Itinerant Air-Cooled

I'm currently knee deep in replacing my front beam and have hit a brick wall with the servo. It looks like I need to remove the master cylinder to get the servo out but the 11mm nuts that hold the brake lines to the master cylinder are rounding rather that loosening. Anyone been here? Anyone have any helpful suggestions?

-John

You need to use line wrenches or vice grips to get those loose.

I tried vise grips and that didn't work, would it be the end of the world if I shot some PBBlaster on them? Haven got any line wrenches, might be time.

-John

PB wont hurt a thing. On the vice grips, clamp them twice before you try to turn. i.e. clamp them down, then loosen them and turn them half a turn or so tighter and clamp them again....If the vice grips get a good bite before you try to turn, they will turn the part if it's at all possible.

Thanks for the responses Rick, I'll give her a try tomorrow

-John

LiveonJG wrote:Thanks for the responses Rick, I'll give her a try tomorrow

If they still won't loosen, you can sometimes manhandle the master cylinder backwards to clear the servo, the lines will bend some, just stay clear of kinking any of them. The rear line is the most resistant, the one that goes to the proportioning valve. You can see if that line will loosen from the proportioning valve.
Colin

Amskeptic wrote:

LiveonJG wrote:Thanks for the responses Rick, I'll give her a try tomorrow

If they still won't loosen, you can sometimes manhandle the master cylinder backwards to clear the servo, the lines will bend some, just stay clear of kinking any of them. The rear line is the most resistant, the one that goes to the proportioning valve. You can see if that line will loosen from the proportioning valve.
Colin

Thanks Colin, I ended up getting an 11mm flare wrench and that worked like a champ. I did end up cutting the line between the upper and lower reservoirs as I didn't want to possibly damage the res. The strange thing is, per Bentley, the master cyl and servo are two separate parts, but, mine are either fused together or are a singe assembly. They wouldn't come apart and I couldn't find the mate point between the two.

-John

LiveonJG wrote:The strange thing is, per Bentley, the master cyl and servo are two separate parts, but, mine are either fused together or are a single assembly. They wouldn't come apart and I couldn't find the mate point between the two.

When you remove the 13mm nuts on the master cylinder flange, it should pop off (pry off) easily from the servo sheetmetal. There is a rubber o-ring between the two that maintains the vacuum inside the servo. Keep this area very clean and nice to enhance the sealing at reassembly. Yes Virginia, you can burn your exhaust valves right here.
Colin

Amskeptic wrote:

LiveonJG wrote:The strange thing is, per Bentley, the master cyl and servo are two separate parts, but, mine are either fused together or are a single assembly. They wouldn't come apart and I couldn't find the mate point between the two.

When you remove the 13mm nuts on the master cylinder flange, it should pop off (pry off) easily from the servo sheetmetal. There is a rubber o-ring between the two that maintains the vacuum inside the servo. Keep this area very clean and nice to enhance the sealing at reassembly. Yes Virginia, you can burn your exhaust valves right here.
Colin

I couldn't get it apart so I just pulled the whole damn thing out. I took those 13mm nuts off and it wouldn't budge. Sounds like the better alternative as my driveway is a dusty grimy mess.

-John

Is this for the purple bus? Or that other hulk you have lying around?

hambone wrote:Is this for the purple bus? Or that other hulk you have lying around?

It's my other bus. She's may be green, but she's hardly the Hulk.

-John

It's like your secret hidden other wife. Are you restoring it?

hambone wrote:It's like your secret hidden other wife. Are you restoring it?

Getting her ready for sale.

-John

LiveonJG wrote:
Getting her ready for sale.

-John

Haste to break it to you John, but you can't sell your wife.

You just can't.

What year? Erin is thinking of selling the Beetle for a poptop. I'm partial to the 73-75 era with the big bed. Plus no DEQ, I don't want to deal with that again...
We'll see, the jury is still out on this one. The Beetle is running like a champ and gets really good gas milage. I really need to learn the type4 though.