Itinerant Air-Cooled

Haven't had the time to save my life from the destructive scenario of my left rear wheel ripping free of the hub/stub axle:




I am now in Cheyenne WY, a whole thousand miles since identifying the crack in the drum. The cracks *have* migrated. This one has gone right past the arrow of two days ago:




The upper one in this photograph has managed to stay mostly put, but the lower one has meandered right off the paint:




Am I some kind of idiot? Well, yes. We need to *prepare* the new drums. Here in Wyoming, on an abandoned roadway parallel to I-80, I cleaned the new drums of their protective wax:








I painted the outside surfaces, tested each threaded hole and seasoned them with antiseize (ah, German, they all threaded beautifully):




Inspected the paint's reflectivity off the machined surfaces:




Then drove 328 miles further into the I-80 traverse of the Rockies, which is actually very gradual and poorly vegetated. No big firs and craggy peaks, why it looks (and felt br-r-r-r) like it is about a month after the retreat the of the glaciers:




Found a brief respite from the rain and painted the insides of the drums. Yes, I did wipe the friction surfaces free of paint:




The rain then came down hard and I enjoyed driving past places like "Sinclair, Wyoming" with an appropriate olfactory track of interior smelling fragrant with paint fumes:



I was advised that I had crested the Continental Divide more than once, all up above 7,000 feet:






There was some beauty in the unexpected chill and damp:




I do not mind the aesthetic destruction of ridges, not when it is 56* and raining. It is a better way to keep you all warm in your houses.




Chloe has been running so well, mile after mile, hill climb after hill climb, hour after hour, I felt a little pang of empathy as I drove past this unfortunate moment in Grandpa and Grandma's trip:



If I get the drums ON TODAY, I will let you know . . .

You are welcome to work on your brakes in my garage Friday. I will be home all day getting ready for your visit. It is going to be a scorcha on Saturday, I hope you like the heat.

Darren wrote:You are welcome to work on your brakes in my garage Friday. I will be home all day getting ready for your visit. It is going to be a scorcha on Saturday, I hope you like the heat.

Thank-you, Darren, but if you look around this here website, you might find that I vastly prefer working in the great Great Outdoors. For example, today's project was to drive past Cheyenne on I-80 until I was safe from rain, rip down a dirt road towards an oil pump (the last indignity those Brazilian drums would ever have to endure), try to find some sort of wind block, and then loosen the axle nuts and try to jack the car on terrible gravelly dirt that gave way all too easily at the merest prompt of the Big Axle Nut Breaker Bar:




Yeah, made in Brazil. Brazil. Attempting to erase the legendary German quality one shoddy part at a time. The sun hid behind the clouds after seeing this:




If you follow the crack all the way, we were about an inch from Automatic Disintegration Disassembly. Notice the rust that made it in from the outside from yesterday's rain driving:




The German drums have more substantial external webbing from the hub to the lugs, and they look smoother on the internal surfaces because the internal surfaces are completely filled in with metal, unlike the BrazilianWhoCaresAnymore drums:




My really nice looking beefy gold cad plated cotter pin snapped at the second use like cheap chinese junk, because it is:




Only when I was done with both sides, new shoes and drums, did the sun come out:




I look forward to warming up again when it hits the what is still a bit nippy for me low 90's on Saturday. Darren, you need to read my Death Valley posts . . .
Colin

Those drums' quality looks monstrously better than the Brazilian POS drums you had. While it says they were "made in Germany", I'd really wonder if the drums where cast in China and the finish machining was done in Germany.

So many German parts manufactures are misleading customers these days with their business practices. The part is manufactured in some third world and are boxed in Germany, thus, it's a "German" part.. Corporate greed in all it's glory.

You'd hope for $170 dollar a piece drums, that the labeling is correct.

My bet is they were cast in Hungry and then machined and sent to Germany to be boxed. Lots of German work has been shipped to Eastern Europe where there is cheaper labor but still EU so no taxes.

Why paint the drums? In industry, thick ferrous metals are left to surface rust on purpose. They call it "seasoning" the metal. Once it gets that way it will last forever.

Bleyseng wrote:My bet is they were cast in Hungry and then machined and sent to Germany to be boxed. Lots of German work has been shipped to Eastern Europe where there is cheaper labor but still EU so no taxes.

I bet you're right, they were cast somewhere in Europe like you said. Personally, I don't care WHERE the part was made. Just don't mislead the buying public by telling them its a "German" made part.

