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Sun Aug 30, 2009 6:38 pm

anyone knows who sells these and are they worth getting?
need to fix the brakes on my '63dd but the old style brake parts
are sooo $$$$$$ i was thinking of trying to rebuild them
what would you do? comment or opinions....

Sun Aug 30, 2009 6:44 pm

joe56vw wrote: anyone knows who sells these and are they worth getting?
need to fix the brakes on my '63dd but the old style brake parts
are sooo $$$$$$ i was thinking of trying to rebuild them
what would you do? comment or opinions....

If they are rebuildable, go for it. Rebuild kits are available through most parts houses. I find that the vast majority of these wheel cylinders have pitting in them and I don't bother rebuilding them. Sometimes they are decent and you can polish them and throw new seals at them. New early front wheel cylinders can be bought for about $30 each, so if they are questionable I wouldn't waste your time.

Sun Aug 30, 2009 6:51 pm

Bus Depot has them ( www.busdepot.com ) I saw them on their website!

Good Luck!

Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:32 pm

cip1 has them for $35 but i'm not sure if they are good one or not
greg where do you get yours from?

Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:37 pm

joe56vw wrote: cip1 has them for $35 but i'm not sure if they are good one or not
greg where do you get yours from?

Hey Joe, I think there are German ones, and then there are the Generic ones that come in plain white boxes. If they are priced at $35, then they are likely the plain box ones. I have ordered the plain box ones from ISP West, from Ashley in Portland, and from Ronnie in Havasu before. I believe there are lots of suppliers.

Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:59 pm

I have purchased rebuild kits from NAPA for around 5 bucks. That does one wheel (two cylinders) I have found that the top cylinders of each wheel tend to be in rebuildable condition most of the time. More often than not the lower ones are pitted, as it seems that is where water likes to settle. Try honing them anyway, the pits may not be that deep.

Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:08 pm

I agree, I've got some early ones that I'm working on right now. I bought the rebuild kits from Napa. Part #362 I compared them to a friends...his dust covers are almost exactly stock. The ones from Napa has slots where the brake shoe goes in the piston that are a little narrower...I'll just snip them to allow the shoe to fit into the piston...no big deal. I think they were around $6...kit will do 2 cylinders.

Scott

Mon Aug 31, 2009 12:47 am

Take what you have apart and see if they are rebuildable first before you buy anything, your looking to see if the bore is pitted with rust. it its pitted and isnt just staining you can steel wool off there for the trash.

Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:31 am

The people having good luck rebuilding these things seem to be in much drier climates, Idaho, Eastern Washington, and California.

Joe, unless you want that thing to sit on jackstands while you order more parts I suggest you get some new cylinders. Sure, rebuild them if you can but it's nice to have all of the parts on hand before you tear it apart. It's been a while since I've found any good used ones around here....maybe I'm just more picky than most people. I think I do have a set of those plain box ones in stock, so if you get in a jam you can always use those and order me a new set.

I know Kombisutra has "never ran into an unrebuildable wheel cylinder," but I would bet his rebuilds don't hold up long term.

Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:47 am

i would rather get new ones then deal with rebuilding them
but i'm really broke right now and need a cheap way to fix it
i have another set i'll see if there worth rebuilding first

Mon Aug 31, 2009 9:08 am

I have rebuilt them on buses from the rust belt, but your right Greg, buses tend to be drier in my climate. Lucky me. :wink:

Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:00 pm

Either way make sure to clean out the entire brake system or whatever you install won't last. Also, make sure your soft lines are good. If your soft lines are at all questionable I'd replace them. If budget constraints don't allow for all new parts personally I would rather be running rebuilt cylinders that might start leaking in a couple thousand miles then old soft lines that could suffer a total failure at any point.

Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:35 pm

i have new soft lines already they blow @ctfc this year and when i had to replace them i had a leaky wheel cylinder that i cleaned up but i just don't trust the system that much and would like to go though it before the yakima show

Mon Aug 31, 2009 3:46 pm

campingbox wrote: joe56vw wrote: anyone knows who sells these and are they worth getting?
need to fix the brakes on my '63dd but the old style brake parts
are sooo $$$$$$ i was thinking of trying to rebuild them
what would you do? comment or opinions....

If they are rebuildable, go for it. Rebuild kits are available through most parts houses. I find that the vast majority of these wheel cylinders have pitting in them and I don't bother rebuilding them. Sometimes they are decent and you can polish them and throw new seals at them. New early front wheel cylinders can be bought for about $30 each, so if they are questionable I wouldn't waste your time. i have been using the early front wheel cylinders from eis for almost 2 years w/o issues; of course after writing this they will probably start leaking.

the bores were not as clean as i would like, so i cleaned them up with a brake hone then wrapped some 2000 grit sandpaper around the hone and polished them further. i also used a liberal amount of sil'glyde brake cylinder paste when reassembling.

Mon Aug 31, 2009 5:39 pm

joe56vw wrote: i have new soft lines already they blow @ctfc this year and when i had to replace them i had a leaky wheel cylinder that i cleaned up but i just don't trust the system that much and would like to go though it before the yakima show

We want to see you at Yakima in one piece.

Mon Aug 31, 2009 6:30 pm

I have had great luck rebuilding my beetle wheel cylinders in years past. I generally do it instead of replacing them with new or rebuilt units. Rehone them right on the car. I have never had one fail that I rebuilt myself. I have had two fail on the road that were purchased new. One was German VW and One was Varga.

The last rebuild on my 69 beetle was a nightmare. Had to return 3 front wheel cylinders and one master cylinder before getting ones that wouldn't leak first time out of the box. These were parts from Bendix, the company that invented the friggin things.

On my bus I ordered the Brazillian ones from WW and they are working fine. I will be rebuilding the old ones as spares.

Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:32 pm

Rather than starting a new thread, I'm sure one of you guys have the answer.
I took apart a set of front wheel cylinders to put new rubbers on them, and now I don't remember which way is the right way to put the rubber on.
A)

or
B)

Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:50 pm

A.

The lip needs to fight the pressure from within the cylinder, so the cup shape needs to face inward.

Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:53 pm

Thanks Corey, one more thing crossed off the list.

Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:57 pm

I put them on backwards once. Sprayed brake fluid all over the damn place.

Lesson learnt.