1970 Bus Front Brake Confusion

Moderators: Sluggo, Amskeptic

User avatar
ruckman101
Lord God King Bwana
Location: Up next to a volcano.
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: 1970 Bus Front Brake Confusion

Post by ruckman101 » Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:47 pm

lol, thanks Colin.

Cheryle's Dad did get home and he pumped pedal for me, but I sure did a lousy job. Spongy. So it looks like I may be doing a solo tomorrow. Engine is running cooler after a better tune-up and carb adjust, power seems to be up also.


feeling better,
neal
The slipper has no teeth.

bus71
Addicted!
Status: Offline

Re: 1970 Bus Front Brake Confusion

Post by bus71 » Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:17 pm

Please clean the brake fluid off the tire if you haven't. Brake fluid eats tires. Water will clean it.
Good Luck!

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: 1970 Bus Front Brake Confusion

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:27 pm

bus71 wrote:Please clean the brake fluid off the tire if you haven't. Brake fluid eats tires. Water will clean it.
Good Luck!
Very true .... for those who do not put a little aquarium tube on the bleeder nipple that leads to a tidy little jar.
Colin :flower:
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

User avatar
hambone
Post-Industrial Non-Secular Mennonite
Location: Portland, Ore.
Status: Offline

Re: 1970 Bus Front Brake Confusion

Post by hambone » Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:46 pm

Good idea.
Hey what do you think of those pressure bleeder tank things?
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: 1970 Bus Front Brake Confusion

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:16 am

hambone wrote:Good idea.
Hey what do you think of those pressure bleeder tank things?
If your reservoir and hoses are good, they are useful. 3-5 psi tops.
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

User avatar
vwlover77
IAC Addict!
Location: North Canton, Ohio
Status: Offline

Re: 1970 Bus Front Brake Confusion

Post by vwlover77 » Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:42 pm

Just built one of those to bleed the brakes on my New Beetle using a $10 spray bottle from Home Depot.... Works very nicely!
Don

---------------------------
78 Westy
71 Super Beetle Convertible Autostick

"When we let our compassion go, we let go of whatever claim we have to the divine." - Bruce Springsteen

User avatar
ruckman101
Lord God King Bwana
Location: Up next to a volcano.
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: 1970 Bus Front Brake Confusion

Post by ruckman101 » Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:07 pm

So an update. Three days after getting the new shoes on and cylinders refreshed, on errands on the way to the Lab last Monday, the passenger wheel develops a horrible sounding scraping. Thanks to Hal who had the jack and lumber to get the wheel off the ground, I was able to pull the wheel and check on things in the parking lot at the Lab. I suspected one of the new springs had ripped through the little cap on the retainer, and wanted to fish out the spring before it started bouncing around in there.

But that wasn't it. I had lost the torque on the castellated nut. When I finished the brakes and torqued the nut, instead of tightening further to the next hole for the cotter pin, because it was so just barely past, I backed up a smidge. I could see some fresh scraping of drum against backing plate, and brake fluid still all over. The roadside refresh process wasn't enough for the cylinder that had been hemorrhaging brake fluid. It did work on the driver's side cylinder that was merely seeping. Getting torque back onto that axle nut got rid of the scraping, whew.

So this afternoon, getting two new cylinders on, saving the one successfully reconditioned cylinder for roadside emergencies.


Coulda been worse,
neal
The slipper has no teeth.

User avatar
ruckman101
Lord God King Bwana
Location: Up next to a volcano.
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: 1970 Bus Front Brake Confusion

Post by ruckman101 » Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:06 pm

Yikes. Noticed the drum on the driver's side is starting to lose it's splining. Bertha has been hungry for attention this past year.


neal
The slipper has no teeth.

Post Reply