Honestly, I don't care where any part is made in the world as long as it's quality part. I'll pay top dollar for it vs. all the garbage that's sold today for our VW's.

If you look at most VW parts vendors, the are all happy to let us know that this part was made in Germany and then charge accordingly. How many people have seen received their part to only see the box was made in Germany and the part from somewhere else.

hambone wrote:Why paint the drums? In industry, thick ferrous metals are left to surface rust on purpose. They call it "seasoning" the metal. Once it gets that way it will last forever.

I don't think so, Hambone. Aluminum and magnesium develop a protective surface patina, but iron will flake off one layer at a time and any cracks, like my Brazilian drums, will only weaken further still. VW painted their drums all the way to 1979.



Many American cars stopped painting cast iron like differentials, stamped steel control arms, even stressed parts like stabilizer bars to "save" money, but the high quality cars still paint their parts. Thus, I had to paint my drums, too. Next time you have a wheel off Ma or The Other, clean down to the surface and see if you can spot paint.
Colin

So if we are blessed with 46-year-old Volkswagen drums, would you recommend a fresh coat for non-cosmetic reasons? With any special prep details?


Robbie

asiab3 wrote:So if we are blessed with 46-year-old Volkswagen drums, would you recommend a fresh coat for non-cosmetic reasons? With any special prep details?


Robbie

If you have a wheel bearing grease/brake dust patina, you may not see rust developing. I have seen some horrendous brake drums flaking off at the lip that rides in the backing plate groove. This is your call, Robbie.

From Old House Web . . .

Oxidation, or rusting, occurs rapidly when cast iron is exposed to moisture and air. The minimum relative humidity necessary to promote rusting is 65%, but this figure can be lower in the presence of corrosive agents,such as sea water, salt air, acids, acid precipitation, soils, and some sulfur compounds present in the atmosphere, which act as catalysts in the oxidation process. Rusting is accelerated in situations where pockets or crevices trap and hold liquid corrosive agents. Furthermore, once a rust film forms, its porous surface acts as a reservoir for liquids, which in turn causes further corrosion. If this process is not arrested, it will continue until the iron is entirely consumed by corrosion, leaving nothing but rust.

Rust Never Sleeps

If I had just paid real money for a couple of brake drums, I would certainly paint them.

Plus they just look good all back and everything....

wcfvw69 wrote:Those drums' quality looks monstrously better than the Brazilian POS drums you had. While it says they were "made in Germany", I'd really wonder if the drums where cast in China and the finish machining was done in Germany.

So many German parts manufactures are misleading customers these days with their business practices. The part is manufactured in some third world and are boxed in Germany, thus, it's a "German" part.. Corporate greed in all it's glory.

You'd hope for $170 dollar a piece drums, that the labeling is correct.

An old Wolfsburg West email newsletter I found from March of 2013 says the Sebro rear drums were a special commission for WW, and the company itself looks legit:

http://www.sebro.eu/company/history.html

They list a phone number, so you could call and ask them if you can figure out the time difference.

Robbie

asiab3 wrote:

wcfvw69 wrote:Those drums' quality looks monstrously better than the Brazilian POS drums you had. While it says they were "made in Germany", I'd really wonder if the drums where cast in China and the finish machining was done in Germany.

So many German parts manufactures are misleading customers these days with their business practices. The part is manufactured in some third world and are boxed in Germany, thus, it's a "German" part.. Corporate greed in all it's glory.

You'd hope for $170 dollar a piece drums, that the labeling is correct.

An old Wolfsburg West email newsletter I found from March of 2013 says the Sebro rear drums were a special commission for WW, and the company itself looks legit:

http://www.sebro.eu/company/history.html

They list a phone number, so you could call and ask them if you can figure out the time difference.

Robbie

I've bought something else that was made by Sebro but I can't recall what it was?!?! I'm sure what it was a "German" made part. Maybe it was a rear drum for my 69 vert? Either way, the drums Colin is now rolling look great. At that price for them, they should of come w/a coupon for free hand job from a local massage place.

I know.. I'm just another "cheap" VW owner that will pay the $ for good parts. I'll just continue to "whine" about the cost as well.

wcfvw69 wrote:[At that price for them, they should of come w/a coupon for free hand job from a local massage place.

Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that they did come with a coupon for a free hand job from a local massage parlor.
"You customa fwum Woofsbug West?"
"Why YES, YES I AM. Where do we start?"
"Go down haw, make wight."
"THANK-you. You know, I have never had a HAND JOB before . . . "
"I not announce that if I you."
ColinInKansas