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On 12 May 2005 at 8:16, Nico teWinkel wrote: > After 5 years I finally have an excuse to tinker with the Fasty again - I've > decided to replace all the brake hydraulics: new master cylinder, brake > lines, hoses, calipers, rear cylinders, and even that doohickey T-fitting at > the back end. > I figured the complete set of parts is cheaper than what I've spent on a > single tune up for the New Beetle, so why not. There are two good reasons to use your old parts over new ones available today: environment and quality. If the old parts are not rebuildable, then some form of replacement is unavoidable, but most of these parts are rebuildable at a fraction of the cost, both monetary and environmental, of new parts. In addition, the new parts available today are often not of the same quality of the OG parts; this is especially true of calipers, where the replacements now available are actually type 1 calipers with smaller pistons and a couple of type 3 features omitted. If you don't want to rebuild your own parts, I can do them for you, usually for less than new inferior parts would cost. If you prefer not to go that route either, then I'd still like to pay the shipping cost to send them to me, just so they don't get destroyed. > I have a couple of questions... > 1. I remembered Jim Adney's talks on Silicone DOT-5 brake fluid, and I found > your faq post for that - thanks Jim! Is it safe for me to assume nothing > has changed in the meantime? I still like it. All my VWs have it installed in them. > 2. Because the entire hydraulic system is being replaced, can I just fill it > up with DOT-5, bleed it, and be on my way? Is there anything extra I would > need to be careful of? I bought a complete set of replacement parts (I'm > not comfortable rebuilding yet), so I don't know what fluid the new calipers > have on/in them (it's reddish looking). I will be using my existing > reservoir, so I'll clean that out with water and dry it thoroughly. Yes, just fill it up and bleed it, but you have to clean out the reservoir and supply lines first. Water is a good cleaner for the old fluid, and alcohol is a good flush for the water, but you MUST make sure that you leave behind neither water nor alcohol. > 3. The threaded bits... do I need to put anything on that before assembly? No, just screw them together dry. > 4. I didn't get new hoses for the reservoir to master cylinder connection > yet... is that the same stuff as is used for the fuel lines? The brake hose is special. Fuel hose won't work well; it's not generally compatable with brake fluid. The brake hose is blue and available several places. I have it also. Good to hear from you, and hope you can join us more often now. -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~