brake servo

[KevM]

Hi All,

In a bit of a fix and wonder if anyone can help me get me head round this.

I had to make some changes to my brake pedal but now I have not got acceptable braking, it is there but just not enough to confidently stop.

I figure this is as a result of shortening the pedal, it hasn't got the leverage to apply to the master cylinder pin.

So I am now thinking about fitting an aftermarket brake servo which should help immensly but obviously this could have a problem as the vacuum needed also supplies and runs the clutch for the semi auto stickshift so i don't know how I am going to go about this or even if it is actually feasible.

Has anyone got any thoughts or insight into this that they can share with me.  Has anyone fitted a brake servo to their cars?

Thanks
Kevin

[bookwus]

Hiya Kevin,

Are you familiar with the term, "domino effect"?  This is about what you are to encounter should you decide to go ahead with the installation of a servo for your brakes.
Basically, "DE" states that one change will beget another and so on, and so on.  In other words you get yourself into a state of having to make changes you never really contemplated or wanted to in the first place.  That, my friend, is the flip-side of the coin of maintaining a stock-Wolfsburg designed system.
Were it me, I'd go back to the longer brake pedal.  If you cannot do that due to other changes you may have made, you have already found yourself in a downward "DE" spiral.

Mike

1970 AS Bug

[68AutoBug]

Yes I agree,  You need to go back to the original system...
I believe all of the manuals say NOT to adjust the brake piston attachment....  its set at the factory....
with regard to the brake pedal leverage etc...

Lee

[KevM]

Hi,

for anyone not interested in lectures on common sense or dominos the actual problem was in fact that the bush for the pedal had become worn resulting in too much freeplay of the pedal. This is turn was snagging my pedal box assembly which has never has been a standard item as my car is a replica using semi auto bits and VW running gear.

The constructive advice I could have done with and for anyone else who may run into this type of problem is check for too much freeplay or wear, it may not be immediately obvious.

My pedals actually hang down and not 'floor up' so the length of the pedal isn't a huge issue, maybe slightly more leverage but the brake master cylinder iteself should not have that much resistance that your brakes dissappear.

It's about 2 months since I renewed the bushes and everything is fine.

[bookwus]

Hiya Kevin,

Sorry to hear that you got your hackles up over the responses you got to your original post.  

It occurs to me that you might have received a bit of a different response had you explained a little more about your situation (customed car) in the first place.  And you did ask for "any thoughts or insight into this that they can share with me".

I hope you do understand that whatever was said was done so in the spirit of trying to help out.

[schwindinger]

Hey, we are all particular about our autosticks, otherwise we wouldn't be wasting time on a forum.

So,  I will vouch to say there is enough vacuum to run the autostick as well as the brake servo,  even in stop and go / shift traffic.

That said, does anyone know of or has personally added a power brake system to an auto-bug, without having to cut/weld, etc. (basically with nothing done to lose it's originality should I decide to return it to original condition)

[KevM]

Just a little update, had the MOT but brakes were really on the limit of being useful, got a Ebay servo (as luck would have it the exact one I was after) stuck inline the remote brake servo, took me the best part of a week (evenings) to get it in once I had got the bits and the different is amazing, one of the best things I have done this year.

If you are even remotely concerned about the brakes go for it, superb !

rgds