bus with no problem the bad news is that they growl, loudly when used. Nice and quiet until you hit the pedal then they growl like a layer of dust between the pad and the rotor. Sometime this week I will dig back into them, maybe the chamfer on the leading edge that I forgot to do in my hurry to button back up? Maybe crap in the pads, maybe rust on the rotor, who knows? Frustrating because up until this spring I had no issues with my disc brakes. I'll advise after I've had a chance to pull them back apart. Now that I am over familiar with the disc brakes it really doesn't take long to pull it apart and evaluate.
1972 Superbeetle Convertible
1972 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1970 Fastback
1966 6V Beetle with Sunroof

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Jul 16, 2018 3:32 pm

wdollie6 wrote:
Mon Jul 16, 2018 7:59 am
Trip went great, FatBoy ran like a top although occasionally it stalled at stops, CIS solenoid was tight, think I need to bump my idle up a bit.

The brakes, the damn brakes... The good news is they stopped the bus with no problem the bad news is that they growl, loudly when used. Nice and quiet until you hit the pedal then they growl like a layer of dust between the pad and the rotor. Sometime this week I will dig back into them, maybe the chamfer on the leading edge that I forgot to do in my hurry to button back up? Maybe crap in the pads, maybe rust on the rotor, who knows? Frustrating because up until this spring I had no issues with my disc brakes. I'll advise after I've had a chance to pull them back apart. Now that I am over familiar with the disc brakes it really doesn't take long to pull it apart and evaluate.

I can't work with the word "growl". Do they grind? Squeal? Are the discs rusted from dis-use? Give them time to polish up.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by wdollie6 » Tue Jul 17, 2018 5:16 am

Definitely not squealing, grinding to me means metal on metal, definitely not that. Lower guttural growling like my Ford Escape does initially when I first drive and use the brakes after letting it sit for a week. The difference is that the Escape noise goes away, FatBoy's never seems to. To your point I don't drive him every day either, maybe it will just take longer to take the rust off, although it was a 700 mile round trip to upstate NY, should have cleaned the rotor up somewhat.

I will still pull apart the brakes to make sure that everything is as it should be, maybe tonight.
1972 Superbeetle Convertible
1972 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1970 Fastback
1966 6V Beetle with Sunroof

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by wdollie6 » Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:05 am

Finally was able to take a look at brakes, passenger side was not the issue as rebuilding and installing the old/original caliper worked great. The sound I had been hearing though came from the drivers side, could have sworn it was the passenger side again... Finally had a chance to pull the right side and found that the outside brake pad was worn down to the metal, not sure of the cause as of yet but based on the fact that the hoses are less than two years old and they were bled properly, must be a caliper piston sticking. Strangely enough this is another Bus Depot rebuild...

I will hopefully pull pistons tonight to see what is causing the binding, however am very tempted to just take the other old/original caliper and rebuild it like I did for the passenger side. We'll see what I have once I get the pistons out. Anything else to look for?
1972 Superbeetle Convertible
1972 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1970 Fastback
1966 6V Beetle with Sunroof

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by wdollie6 » Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:08 am

By the way these were new pads two years ago, less than 2000 miles on them, suggests the piston was binding from the beginning, i.e. only one side working? Strange that it never caused steering pull when using the brakes... I will replace with a set of the original ones that I saved, they still have the VW stamp on the back of the pad.
1972 Superbeetle Convertible
1972 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1970 Fastback
1966 6V Beetle with Sunroof

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by wdollie6 » Mon Aug 13, 2018 5:55 am

Pulled apart the Bus Depot caliper on Friday night, could find no signs of corrosion, piston seals were good but replaced them anyway along with new dust caps. When I reassembled I repositioned the caliper piston to ensure that it matched the shim tabs which had been flattened because I didn't do that the first time. Used old good VW pads, we'll see how it goes.

So while I was there looked at passenger side brakes, same issue outside pad worn much more than inside, what does this suggest? Also adjusted the rear brakes, didn't need much.
1972 Superbeetle Convertible
1972 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1970 Fastback
1966 6V Beetle with Sunroof

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:29 pm

wdollie6 wrote:
Mon Aug 13, 2018 5:55 am
Pulled apart the Bus Depot caliper on Friday night, could find no signs of corrosion, piston seals were good but replaced them anyway along with new dust caps. When I reassembled I repositioned the caliper piston to ensure that it matched the shim tabs which had been flattened because I didn't do that the first time. Used old good VW pads, we'll see how it goes.

