got a leaky wheel cylindar on the right reduction hub. just wondering what i need to do to fix and get it rolling safley?got seals and complete gasket kit, what else ?
cheers josh

When things were tight, I would re-rubber them, soak the shoes in hot water & then put them in the oven- about 350 degrees F for an hour or so- but only when "she who must be obeyed" was out.
They dried out OK if it was brake fluid. They just stank the place out if it was oil or grease.
They re-rubbering only worked if there were no pits- highly unlikely. Eventually, sooner rather than later I had to replace shoes & cylinders on both sides.

[Edited on 15-3-2003 by geodon]

cant you use white spirits to clean off the shoes ? , well at least get some brake fluid off.
The replacement wheel cylinders arent too expensive but maybe availability is an issue.

[Edited on 16-3-2003 by OvalGlen]

soak them in degreaser or kerosene overnight and then sand them back when dry until its grease free.

i have to do the brakes back to front on my 67 as it has not been driven since 82, so can i get replacement shoes anywhere near gosford? can any brake place do this? what about slave cylinders? reco? where and who? is it expensive?
any help greatly appreciated! and what of the master cylindar? can it be replaced with a more available unit?[off a bay?]or does it need too much stuffing about?
cheers josh
nearly there:P

If you do have a 67 it will have the one year only dual circuit master cylinder in it. I imagine it would be really difficult to find a replacement and if you do it will be very very pricey.

You can convert to a later bay bus dual circuit master cylinder. You need a later master cylinder, a golf reservoir (pops in), a spacer the mount the cylinder (about 6mm cut the back of the old cylinder and grind it flat) and a longer actuating rod (make one from a bolt). You might have to lengthen one of the hard brake lines – maybe not cos the 67 was set up as dual circuit. This is a worthwhile conversion for older single circuit splits too. I think Indian sells a kit but its not hard to do with your own bits.

Get your slave cylinders sleeved with stainless and other more common/cheaper pistons and seals fitted. Geelong combined clutch and brake (local to me) used to do em for $50 each. All new non-german slave cylinders are crap now (as far as splitbusses go anyway). They are porous, grainy and rust really fast. I picked up some of the last OE early German front slave cylinders from the US, cost me around $80 each. I will probably put these in the 23 and get the Vargas there stainless sleeved and put em in the barney (depends a bit on what I do with the front end…)

RobK

Hey Rob

Any chance of getting some details of how I can fit this to my 57, I have removed all the lines etc.

Cheers
Dave:jesus

Converting splitbus single circuit brakes to a dual circuit system (and replacing 67 one year only dual circuit master cyl with a cheaper later master cyl).

You need a 1971 and later dual circuit brake cylinder for disc brakes. You need a brass T-fitting and a short piece of metal brake line (about 100-150mm). These bits can found attached to the master cylinder in a 1971 and later bus, if you don’t have them (or don’t have a bubble flaring tool…).

You also need a reservoir from a Golf. This reservoir will snap fit into the later master cylinder. Put the fill cap end closest to the piston end of the MC so you can refill the reservoir through the stock hole in the splitbus front floor.

Connect the two front brake metal lines on the splitbus to the brass T-fitting. Connect the short metal line between the T fitting and the outlet on the underside of the master cylinder (the one at a 45 deg angle – its actually used as a brake light sender in its stock application. Use the sender for the rear brakes as the primary sender in your splitbus). Bend the tube gently so it’s not kinked. (think a 67 dual circuit splitbus would already have this in place).

The two mounting bolts for the master cylinder will have to be 15mm longer than stock. You have to shorten the push rod and the bracket it threads into so the lock nut does not touch the master cylinder piston. Alternatively, use a shorter bolt and cut off the head instead of wasting the original push rod. Remember to round the end.

You can bolt this in and it will work but it’s *really* difficult to adjust the push rod. If you make a 5-6mm spacer to go between the master cylinder and its mounting bracket on the bus the push rod is far easier to adjust……cut the flange of an old master cylinder and grind it down and you have the perfect spacer!

RobK

[Edited on 20-3-2003 by splitbusaustralia]

brilliant, thanks rob! gotta find some place quiet and visualise it all now! a weekend trip to the wreckers and we are there! btw , i might be wrong , but i think its a single circuit mc.i'll get in and have a closer look!
cheers josh

hi rob,
is the later brake master the one with the big vaccum thing on it? so if it is.. it fits in a split? just making sure as i am going wrecking tommorrow and want to make sure!!!
cheers josh

Yup - but you don't need the vacuum can.

I just had at look and if you go to

http://www.vintagebus.com  and search the picture gallery on "master cylinder" there are 5 pics of this conversion and pics of an adapter kit sold in the US.

Note in this particular conversion the guy has connected the short line that connects from the master cylinder to the T piece to the port on the side of the master cylinder (I'm fairly sure you can't get the pedal pan on if you do thisv - fine if you don't want to put one on) and he seems to have wired in brake light senders from both ports......which is a nice 'extra'.

RobK

if i kept the original master but put a disc kit in[front end only], would this be o.k?
cheers josh

its ok.don't answer that.
bummer
josh

what about a master cylinder from an68 - 71 bus? would that work?
cheers josh