So while I was there looked at passenger side brakes, same issue outside pad worn much more than inside, what does this suggest? Also adjusted the rear brakes, didn't need much.

If both calipers had worn the outside pads, it does suggest that they were subject to environmental effects more than the internal pads/pistons. Washing the heck out of the wheels with a jet spray would hit the outer pads/pistons more frequently. Or something.

BUT, if you wore the outside pads rapidly with rebuilt BD calipers, then I wonder if your disks had rust pocks that caused erosion. Most organic semi-metallic pads on smooth disks driven sensibly will last 40,000 miles.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by wdollie6 » Wed Aug 15, 2018 7:30 am

We'll add this to the list for Saturday's rendezvous. Drove the bus to work today, applying brakes provided a firm and straight stop, jamming on the brakes actually snapped my head forward, a first for Fatboy.

Of course now I have lost my idle again at initial startup (once warm it idles but RPMs are too low), can't even get the chokes to catch, aaaaagggghhhhh! Will look at tonight when I get home, just when he was running reasonably well. Hopefully just a wire off a terminal or something of that nature.
1972 Superbeetle Convertible
1972 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1970 Fastback
1966 6V Beetle with Sunroof

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by wdollie6 » Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:34 am

After Colin's visit in mid August ordered new Zimmerman rotors off of Ebay (had those in two days) and rebuilt torsion arms from Late Night Aircooled. The arms were supposedly in stock but received them just yesterday, apparently fires in and around Chico, CA caused the delay? Regardless opened the package last night and found that instead of the allegedly "looser" TRW ball joints, I received Flennors (will post pictures later today). Unfortunately with the birth of a granddaughter yesterday was unable to play with them at all, however did notice that the notch in the ball joints did not line up exactly with the embossment on the arms, cause for concern?

I am hopeful that these are not overly tight as this is one of the brands that Bryan at Late Night Aircooled indicated was tighter. Interestingly the top of the joint indicates made in Germany, strange because everything I've read indicates they had opened a Chinese facility. Maybe mfg. elsewhere and assembled in Germany... More to come.
1972 Superbeetle Convertible
1972 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1970 Fastback
1966 6V Beetle with Sunroof

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Sep 05, 2018 1:00 pm

wdollie6 wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:34 am
After Colin's visit in mid August ordered new Zimmerman rotors off of Ebay (had those in two days) and rebuilt torsion arms from Late Night Aircooled. The arms were supposedly in stock but received them just yesterday, apparently fires in and around Chico, CA caused the delay? Regardless opened the package last night and found that instead of the allegedly "looser" TRW ball joints, I received Flennors (will post pictures later today). Unfortunately with the birth of a granddaughter yesterday was unable to play with them at all, however did notice that the notch in the ball joints did not line up exactly with the embossment on the arms, cause for concern?

I am hopeful that these are not overly tight as this is one of the brands that Bryan at Late Night Aircooled indicated was tighter. Interestingly the top of the joint indicates made in Germany, strange because everything I've read indicates they had opened a Chinese facility. Maybe mfg. elsewhere and assembled in Germany... More to come.
A) Congratulations!

B) What doth Late Night protesteth In regards to Flennor vs TRW?

C) The ball joint cap may be made in Germany, assembled in China, and that's what we get. Work out a Plan B with Late Night if your car is undriveable. Seriously.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by wdollie6 » Thu Sep 06, 2018 5:11 am

Ball joint/torsion arm pictures. Note that nowhere does it state Made in Germany, my mistake, rather just Flennor and Germany. The 2nd picture above highlights the misalignment issue of notch and embossment but this is the worst one by far, at this point probably will run with them. I note that moving the ball joint stud with my hands was difficult if not impossible although recognize that isn't the end all.

I will advise Bryan at Late Night of my dissatisfaction with the Flennor (allegedly tighter) vs. TRW (allegedly looser) that I had specifically requested and see what concessions I may get. Response will probably be send them back I'll replace them, of course on my dime, freight is now over $100 each way so that weighs in on the discussion.

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1972 Superbeetle Convertible
1972 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1970 Fastback
1966 6V Beetle with Sunroof

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Re: Wdollie6 Bus Thread

Post by wdollie6 » Thu Sep 06, 2018 6:39 am

A question, since these don't have the zerks, is there a way to grease them prior to install? Or is it even necessary?
1972 Superbeetle Convertible
1972 Westy Bus
1972 Beetle
1970 Fastback
1966 6V Beetle with Sunroof

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